Alan Hovhaness and a return to foobar......

 I probably would not have ever heard of this 20th Century composer had it not been for my fascination with the Living Stereo series of classical releases from RCA which helped to propel me towards taking on the world of  “serious music” more seriously. When the production of stereo LPs was the new innovation in the late 1950s, RCA’s classical division was ready to flood the market with great sounding product since they had been recording orchestras in stereo since at least 1954. The time that it took to perfect and fine-tune the process of creating stereo LP discs from those tapes meant that there would be a backlog of material ready to go once the stereo cutting lathes were set by about 1958 or so. Many of these original LPs go for big bucks in mint shape since they are, in many cases, audiophile quality as well as historically fascinating documents of great orchestras and conductors getting down with their bad selves.

Among the baddest of these orchestras and conductors was Fritz Reiner who led the Chicago Symphony from 1953 to 1963. RCA’s recordings of his interpretations of classics like Rimski-Korsokov’s “Sheherezade” are still considered benchmark recordings. When BMG started releasing some of these classic recordings as super-audio compact discs (including a layer with the original 3-track recordings presented as front right-center-front left “surround sound”) at a reasonable cost – I jumped at the chance to use the series as a way to dig deeper into classical. Some recordings were not released as SACDs, but as CDs only. Such was the case of a Chicago/Reiner disc of Hovhaness’s “Mysterious Mountain”.

This release is apparently Hovhaness’s most famous composition, most likely because of the success of this particular recording. What little I’ve read about the composer, who is firmly in the 20th Century camp, reveals that he has been quite prolific over the years though none of the other works have come close to the popularity of “Mysterious Mountain”. Since I do like to check out the work of some lesser-known composers when I can, I was happy to find a recording of Hovhaness’s Fourth Symphony at a thrift store last year.

This record comes from RCA’s chief classical rival in the audiophile world – Mercury’s Living Presence division. The recordings on this label are also noteworthy for their generally fabulous sound, though I have to admit I don’t think Mercury’s album cutting and pressing quality was quite on par with the RCA Living Stereo series. RCA had some serious MOJO going on with their records up to the introduction of the whole Dynagroove system when quality control started to slip (Dynagroove’s critics claimed that distortion artifacts were purposely introduced into the grooves through this system – a fascinating, but highly controversial claim).

Hovhaness’s 4th Symphony is an interesting piece. Unfortunately, on the record I brought home, it was obvious that the record’s previous owner(s) liked it better than the side containing the Giannini piece since the Hovhaness side was kinda worn out in spots. The Giannini symphony was probably placed on the same record for contrast purposes since it is overbearingly upbeat, happy-sounding and, frankly, totally forgettable. The glib statements from the composer on the back-cover notes don’t do much to alleviate the situation. But what to do when you want to replace an album that you only half-like? For me, finding a well-mastered compact disc of a piece of music that I might only own on a beat up LP is a very acceptable alternative. Compact discs, if produced well, are certainly not as bad as the media has been portraying them in recent years. It’s a bit funny, really to consider the fact that CDs often sound BETTER than MP3 files, yet CDs are getting the shaft in the marketplace – go figure!

So I found a CD release of the Hovhaness Symphony #4, except it was placed alongside that dreadful Giannini composition and a Morton Gould “West Point Symphony” which, though I have never heard it, somehow fails to appeal to me at the moment. Do I buy a whole CD for what essentially comes down to 3 tracks (the Hovhaness piece has only three movements)? Not when I’ve got three dollars worth of Amazon mp3 promotional credits!

Welcome back to foobar! I decided to forego the CD and just use my free credits to download the Hovhaness composition. Now, having listened to it I am happy to hear the performance minus the groove damage evident on my LP copy. I do notice a little tell-tale fidelity compromise since the files are 256 kbs quality, but overall not bad for free! And, although I am still quite enamored with the whole vinyl experience – listening to classical pieces streaming off my hard drive through my stereo system is actually quite acceptable. I could see this being a good way to hear more obscure stuff in the future.

All of this without much comment about Hovhaness as a composer! Well, what I like about the two pieces of his that I have heard so far is the willingness to use different sounds to create unique expressions that are modern, yet not purposely abrasive. I do enjoy challenging music once in awhile, but Hovhaness seems to make a case for modern, yet approachable, music. Although “Mysterious Mountain” gets the nod for popularity I have to admit to liking Symphony #4 better as a composition. This is, of course, EXACTLY why I enjoy seeking out offbeat compositions even from more well known composers. You just never know – sometimes it’s the less-heralded stuff that is more enjoyable to you personally!

Well, no matter how the music is delivered in your house – keep those air molecules vibrating! Bright Moments!