Hovhaness: Concerto No. 2 for Violin & Strings, Op. 89a & Other Works

Featuring

Zina Schiff
Avlana Eisenberg
Valerie Stark
Salzburg Chamber Soloists
Alan Hovhaness

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Hovhaness aimed to create music that was "beautiful and healing" and intended "for all people," synthesizing Eastern and Western influences.

Compositional Technique

The term "senza misure," meaning to play without strict measure, is employed by Hovhaness in his Concerto No. 2, a technique brought to prominence by American composer Henry Cowell.

Composer Biography

As an organist at St. James Armenian Church, Hovhaness became deeply familiar with Armenian liturgical music, particularly the minimalist style of composer-priest Komitas Vartabed.

Composer Biography

Hovhaness idolized Jean Sibelius, traveling to Finland to meet the composer in 1935, and Sibelius later became the godfather of Hovhaness's daughter.

Composer Biography

Alan Hovhaness, born in Massachusetts, was of Armenian and Scottish descent, and was drawn to both Eastern and Western cultures.

Compositional Technique

Hovhaness's Concerto No. 2 utilizes distinctive effects like "tone clusters" (dissonant groups of notes) and "melisma" (a Greek word for melody that sets a magical mood).