What can you say? If you like Hovhaness, then you’ll want this disc. Yes, his music sports a certain generic sameness from one work to the next, but like all composers he uses his chosen materials with varying degrees of emphasis and effectiveness, and on this disc he’s in good form. Vision from High Rock and Mountain of Prophecy gratifyingly explore higher levels of dissonance than often appears the case with Hovhaness, and the result offers a welcome degree of contrast to the music’s fundamentally modal, hymn-like qualities. Symphony No. 15, like the Symphony for Metal Orchestra, displays the influence of Japanese and Korean traditional music, especially in its evocative writing for flute. All three works receive dedicated, lovingly played and conducted performances by the Northwest Symphony Orchestra under Anthony Spain.
I wish I could be more positive about the two shorter works: both display Hovhaness’ fundamental approachability but have nothing like his stylistic consistency or sheer force of character. Hovhaness’ music may lack variety from one work to the next, but the “kind” of music he wrote was very much his own, and is instantly identifiable as such. Neither Michael Young’s Secrets nor Gregory Short’s Mount Takhoma offer anything similarly memorable, though they’re certainly easy on the ear. I’d like very much to hear more Hovhaness from these forces: we badly need a modern recording of Fra Angelico, and many of the symphonies and concertos for orchestra still await premieres on disc.
