Search - Alan Hovhaness, Rastislav Stur, Slovak Philharmonic :: Janabar, Talin, Shambala

Exotic and simple; ancient and modern - all at once

Russ | Richmond, VA | 03/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) wrote a lot of music; most of it totally unknown. Classifying the music of this eccentric composer is no mean task. Hovhaness' draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including baroque music, as well as the ancient music of Armenia, India, Japan and elsewhere. Further, Hovhaness composes music in a style that is at home with many twentieth century modernist trends (minimalism, aleatoric music), but at the same time looks back to ancient chants or folk music from across the world. That said, Hovhaness' music is immediately accessible and has a uniform style that allows the listener to readily identify the music's composer.



The present release contains three concertante works:



Shambala - concerto for sitar, violin and orchestra

Janabar - five hymns for piano, violin, trumpet and string orchestra

Talin - concerto for viola and string orchestra



Also included on this release is a half hour of Hovhaness talking about his music. These conversations were interesting, but they were a bit random. It seems that these conversations were cobbled together from multiple interviews conducted at various points over the composer's life.



At 45 minutes, Shambala (1969) is the most substantial piece on the program. Hovhaness spent time in India studying its music and meeting with various Indian musicians. And it is from India where Hovhaness draws his inspiration in composing this concerto. There is a duality within this concerto: the writing for the violin and orchestra is primarily structured and is played in defined time, while the sitar part is often improvisatory, with much of the part left to the discretion of the performer. This piece will likely sound quite exotic to any Western ears. The exoticism is primarily added through the violin and sitar writing. Although the concerto takes the form of one long continuous movement, the work can be divided into several sub-movements, with the recurring appearance of a mysteriously ominous processional serving as a boundary, of sorts, around several extended solo passages. This processional and the presence of aleatoric pitched percussion / pizzicato passages (that is, several parts are played together in free time) is not completely different from that of Hovhaness' nineteenth symphony (the 'Vishnu' symphony). However, this mysitcal piece is unique among Hovhaness' compositions and is definitely worth checking out.



Talin (1951) is a brief concerto for viola and string orchestra. The first and third movements are solemn in nature, while the second movement takes the form of a dance containing themes from Persia. The colorful harmonies of this 'estampie' entice the listener; however, it is the noble chorales of this concerto that are truly memorable.



Composed in 1950, the five hymns of Janabar ('Journey') are real gems. As with Shambala, I hear duality within each movement. The hymns contain passages where only the solo piano or violin is heard, which are contrasted against passages scored for string orchestra and trumpet. Hovhaness, in describing his music, indicated that he used the trumpet as the 'voice of God'. And indeed, the trumpet part is truly majestic. There is a lot to like here. From the sparklingly serene piano opening of the 'Sharagan' movement, to the modal colorings of the 'Toccata' - all of this is beautiful.



My rating for this release is based solely on my opinion this music and the performance of it. The rating I gave does not include consideration of my frustration with the format of this recording. With this release, the purchaser receives one disc: one side of this disc is in DVD audio format, while the other side is in CD audio format. The CD audio side only contains Shambala and one movement each of Janabar and Talin (maybe you can consider this the 'best of' the DVD audio side). The CD audio side also contains a PDF file which details additional information about each of the three works (not included in the accompanying booklet). I find the DVD audio format to be a bit maddening as it must be played on a DVD payer, and it is terribly difficult to convert the tracks to MP3 files (I like to listen to music through my Ipod). I suspect this complicated format contributed to the high price of this release (too high in my opinion). I am sorry to get into all of these technicalities, but this was an important factor for me.



In conclusion, admirers of Hovhaness will want to acquire this. The three disparate pieces here are each beautiful in their own way and only further my belief that there is much more to Hovhaness than what the mainstream music listening public currently believes. Those that enjoy Hovhaness often refer to the spiritual, calming, healing or uplifting qualities of his music. I, too, would apply those adjectives to the three compositions here. Such terms are not typically applied to classical music, but then again, there is nobody quite like Hovhaness.



Recommended.



Total Times:

DVD audio: 126 minutes

CD: 59 minutes"

Duality in More Ways Than One

Thomas H. Ayers | Bowie, MD United States | 03/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was quite excited to learn of this release and purchased it from OgreOgress directly. I noted the DualDisc aspect of this recording, but it didn't register that I'd only be getting one movement each of Janabar and Talin on the CD side of the DualDisc. I figured that the DVD had video of the recording sessions. When I received it, I eagerly listened to the CD and discovered only four tracks: a movement of Janabar, a movement of Talin, Shambala in its entirety, and a track for the PDF file, which gives information on the various works. The DVD has no video.



The Music: The previous reviewer did a good job of describing the works on the CD, so I'll simply say that Janabar, a 35+ minute work, and Shambala, a 45 minute work, are substantial, fascinating works worthy of anyone's time. Of what I've heard so far, Janabar is a gripping work with long solos and interesting concertante passages. Shambala is a beautiful concerto for violin, sitar, and orchestra, and the notated violin part contrasting with the improvised sitar part make for a stimulating experience. I have not been a fan of Talin, so I won't comment on that work here.



The Medium: I do not like the DualDisc format in this particular case. I don't listen to CDs on my DVD player; I listen to them on my CD player when I'm working. I was truly looking forward to hearing Janabar in its entirety and can only listen to the first movement with my CD player. The DVD player on my computer has some problems, so I can't listen to it on my computer at the moment. I'm stuck with just one intriguing movement of Janabar. I'm quite disappointed. However, I am grateful that Shambala is provided in its entirety on the CD side of the disc, and that I've listened to more than once.



The DVD side of the DualDisc contains the interviews--snippets really--arranged by topic, with Hovhaness. I found some provocative, most interesting, and some unnecessary. Of course, you can hear Janabar and Talin in their entirety here. My concern is that I must leave the TV on while I listen to these, and I'm afraid that almost 1.5 hours of virtually the same image displayed on the screen will damage it--I have no screensaver for my TV! Could the DVD have included videotaped interviews with performers? Surely this project was an adventure worth relating!



Personally, I would rather have bought a 2-CD set with all of this material, including the interviews. None of the material demands DVD treatment--there's no video--and any audio benefit from DVD playback is certainly outweighed, in my opinion, by the inconvenience of having to listen to Janabar and Talin on the DVD player.



Bottom Line: Given that the DualDisc contains a PDF file on the CD side and all of the music can be found on the DVD side, I would highly recommend this disc to those who listen to their music on the computer. For those, like me, who use a CD player, you're going to have to view this product as a purchase for Shambala with teasers for Talin and Janabar. If you're willing to play the whole thing on your DVD player/TV, then you'll get to enjoy everything. Highly recommended for the music. One star docked for the inconvenient and frustrating format. No more DualDiscs like this one, please."

Beautiful Music

Karl Bly | West Olive, MI USA | 12/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is some of the loveliest music I have heard from Alan Hovhaness. The playing by the orchestra and by the soloists is beautiful. The people at OgreOgress have done a wonderful job of bringing to light the music of some of today's lesser-known composers and this is just another example of their wonderful work. Highly recommended."