Search - Hovhaness :: Hovhaness :Mysterious Mountain & Lousadzak / Lou Harrison:Elegiac Symphony (Music Masters)

A Fine Performance of Some Underheard Music

Timothy Dougal | Madison, Wi United States | 01/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although the music of Hovhaness is becoming more available, it is still relatively rare, and the music of Lou Harrison is very rare. On this disc, "The Mysterious Mountain" is the best known work, having been recorded now two other times that I know of. The other two works I had never heard. While buying music "in the dark", so to speak, can often lead to buyer's remorse, this CD has proved to be very satisfying over a period of years, despite a certain lack of warmth and spaciousness in the recording itself. The "Mysterious Mountain" sounds very much like its title suggests, with modal oriental harmonies and melodic lines that may occasionally remind you of Biblical epics. At its heart though, is a monumental double fugue which routinely leaves me breathless and keeps thoughts of Hollywood shlock far away. "Lousadzak", with Keith Jarrett plying the piano keys at his virtuousic, improvisatory best, both seems to flow directly out of the symphony that precedes it, as well as from the unconscious. Harrison's symphony displays Asian influences as well, but a little more broadly than Hovhaness's work, running from the middle east all the way to Bali, at the same time, sounding thoroughly American. The three pieces work together very well, and all the music is very well played."