1964 Alan Hovhaness Vittorio Giannini Clyde Roller Symphony 3, 4 Vinyl LP Record

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1964 Alan Hovhaness Vittorio Giannini Clyde Roller Symphony 3, 4 Vinyl LP Record
Record Grade per Goldmine Standard: VG
Alan Hovhaness / Vittorio Giannini / Eastman Wind Ensemble / A. Clyde Roller – Symphony No. 4 • Symphony No. 3
ALAN HOVHANESS Symphony No. 4, opus 165 VITTORIO GIANNINI Symphony No. 3 (1958) EASTMAN WIND ENSEMBLE A. CLYDE ROLLER, conductor THE COMPOSERS WRITE ABOUT THEIR MUSIC ALAN HOVHANESS on his Symphony No. 4 I admire the giant melody of the Himalayan Mountains, seventh-century Armenian religious music, classical music of South India, orchestra music of Tang Dynasty China around 700 A.D., opera-oratorios of Handel. My Symphony No. 4 probably has spiritual influences of the composers Yegmalian, Gomidas Vartabed, and Handel. It is in three movements. The first movement, Andante, is a hymn and fugue. Trombones in 7/4 meter play Phrase 1. Phrase 2 is played by solo bass clarinet over scattered points of sound in percussion of superimposed meters. Phrase 3, in 3/8 + 7/4 meter, is heard in choirs of trombones and horns. Phrase 4 is a solo for contra-bassoon over texture of percus- sion points of sound. Phrase 5 is sung by horns; later trum- pets and tuba. The Allegro fugue follows, beginning in trom- bones, with horns, trumpets, and woodwind choirs developing the fugue in vocal counterpoint. The second movement, Allegro, is a dance-trio-dance form. Solo marimba in 19/8 + 20/8 meter is later accompanied by points of sound in timpani, glockenspiel, vibraphone and harp, played at a separate tempo in superimposed meters. The percussion sounds vanish, leaving the solo marimba to continue its line alone. A trio section consists of two dances: Dance No. 1 is heard in solo woodwinds and harp, Dance No. 2 in vibraphone and solo woodwinds. A recapitulation of per- cussion textures in new melodic lines follows. Xylophone in 20/8 + 19/8 meter takes the place of the former marimba solo. Points of sound enter again in timpani, glockenspiel, vibraphone and harp, and vanish, leaving the solo xylophone to-finish alone. The third movement, Andante espressivo, is a hymn and fugue. Phrase 1, in 7/4 meter, is sung in horns and tuba with interludes for solo English horn. Phrase 2, in 11/4 meter, is heard in trombones. The 7/4 meter returns in trumpets, horns and tuba. Phrase 3, in.lower trombones, is accom- panied by crossing glissandi in upper trombones. An accented cluster in trombone pedals unleashes a crescendo of clash- ing bells in free rhythm, played by giant tamtam, glocken- spiel, chimes and vibraphone. I would prefer the massive free rhythm bell orgies of Zurich to the spineless glockenspiel chimes and vibraphone of our industrial orchestras, i would like to ring all the bells in the thousand towers of the lost Armenian city of Ani in wildly clashing free rhythm. Phrase 4, Allegro maestoso, in 7/4 meter, is a final hymn and fugue over bell sounds. VITTORIO GIANNINI on his Symphony No. 3 The Symphony No. 3 was composed on a commission by the Duke University Band and its conductor, Paul Bryan, during the summer of 1958, in Rome, Italy, where I was spending my vacation. It is my second work for band: the first, Prelu- dium and Allegro, was commissioned by Richard Franko Goldman. I can give no other reason for choosing to write a Symphony to fulfill this commission than that I “felt like it” and the thought of doing it interested me a great deal. I will not go into the technical details of the work. Basically the listener is not concerned with them beyond what he can hear for himself. I follow no “isms” when I compose, I try to project and communicate a feeling, a thought that is in me at the time, using whatever technique is suggested by my mood to achieve this communication. The form of the movements is this: First movement—Sonata Allegro Second movement—A B A Third movement—A BAB Fourth movement—Sonata Allegro There is no program—only what I heard and felt at that time. I hope it makes music. It might be of interest that my father, Ferruccio A. Giannini, who was a well-known concert and opera singer, among other enterprises organized in the early part of this century the Royal Marine Band. It enjoyed considerable success, perform- ing for several seasons at Willow Grove Park in Philadelphia, at Young’s Pier in Atlantic City, and touring the country. Some of the Band’s early recordings are today collector's items. I was a child, and although I do not remember exactly, I am sure I was exposed to its rehearsals and concerts, for in our family music was as much a part of our everyday life as our daily bread. This perhaps explains why when I am asked the question, “You have written mostly operas, orchestral, chamber, and vocal music, how do you feel when writing for band?,’’ 1 can only answer, “There is no difference. The band is simply another medium for which I try to make music.” Notes About This Recording Both symphonies were recorded in the Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York. Telefunken microphones were used, one for the monaural version, three for the stereo. Wilma Cozart was recording director for the sessions; Harold Lawrence was musical supervisor; and Robert Eberenz was the engineer. George Piros and John Johnson made the film-to-disc trans- fers, the former for stereo, the latter for monaural.





LP593