September 2011  Stokowski CD release
features Hovhaness Symphony No.3

The 1956 world premiere performance of Hovhaness's little-known Symphony No.3 is finally available on CD, featuring as part of a set of major symphonies from the Guild Historical label.

This is the second release in Guild Historical's series of Leopold Stokowski conducting important 20th century symphonies, several in premiere performances. The two-CD set also features first performances of symphonies by Stravinsky (Symphony in C), Hindemith, Howard Hanson, Roy Harris, and Karl Amadeus Hartmann. Of special appeal to fans of Roy Harris will be that his Symphony No.7 as heard here is the sole surviving recording of the work prior to its extensive revision in the wake of this premiere.

Those familiar with the existing recording of Hovhaness's Symphony No.3 (Vakhtang Jordania conducting the KBS Symphony on Soundset) will hear a very different, and more exhilarating reading of the score by Stokowski.

Leopold Stokowski Symphony Premieres 1943-56
NBC Symphony Orchestra / Symphony of the Air
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln / Saint Louis Symphony
Guild Historical GHCD2379/80 | 149:29 | ADD

CD1 track listing [74.43]
1.    Broadcast commentary [4:44]
2-5. Stravinsky: Symphony in C [28:10]
       NBC Symphony Orchestra
6-9. Hanson: Symphony No.4 [20:20]
       NBC Symphony Orchestra
10.  Harris: Symphony No.7 (1st version)
        [20:08]   Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
CD2 track listing [74.46]
1.    Broadcast commentary [3:49]
2-5. Hindemith: Symphony in E flat [29:50]
       NBC Symphony Orchestra
6.    Hartmann: Symphony No.2: Adagio
        [15:08]   WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
7-9  Hovhaness: Symphony No.3 [25:59]
       Symphony of the Air
7.    I. Andante maestoso - Presto [8:14]
8.    II. Andante [8:44]
9.    III. Allegro molto [9:01]

The Third Symphony was a work Hovhaness was very fond of, due in part to the almost total neglect it received in stark contrast to its immediate predecessor Mysterious Mountain. Unusually for Hovhaness, the work's construction pays homage to the classical symphony, and was described by the composer as his "tribute to Mozartian classical sonata form". Even so, Hovhanessian fingerprints are all over it, such as the numerous canons and phrases of 5, 7 and 11 beats pitted against each other.

Already released on CD (and reviewed at our site) are live Stokowski performances of Hovhaness's first two numbered symphonies: the Exile Symphony and Mysterious Mountain.