In 1963, shortly after returning from Japan and Korea, Hovhaness put out a disc of his music on his own label, Poseidon Society Recordings. It featured the recently premiered Symphony No.16 (recorded in Seoul, Korea) as well as his Concerto No.8 For Orchestra, and two smaller works, Prayer of St. Gregory (one of its first apperances on disc) and the Piano Quartet Op.9

The composer-autographed cover below clearly shows "private issue" in smaller typeface at the bottom, and this test-release had a very limited pressing. It was not until around 1971 that Poseidon Society issued more discs and became a commercially viable proposition.