Hovhaness shahinyan biography samples

(b. Somerville, Massachusetts (USA); 8 March 1911)

Alan Hovhaness (also spelt Hovaness) was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish descent; and perhaps the most distinctive figure in contemporary music… also one of the most prolific, with an opus tally hovering around 400.

Chronologically, part of the generation of composers who followed pioneers such as Henry Cowell, George Gershwin, Virgil Thomson, Carl Ruggles, Aaron Copland and the rediscovery of Charles Ives (therefore roughly contemporaneous with William Schuman, David Diamond, Lukas Foss, Leonard Bernstein, etc); but stylistically a maverick, whose music reflects a love of Western counterpoint and a personal fascination with by Indian, East Asian and Armenian music more obviously than any contemporary musical thought.

Hovhaness is said to have begun composing aged four; then studied with Frederick Converse at New England Conservatory and with Bohuslav Martinů Biography - VLADIMIR SHAHINYAN CISIW