Psalm and Fugue for String Orchestra, Op. 40a (1941)
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
Alan Hovhaness, who died this past summer at the age of 89, was one of a number of interesting
American musical mavericks, whose style owed much to the influence of music from other cultures, as well as being a composer who strove to achieve a directness of expression and accessibility to today’s audiences. Born in Somerville, Massachustts, of Scottish and Armenian ancestry, Hovhaness was trained at the New England Conservatory. There he studied with Frederick Converse, one of that generation of pioneering late-19th century New England composers who helped to bring about the “coming of age” of American concert music. But, not at all interested in following his teacher in looking to the German symphonic tradition for inspiration, Hovhaness showed an early interest in Eastern music, particularly Indian music, as well as studying the techniques of Renaissance music. Following a summer spent studying at Tanglewood in 1943, where his work met with severe criticism from Aaron Copland and Lukas Foss, Hovhaness gave serious consideration to the direction in which his work had been moving, which led to the suppression (and destruction) of much of his earlier output. At the relatively late age of 32 he began to give more attention to the music of his Armenian forebears, as well as seeking to establish a clarity of harmonic style, and primary focus on the melodic element in his work, which gave his compositions their distinctive simplicity of expression.
By the 1950s Hovhaness’ compositions began to reach a wider public, especially through the great success enjoyed by his Second Symphony (“Mysterious Mountain”), which was marked by a meditative and mystical character which would be associated with the composer to the end of his career. He was perhaps unique among American composers for the “open-hearted spirituality” of his work, as Allan Kozinn pointed out in his obituary of Hovhaness in the New York Times. Hovhaness was an incredibly prolific composer, composing more than seventy symphonies, and a huge range of music for the stage,
The Psalm and Fugue, (composed in 1941, although only published in 1958), is one of those early compositions which survived Hovhaness’ ruthless winnowing out of his catalogue of works. In its melodic and harmonic simplicity it shows the influence of his preoccupation with Renaissance music. The Psalm is a plaintive, chant-like introductory movement, utterly diatonic (as if meant to be played on the "white keys"”of the piano). There are five short segments, the first for conventional string orchestra (the basses playing pizzicato), quite and reflective, followed by a section in which the violas play a rhythmically embellished theme above sustained lower strings. A variant of the opening forms the central third episode, the strings divided (except violas and basses), creating a richer sonority which swells to crest in a full fortissimo. The fourth segment is an echo of the second, the violas again carrying the melodic line---now for the first time with touches of chromaticism, moving away from the “white key” character of the earlier sections. A short, full-throated fifth segment, again written for divided strings, concludes the movement with the massive sonority.
The fugue sets forth with a “subject” (principal thematic element) heard in the second violins – a sort of “five-finger” melody akin to that which opened the composition. In quick succession the subject is heard in entries by the first violins, cellos and violas. (Curiously, the basses are silent until the very last phrase in the movement---which might suggest that this fugue might well have begun life as a composition for string quartet, in this version expanded to be performed by the multiple strings of the orchestra.) The consistently quiet tone of the opening section (or “exposition”) soon rises in intensity as all the instruments move into their upper registers. The music becomes chromatic in texture, moving into tonalities quite removed from the modal G Major which has dominated the composition from the beginning, with striking touches of dissonance. An increasing rhythmic momentum creates a mood of excitement, with chains of rapid notes in the lower strings. Marked “noble and majestic,” the opening music of the Psalm movement returns (with the basses rejoining the orchestra), to stride on to a powerful conclusion.
For an Newtown Chamber Orchestra concert
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