When I was in high school I was a member of the All Southern California High School Orchestra. We gave a concert in San Diego with Howard Hanson conducting this piece of his. I love it !!
That was my 1st experience with this piece. All-State Orchestra in 1984! Yikes!! Coming up on 40 years ago!! Wow!!! You got to play under Hanson!! What an incredible memory!
We had a pretty good high school orchestra, and we played this when I was in 10th grade. One of the high points of my teen years and I still love it. I even wrote Hanson a fan letter about it - don't know if he ever got it. 😊 Hanson was a lifelong advocate for young people in music. It must have been amazing to perform it under his direction.
Romantic, indeed. One of my personal favorite symphonies of all time. Not only do I immediately hear the connection to favorite film scores, but also appreciate the three movement structure with the main theme returning in each movement - reminiscent of the cyclical structure that Franck and his student Chausson explored in each of their symphonies. Love, love, love!
“…with the main theme returning in each movement…” Yes, indeed, that’s what ties the symphony together in one neat package, giving it the cohesiveness that all great musical works should have.
I personally love how American symphonists of the 20th century not only managed to pack serious emotional and thematic weight into fewer movements but also often used programattic structure so that main themes would repeat throughout their works.
It's perhaps amusing that when l first heard it during those end credits, l loved it but did not know it. Many years later, this was the first piece l ever rehearsed with a full orchestra, and l immediately recognized it from Alien and was blown away.
All symphonies by Howard Hanson are very interesting, but, in my opinion, only 2nd Symphony is really great!! It's one of my favorite symphony of the world classical music along with Symphonies #4, 5, 6 by Peter Tchaikovsky, 4th Symphony by Alexander Glazunov, 2nd Symphony by Sergey Rachmaninoff and more... In my sight, the Thematism in other Hanson's symphonies is very "foggy" and unfortunately other his symphonies doesn't have really cool memorable themes. Each of them have interesting and sometimes really bright intonations, no more. But the themes and intonations of every part of this 2nd Symphony are so colorful and memorable! I love this Symphony very-very much!! And thank you for all scores!!
Bravo pour cette belle symphonie. Il y a aussi les 3,4 et 6 de Roy Harris qu'il ne faut oublier. Les 1 et 2 de Barber et la n3 de Copland. J'aimerais toutes les faire connaître comme autant de trésors à découvrir. On oublie souvent celles George Anteil ...entre autres.
@@stephenfisher5129I love that film score! (And what a film too) - although, I think I read that Ridley Scott actually used a sample of this symphony in the editing, ie it’s not Jerry Goldsmith at that point.
Playing this for a concert next month, and our conductor tonight at rehearsal tipped us off to the symphony's "main theme" being from one of the Alien movies! Maybe the first? I had no idea! Also that the composer founded or greatly helped to found the established esteemed Eastman School of Music. Hooray!
Yes, it was lifted directly from the Symphony into the end credits of the first Alien (1979) film. ruclips.net/video/Z7rUz6aR8Dw/видео.html ; I was fortunate enough to play this with the Bradley University Symphony Orchestra on horn several years ago ruclips.net/video/gp3qfNMG4XQ/видео.html - it's pretty much all horn, all the time, so real fun for us! Enjoy getting to perform it!
Magnificent work. I can hear a lot of Gustav Holst's Planets's suite especially the opening movement that recalls Neptune Bringer of Age I think . Of course Ridley Scott favoured the middle movement for the finale over Goldsmiths version in 'Alien' and it works beautifully IMHO, its melodic melancholy is both hauntingly beautiful and exceptionally moving. As for the disgustingly and crass intrusive ads on RUclips , well a good adblocker should put paid to them. It should be forbidden for RUclips to employ such obscenities during an upload of such music...make your filthy profit/revenue elsewhere, or leave the stewardship (ownership ?) of such platforms to those who care about it's cultural merit and value to us all !
I hear a lot of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky in this as well, also major influences for both Goldsmith and Williams… I was struck the first time I heard the Nocturnes from Debussy how much the work obviously influenced Goldsmith particularly
Yes, I agree , and include the excellent Alan Rawsthorne, British composer ....like his contemporaries Walton , Malcolm Arnold and the popular Ron Goodwin .... Rawsthorne scored many superb film soundtracks most notably for Nicolas Montserrat's 'The Cruel Sea'....thank you for your thoughtful observation on the subject. Shame there is no obvious channel or platform to explore such themes further....or at least any I'm aware of ..any suggestions would be very welcome ! 🙂
Very cinematic, of the Richard Rodgers "Victory at Sea" vein, or something starring Valentino. Also: Richard Basehart in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea".
Miklós Rózsa the great film composer's main theme for his score for Hitchcock's "Spellbound" and subsequent "Spellbound Concerto" was obviously inspired by the second theme in the first movement .
Well, yes, we all know of the displeasure lodged by both Goldsmith, the film's composer, and Hanson himself (who was alive at the time). Ridley Scott, the director, apparently decided to use an excerpt from Hanson without permission in the final cut.
I don't know about you, but when I hear the famous passage from this symphony used in Alien, the last thing my mind's eye sees is a woman that just blew an alien out of an airlock into outer space. Just sayin...
potential splice at 1:50? the cymbal roll sounds too abruptly interrupted by the brass/wind entrance also timpani overpowers the bassoons in the pizz section in the 3rd mvt
Poor friend - Your condescending assessment of this masterpiece aside - as a lifelong composer and musical anatomist, I can assuage your illusory fears about the symphony's supposed 'redundancy' by assuring you that, if you consider this marvelous work redundant, then you must also likewise consider many, if not most, of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach & Haydn redundant as well. Perhaps you are simply hard of hearing?
When I was in high school I was a member of the All Southern California High School Orchestra. We gave a concert in San Diego with Howard Hanson conducting this piece of his. I love it !!
That was my 1st experience with this piece. All-State Orchestra in 1984! Yikes!! Coming up on 40 years ago!! Wow!!! You got to play under Hanson!! What an incredible memory!
We had a pretty good high school orchestra, and we played this when I was in 10th grade. One of the high points of my teen years and I still love it. I even wrote Hanson a fan letter about it - don't know if he ever got it. 😊
Hanson was a lifelong advocate for young people in music. It must have been amazing to perform it under his direction.
This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite symphonic works! I loved seeing the picture of Hanson for the last page!!!
It’s wonderful
Definitely one of the top ten most lusciously beautiful American symphonies of the 20th century.
I fell in love with it when we played it in high school orchestra. It still gives me chills.
Wish I’d known since 2004
absolutely breathtaking symphony, possibly one of the most cinematic
Romantic, indeed. One of my personal favorite symphonies of all time. Not only do I immediately hear the connection to favorite film scores, but also appreciate the three movement structure with the main theme returning in each movement - reminiscent of the cyclical structure that Franck and his student Chausson explored in each of their symphonies. Love, love, love!
“…with the main theme returning in each movement…”
Yes, indeed, that’s what ties the symphony together in one neat package, giving it the cohesiveness that all great musical works should have.
I personally love how American symphonists of the 20th century not only managed to pack serious emotional and thematic weight into fewer movements but also often used programattic structure so that main themes would repeat throughout their works.
I first heard this on the end credits to the film "Alien" and loved it
It's perhaps amusing that when l first heard it during those end credits, l loved it but did not know it. Many years later, this was the first piece l ever rehearsed with a full orchestra, and l immediately recognized it from Alien and was blown away.
Ridley Scott knew what he was doing back then.
One of the greatest American symphonies, along with Copland 3 and many by Hovhaness.
All symphonies by Howard Hanson are very interesting, but, in my opinion, only 2nd Symphony is really great!! It's one of my favorite symphony of the world classical music along with Symphonies #4, 5, 6 by Peter Tchaikovsky, 4th Symphony by Alexander Glazunov, 2nd Symphony by Sergey Rachmaninoff and more... In my sight, the Thematism in other Hanson's symphonies is very "foggy" and unfortunately other his symphonies doesn't have really cool memorable themes. Each of them have interesting and sometimes really bright intonations, no more. But the themes and intonations of every part of this 2nd Symphony are so colorful and memorable! I love this Symphony very-very much!! And thank you for all scores!!
ignore this comment, i'm saving timestamps for an audition
allegro moderato:
2:17 - b (to c)
8:12 - n-3 (to o)
andante con tenerezza:
16:03 - d-5 (to d+5)
17:13 - e (to f)
allegro con brio:
22:38 - e-1 (to e+3)
24:27 - i (to j+3)
Bravo pour cette belle symphonie. Il y a aussi les 3,4 et 6 de Roy Harris qu'il ne faut oublier. Les 1 et 2 de Barber et la n3 de Copland. J'aimerais toutes les faire connaître comme autant de trésors à découvrir. On oublie souvent celles George Anteil ...entre autres.
You can hear part of this symphony in Alien by Ridley Scott !
YES I played this piece a long time ago and found it here. For years I forgot the composer and piece.
Hola desde Valencia España, grande Howard Hanson muy bueno 👌 👍
Hey I lived in el Carmen. Valencia is awesome
John Williams obviously learned a lot from this symphony when he composed the score to "Star Wars."
He’s cited it as an inspiration for E.T. For sure!
Even Jerry Goldsmith's "Alien" (1979) as well.
and et. I remember playing it thinking, gosh this sounds like et. lol
@@stephenfisher5129I love that film score! (And what a film too) - although, I think I read that Ridley Scott actually used a sample of this symphony in the editing, ie it’s not Jerry Goldsmith at that point.
Dvorak enters the chat. Listen to the coda of the e minor “dumky” trio if you wanna hear some E.T.
Playing this for a concert next month, and our conductor tonight at rehearsal tipped us off to the symphony's "main theme" being from one of the Alien movies! Maybe the first? I had no idea! Also that the composer founded or greatly helped to found the established esteemed Eastman School of Music. Hooray!
parts of mvt 3 always remind me of the bike chase scene in ET. Didn't think of the connection till now.
Yes, it was lifted directly from the Symphony into the end credits of the first Alien (1979) film. ruclips.net/video/Z7rUz6aR8Dw/видео.html ; I was fortunate enough to play this with the Bradley University Symphony Orchestra on horn several years ago ruclips.net/video/gp3qfNMG4XQ/видео.html - it's pretty much all horn, all the time, so real fun for us! Enjoy getting to perform it!
I love Jerry Goldsmith and his Alien score is one of my favorites, but replacing his End Theme with Hanson was perfect.
Yes it fit so well. Could easily be thought to not work but it does. The nature of the film makes us question meaning of life etc
Timestamps :
Mvt I
A 1:30
B 2:17
C 2:50
D 3:14
E 3:38
F 4:28
G 5:31
H 6:30
I 6:20
J 6:55
K 7:14
L 7:27
M 7:54
N 8:17
O 8:23
P 8:37
Q 8:45
R 9:26
S 10:14
T 10:29
U 10:52
V 11:54
W 12:25
Mvt II
Start 13:41
A 14:21
B 15:09
C 15:52
D 16:25
E 17:13
F 17:47
G 18:25
H 18:59
I 19:36
J 20:14
Mvt III
Start 21:07
A 21:25
B 21:37
C 21:47
D 22:12
E 22:42
F 23:16
G 23:47
H 25:15
I 24:27
J 24:38
K 24:52
L 25:21
M 25:39
N 25:56
O 26:37
P 27:00
Q 27:29
R 27:43
A fantastic symphony!
Beautifully done
12:47...."This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo signing off. Come on, cat." 😺
Magnificent work. I can hear a lot of Gustav Holst's Planets's suite especially the opening movement that recalls Neptune Bringer of Age I think . Of course Ridley Scott favoured the middle movement for the finale over Goldsmiths version in 'Alien' and it works beautifully IMHO, its melodic melancholy is both hauntingly beautiful and exceptionally moving. As for the disgustingly and crass intrusive ads on RUclips , well a good adblocker should put paid to them. It should be forbidden for RUclips to employ such obscenities during an upload of such music...make your filthy profit/revenue elsewhere, or leave the stewardship (ownership ?) of such platforms to those who care about it's cultural merit and value to us all !
I hear a lot of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky in this as well, also major influences for both Goldsmith and Williams… I was struck the first time I heard the Nocturnes from Debussy how much the work obviously influenced Goldsmith particularly
Yes, I agree , and include the excellent Alan Rawsthorne, British composer ....like his contemporaries Walton , Malcolm Arnold and the popular Ron Goodwin .... Rawsthorne scored many superb film soundtracks most notably for Nicolas Montserrat's 'The Cruel Sea'....thank you for your thoughtful observation on the subject. Shame there is no obvious channel or platform to explore such themes further....or at least any I'm aware of ..any suggestions would be very welcome ! 🙂
10:48.... Alien....Gorgeous theme. Truly conveys that the Xenomorph threat is finally over for Ripley....OR IS IT??
I remember this. I heard this a long time ago on Classical South Florida.
I love Howard Hanson Symphonies. He conducted William Grants Still Afro-American Symphony!!!
And barber 1! Just imagine hanging with that crowd
Anybody here from Interlochen?
27:00 ....wow....like the sound of heaven! of love!
Very cinematic, of the Richard Rodgers "Victory at Sea" vein, or something starring Valentino. Also: Richard Basehart in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea".
Miklós Rózsa the great film composer's main theme for his score for Hitchcock's "Spellbound" and subsequent "Spellbound Concerto" was obviously inspired by the second theme in the first movement .
I’m so glad somebody else recognizes the greatness of Rozsa!
@@jordanjames3937 Have you ever read his autobio: "A Double Life" , it's a great read.
Alien 10:47
Well, yes, we all know of the displeasure lodged by both Goldsmith, the film's composer, and Hanson himself (who was alive at the time). Ridley Scott, the director, apparently decided to use an excerpt from Hanson without permission in the final cut.
Thanks!
@@sagaquisces Hanson being a gentleman decided not to sue in court to demand that his music be removed.
I don't know about you, but when I hear the famous passage from this symphony used in Alien, the last thing my mind's eye sees is a woman that just blew an alien out of an airlock into outer space. Just sayin...
Very Nice Arrangement!
But it’s not an arrangement. It’s the original work.
The E.T/Alien Symphony
Timestamps for audition:
25:13 15:57 17:13
THANK YOU!
End credits of Alien here 4:25
potential splice at 1:50? the cymbal roll sounds too abruptly interrupted by the brass/wind entrance
also timpani overpowers the bassoons in the pizz section in the 3rd mvt
25:36
9:50
17:13
21:26
10:52 INTERLOCHEN THEME!!!
Last movement start = E.T....
23:50 to 25:13 is what im here fore
What is the nationality of this composer?
american
Nordic lineage, but very much an American - longtime director of the Eastman School of Music.
Born in Wahoo, Nebraska (USA).
2:30
8:50
4:26 sounds like shostakovich
The end credits of Alien
8:05
Tron
My thumbs-up is for your trouble in mounting the score with the performance, not the dreadfully redundant piece.
Poor friend - Your condescending assessment of this masterpiece aside - as a lifelong composer and musical anatomist, I can assuage your illusory fears about the symphony's supposed 'redundancy' by assuring you that, if you consider this marvelous work redundant, then you must also likewise consider many, if not most, of the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach & Haydn redundant as well. Perhaps you are simply hard of hearing?
I agree. I liked it when I was younger due to it's sweeping and memorable themes, but it ultimately is a shallow and poorly constructed work.
@@mrtchaikovsky Poorly constructed???? are you insane?
@@mrtchaikovskywhat a pompous statement
Not bad for an alien
25:14
25:06