You, Mr. Hanson, composed one of the most gorgeous symphonies ever written!! To my discerning ear this symphony will forever remain amongst the top ten!! Mr. Howard Hanson thank you!!!!
It's MAGNIFICENT!!! I also first heard the melodic portion at the credits of the first "Alien" Syfy film and thought it had been specifically composed for the film until years later hearing the entire symphony on my local Classical music station here in Baltimore...
Actually, I discovered recently that it was used there. I'd always heard it when I watched "Alien," but I never made the connection. Strangely enough, parts of this were used as filler music for one of the "Porfirio Cadena" radionovelas, and once I found it with Shazam and listened to it all the way through, that's when it hit me.
He was a great promoter of young musicians. I attended a program by our local all-city orchestra in the early '70s, and when they announced Hanson as the visiting conductor I almost fell over! I still regret that I didn't have a chance to speak to him after the program.
Hanson lived into 1981. I had the honor of performing in the world premiere of his "Sea Symphony" which he conducted at Interlochen, summer 1977. What an honor to play under him!
I sang in the first pres choir under eastman chorus assistant director George Corwin circa 1963 that was "Howard Hanson's church". He wrote a piece for our choir and I am pleased to have met the man on more than one time during those years. A gentleman of his times and among the memories I shall take to my grave. I'm always thrilled to hear the themes of his Symphony # 2. I wonder if anyone replying here can recall similar experiences of 1962-'63 in Rochester NY?
I have loved this piece since the first time I played it in 1999. It is my absolute favorite symphonic piece. Fave moments: the trumpet solo in mvmnt 2, the little licks in the woodwinds later in the same mvmnt, the driving tympani in the 2nd half of the 3rd, the intense cacophony that builds to the unison rhythm and the release of the tension when the theme comes back at the end of mvmnt 3, and the little trumpet fanfare at the end. Fun fact, first time I played this in public i entered a half beat early after the pause before the final note in mvmnt 3. Whoopsy doodles.
I'm wondering what technology would have allowed them to listen to the piece while walking through the hills of Berkeley in 1940. Perhaps they both thought of the melodies, talked of it, hummed it?
Some how it's so "Californian" isn't it? From the first time I remember hearing it, at the cinema in Pasadena, It has always reminded me of that landscape.
One of the great American symphonies of the 20th century, alongside Randall Thompson's Symphony #2. This first recording is great in that it goes all out to hit the big moments. It also truly accentuates the syncopated rhythms in the final bars like no other recording ever. The only other recording you really need to hear is Hanson's stereo recording for Mercury Records in 1958. You will be blown away.
Yes, Jim-awful year. The lingering world depression, occupation of Poland by Hitler, after he annexed Austria the year prior. But I’ve thought a lot about the years leading up to 1939, and the music that flourished in the 30s and 40s. Maybe I’ll share why, since one of your respondents didn’t catch why you made your comment. it was really an intriguing time in that taste in serious arts after the 20s began leaning away from Modernism, which demands some analysis and deliberation, toward sentimental meaning from representational images and stock characters-Thomas Hart Benton paintings, Frank Capra films, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway novels. Samuel Barber’s “Adagio” was published in 1936, and though Barber’s compositions are very rigorous, given his blistering intelligence and academic elegance, his “sound” is antique, modal and melodic, but not exactly romantic, like Hanson. Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” was performed in ‘35, also composed with a noble but affectionate ethos, not hard to embrace. Copland’s “Quiet City” in 1940 prefigured his sound of the legendary “Great American Sadness,” which he reaffirmed by the spare melodies under lush orchestrations in “Appalachian Spring” a few years later. Then the big, final farewell, as I’d frame it-an unfailingly composed, flawlessly polished denouement, complete with an Autumnal sun blazing above the faded glory of Troy and Marathon, casting an illusion of gold glimmering in the crumbling ruins of colonial empires, a feat mastered only by one gentleman of a certain age-and station, class, schooling and cultivation that not a single film-score in Hollywood will ever out-wrench: “Four Last Songs,” the final masterpiece in the long career of Richard Strauss, summed up about 200 years of coherence in music theory and Western art criticism generally. It was written shortly after the war was over and a year before Strauss died at an advanced age, without facing questions of culpability in de-Nazification trials. Hitler loved Haydn, Strauss and Wagner; but Mendelssohn, Mahler and Brahms, the Jew, half-Jewish and pro-Jewish, not so much. Art, music and literature were elbowed away from the attention of nations by the war, of course. And imagine the oppressive numbers-less than ten years after 1939, over 75,000,000 people were dead from war, genocide, famine, fire-bombing, disease and deprivation. The five-year war redrew borders and recalibrated nations across Eurasia. China, Israel, India and Pakistan emerged as independent sovereignties, which sparked a wider, unstoppable wave of anti-colonial movements through the 1950s. The only silver lining, and it’s an epic to soothe the fury of people who, like me, rage against the disingenuity and the embalming of trauma by the fatuous consolation of silver linings. But-Immanuel Kant’s dream of a truly global concord, managed by a consortium of enlightened powers and authorized by the assent of all nations, to promote liberty and dignity, literacy, prosperity and public health, was born soon after Germany surrendered. That’s when the charter for a “United Nations,” discussed by FDR and Churchill after the war had just begun, was drafted under the guidance of Eleanor Roosevelt and signed by international delegates convening in San Francisco in June of 1945. As more countries ratified the UN, the limping League of Nation’s disappeared and by October the first nuclear weapons had procured Japan’s surrender. That could all be packaged as TMI, but there is a compelling, very contemporary reason to refamiliarize ourselves and our children with them- all were, arguably, caused by international policies or local prejudice. And many writers, political scientists, diplomats and academics. Though natural disasters have lives of their own, and the vicissitudes of fortune govern a lot of life, those externalities can be triggered or short-circuited by human choice. They can be inflamed to maximum woe or allowed to sputter to a stop by wise, experienced, leaders with an ethical heart and spine of conviction. With a grasp of history-and the study of ethical behavior in grade school and higher education, World War III, and genocidal campaigns, need never happen. 20 years that pivot in equipoise on the fulcrum of 1939, between 1929 and ‘49, were occupied by the greatest economic depression, labor stagnation, trade disruption, xenocidal unrest fueled by race, class, caste and civil hostilities, rejection of refugees pleading for asylum, massive crop-failures, the second truly global war (and most destructive ever war), and the most appalling genocide and deadliest weapons ever used in human history. Let’s resolve now that such pointless misery will not survive the planning or consideration stage! War-what is it good for? Nothing. Music is the universal rocking chair, a bicycle built for two. Gather up the toy guns in your community and sell them to buy a piano for the local elementary school. Then 20 years later, ask around: who regrets the music recital and wishes instead they could have had more BB-shot visits to the Emergency Room?
There never was an actual "Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra", though many have thought it was the school orchestra of the conservatory. It was a recording group consisting of members of the Rochester Philharmonic and the faculty of the Eastman School.
why this beautiful, moving, tuneful symphony isn't on symphony programs puzzles me. American orchestras appear prejudiced against their own native music. never hear harris, piston, hardly any Bernstein , certainly not Ives. a shame. does a disservice to our heritage.
Although I also LOVE Hanson's magnificent performance on his later Mercury stereo LP, there are certain parts of this recording that grab me like no other recording, especially the last few minutes, which express a great vitality, especially in the accent of the syncopation during the build-up to the finale, which I've never heard again in any later recordings, even Hanson's.
So special with Hanson actually conducting his work. Thank you, shellackophile..... Just read this, "Hanson was displeased that the theme was used for the closing credits of Alien[12] without his permission, but decided not to fight it in court." Doubt Scott even offered to pay.... sad
Let us not also forget that Scott screwed over Goldsmith by substituting parts of other scores and eliminating pieces of the Alien soundtrack altogether. Doesn't help that he used a bastardized version of The Romantic for the end credits.
I'm so glad I didn't watch that movie 'Alien' before hearing this, I know what this music is really about--it makes it countlessly more beautiful and touching. Actually, what I hear in this music too is John Williams' heart beating intensely.
A surprisingly good quality recording considering the time period it was made. I went searching for this classic to listen while I do some editing and animation. Soon as I saw that this was conducted by the man HIMSELF, I knew I had to give it a listen. Also, there's something kind of "modern" in the composition of this symphony. While it sounds romantic in tone, especially with the main theme that we're familiar with, there's also this feeling of a shining modern metropolis (that movie of the same name does come to mind). Anyway, that's just me.
John Williams got many of his ideas from Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Check out the overtures from Captain Blood, Kings Row, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and The Sea Hawk.
At 4:45 in, my most favorite part beginning with the French horn opens up the most revealing piece of the symphony. And at 11:40 it comes back full circle to an ending crescendo dropping off for one last suspenseful changing end.
En baguenaudant dans les prés du passé on peut cueillir des bouquets de fleurs folles et improbables on peut revenir avec des extraits somptueux de Howard Hanson et se dire que l'on a gagné du temps et de la sérénité !
The American Bruckner? Not hearing it myself, but I'm thrilled to find some Alien OST music from the talented Mr. Hanson - music which I've known for 30 years.
MVT I. Adagio - Allegro moderato. Sonata form. INTRODUCTION 0:08 | Introduction. (I.Int-a) Adagio. Note the repeated Ab-Bb-B motif and how it is picked up by more and more instruments. Violins take this theme and enter a rising passage that eventually climaxes at 1:07. Strings only at 1:33: this theme is stated a few more times, hushed. 1:58 | (I.Int-b) Muted trumpets herald the entrance of fortissimo horns at 2:01, which introduce a new theme, outlining a perfect 4th. This features prominently in the 3rd movement. EXPOSITION 2:08 | Exposition begins. Allegro moderato. 2:13 | Theme 1. (I.1) Two distinct melodic ideas; the first (I.1a) at 2:13 outlines a dominant 7th(!), and the second at 2:22 (I.1b) is punctuated by the quartal chord it outlines. String tremolo at 2:23 - a rising whole-tone scale, followed by a harp glissando. I.1a and I.1b are passed around the orchestra and further developed. Transitional passage begins at 3:01. 3:11 | Transitional/bridge theme. (I.T) Initially, presented by oboe I; subsidiary motif (I.Ta) presented by violin I and violas at 3:23, which then pick up the theme and develop its first four notes, which are passed on to the brass. Note how this is related to I.1! Meno mosso at 4:11. Theme repeated, transposed a perfect fifth down, then a tritone down from the first statement; cellos state I.Ta. All other instruments drop out at 4:34, leaving only a horn I(?) solo, which leads into… 4:45 | Theme 2. Lento. (I.2) E-flat major. The “Interlochen theme”, a “hauntingly beautiful” one at that. Horn solo (I.2a) affirms the tonality of the theme, and strings play a limpid accompaniment, complete with harp. 2nd leg of the theme (I.2b) at 5:16 is played twice: first by the strings, while the brass (horns?) introduce a new figuration, then by winds at 5:48, where the accompaniment is taken up by the strings. 6:21 | Codetta. (I.C) Develops the last four notes of I.2b, first in the trumpets, and then with all the winds. DEVELOPMENT 6:33 | Development begins with a sudden drop in dynamic level, with strings playing an accompanimental figure similar to that of I.2a. Molto meno mosso. 6:42 | I.1a presented by solo English horn; bassoon 1 eventually enters with I.Ta in diminution. Oboe I and clarinet 1 further develop this theme - eventually, only the quartal chord outlined in I.1b is left. 7:26 | Molto più mosso. The quartal figure is repeated and developed by the winds and harp. 7:46 | I.1a in horn I; strings (specifically the front 2 stands of the 1st violins and violas) join in the accompaniment, now playing a perfect 5th/perfect 4th. Flute I plays this same theme at 8:00. Oboe I outlines a modified version of I.1b at 8:14 - a similar melodic fragment is heard at the beginning of the 3rd movement. 8:27 | A run in clarinet I leads to a much faster statement of I.1a, disturbing the relative calm of this section, followed by I.1a in trumpet I. All the while, the other winds and strings gain momentum in their accompanimental figures, driving the music forward. 8:34 | Animato. Trombone I states I.1a, followed by trumpet I, which also outlines I.1b. Winds and strings play accompaniment in triplets (strings start tremolo but switch to triplets when the trumpet plays the theme). Violins, horns, oboes, and English horn reiterate I.1a and I.1b in diminution at 8:47, followed by piccolo, flutes, clarinets, and trumpets at 8:50. I.1b repeated again at 8:53 by many instruments, leading to the recapitulation. RECAPITULATION 8:59 | Recapitulation begins. Molto meno mosso (largamente). I.1a restated by trumpets, while horns reintroduce I.Int-b. Quartal chords in horns, bassoons, and strings continue to propel the music forward. 9:14 | Animato. Features the same figuration as at the beginning of the exposition and the codetta. 9:24 | Meno mosso. After a brief pause, winds, horns, and cellos present a modified version of I.1a. High winds join in and present an ascending scalar run. 9:36 | Ancora meno mosso. Climax. Flutes, oboes, and trumpet I present a modified I.T, then repeat it joined by the rest of the winds. A repeated C builds towards another statement of I.1. 10:06 | Out of the quiet left from I.1 fading away, I.T is restated, this time by clarinet I; the theme begins very similarly to its presentation in the exposition. 10:56 | I.Ta, followed by a further development of I.Int at 11:01. 11:46 | Molto meno mosso. I.2 restated in D-flat major. Harp now plays eighth-note (quaver) accompaniment. I.2b taken by strings, accompanied by brass. 13:28 | Codetta restated, although it is much more languid than the first time. A sudden augmented major 7th chord is answered by a final D-flat major triad in the low strings.
MVT II. Andante con tenerezza. C major. Ternary form. 14:46 | A section. (II.A; we’ll call it the “Andante theme” when it reappears in the 3rd mvt) Theme presented in chords by winds, accompanied by lush chords in the strings. Restated three times (at 15:04, 15:22, and 15:42), briefly harmonized as E minor on the third iteration. Final statement accompanied by strings in high register and more pronounced presence of brass, encompassing a downward glissando. This is followed by an Ab pedal point, leading to the next section. 16:09 | B section begins with a restatement of I.Int in the brass, answered by the strings, which eventually pick this up in the form of a scale reminiscent of the opening (16:16). 16:33 | I.Int in strings and brass(?) leads to a Gbaug7 chord. 16:43 | II.A stated in diminution by winds, answered by brass. This is repeated a whole step higher (16:54). Violins present a fragment of II.A in a rising sequence, over a I.Int drone in the horns (17:05), before switching over to I.Int themselves, accompanied by II.A in diminution in the winds (17:22). 17:30 | A rising scale in the strings (hmm; sounds familiar, no?) climaxes with another statement of I.2, the “Interlochen theme” (17:39). This abruptly trails off at 18:23 and is followed by a transitional passage featuring major and minor 3rds and 6ths. Tension builds again; a fragmented statement of the Interlochen theme at 18:45 in D major leads to a G minor 9th chord and another rapid statement of II.A at 18:54. 19:05 | Transition back to A section. Bassoons and horns restate II.A in D major, but with tinges of G minor. Eventually, at 19:20, all that’s left is a B-flat pedal tone in the cellos, basses, and horn (which gets the last say here)… 19:26 | A section returns; II.A is taken up this time by the strings, restated in E minor at 20:06 and in C major at 20:30 in high chords in the violins. The A-flat pedal returns at 20:49, accompanied by a descending chromatic figure and increasingly chromatic fragments of II.A (C minor at 21:01). A B-flat pedal tone appears at 21:10, and the dotted figure occurring at the beginning of II.A is restated thrice in C major at 21:14, twice in the strings and finally in the horns. MVT III. Allegro con brio - Animato - Molto meno mosso - Più mosso - Animato - Meno mosso. C major to D-flat major. Free form; makes extensive use of cyclical structure, bringing back themes from each of the prior movements for this finale. 21:41 | PART I. Violins and winds open with a rapid figure from I.C, the codetta of the first movement. Horns enter at 21:46 with a theme built on fourths (let’s call it III.1a) that calls back to multiple aspects of the first movement: I.Int-b, I.1b, and the quartal passage in the first movement’s development. At 21:57, the quartal chord is repeated in a “stretto” of sorts. 22:02 | For lack of a better word, listen to that badass cello and bass part! They take up III.1a, engaging in dialogue with the winds, who reference I.1a. 22:10 | Animato. New material! (III.1b) Horn solo, with tremolo accompaniment in the strings. The motive is then taken up by the trumpets at 22:17, and by the winds and brass at 22:22 Also, the time signature changes a lot here, which was a bit of a pain to count in the 2nd violin part… -_- The interval of a 5th (and augmented 5th) is repeated, bringing us back to… 22:27 | III.1a, restated in F major. Arpeggiated quartal chords then carry us away from this theme into the next part of the movement. 22:38 | PART II. Molto meno mosso. Strings play a repeated-note figure forming a quartal chord, reminiscent of the beginning of the 1st movement’s development section. At 22:44, cellos enter with a theme (III.2) that begins by outlining a quartal chord. E-flat minor 7th at 23:07. 23:14 | Violins pick up the quartal chord, rising to a climax on an E major triad - I.Int can be heard in the horns!!! Quickly drifts away harmonically again, and III.2 returns at 23:41. At 23:57, violins make another statement of I.Int, accompanied by the gradually transforming quartal figure. The Andante theme, II.A, is restated by oboe 1 and the clarinets at 24:15. At 24:35, only the accompanying 1st flute remains, joined by the bassoon at 24:39. 24:44 | PART III. Più mosso. Begins with the coolest-sounding pizzicato accompaniment that I’ve EVER heard, in the cellos and basses. Horns enter at 24:52 with a theme (III.3a) that is stated a total of 4 times; every second iteration features a quintuplet flourish, and the last two are played a perfect fourth higher. In between iterations, bassoons play a figure (III.3b) in response that goes with the low strings’ pizzicato. 25:22 | Violins join in on the accompanimental fun. Trombones restate a fragment of III.3a at 25:26, and again with the horns at 25:33. 25:37 | Animato. The Andante theme is restated three times (again at 25:48 and 25:58) in all its glory, although modified - III.3b interjects its rhythmic syncopations in between statements. First trumpets in A-flat major, then oboes, English horn, and horns in D major, then trumpets, piccolo, and flutes in A-flat major. All the while, a massive crescendo… 26:08 | PART IV. A huge climax, beginning the final part of the movement, where all of the significant thematic material is brought together. First I.1a and I.1b in strings, piccolo, trumpets, with III.3b still going full-blast in the winds; then again at 26:30, with more prominence given to III.3b, and one last time at 26:48. 26:55 | Repeated E-flats… hmm… what could that mean? Oh, right… 27:00 | Meno mosso. Of course, the Interlochen theme, in the violins! (I.2) Stated with much more grandeur this time around. 27:50 | A solo “quartet” but really sextet? Principal first and second violins share a cadential passage from I.2b, marked sentimentale. (I may or may not have hit that D-flat out of tune when performing this… oops) 28:00 | (animando) Oboes and clarinets pick up this triplet figure (rhythmically altered), and strings join in at 28:05 with a rising, mostly pentatonic passage. At 28:13, brass repeats this with a 3-3-2 syncopation, while winds carry on the figure. 28:19 | III.1a is restated in E-flat and then G-flat; at 28:23, I.1b is also heard, before winds and brass all pick up III.3b at 28:26. 28:35 | One last partial statement of the Andante theme, coming up to an E major triad at 28:43, a harp glissando, and to finish all of this off… 28:48 | ...a final, triumphant D-flat major triad!
+Max Hollick Knowing the 1958 Mercury recording very well, I can say that although Hanson's approach hadn't changed much, this performance sounds more nuanced.
One of my favorite Hanson stories I heard many years ago ... Hindemith and Hanson were in Berlin, sometime in the late 1930s, and they were walking out of a hotel through a revolving door. A man was entering as they exited. Once outside, Hindemith turned to Hanson and asked, "Do you know who that was?" Hanson said he did not know. Hindemith said that it was Adolf Hitler. Hanson said "Damn, I should have knocked the bastard down."
We played this for All State Chamber Orchestra this year and there were only four of us horn players :O poor principal hornist... our performance actually maybe a bit better than this recording (the winds mess up quite a bit in this one!), so that was good at least
My community orchestra is performing this symphony soon, and as I am charged with writing the program notes I have been listening to it with a music theorist's ear. I note all the gushing comments already posted. Doesn't anyone dislike this music? I find that each time I hear it, I like it less--and I didn't care much for it the first time.
Most people who don't like something don't take the time to comment; personally, this is one of my favorite 20th Century symphonies. There are a few snippets of analysis of this music on the internet, but not much. If I were writing the program notes, I would focus on the general theme of neo-romanticism.
Just played this symphony a week ago. Yeah it's really not all that great. It's just pretty melodies and sounds we now describe as "relating to space." There are moments of genius (the last minute or so never fails to make me smile), but as a large scale composition, it doesn't do it for me. Have to play it again in a month, oh boy...
William Walbridge it's very John Williams. Probably why they chose it for Alien. I'd love to write an Alien/Star Wars crossover screenplay that explores HR Gigers Alien landscapes. We'd get the dark Star Wars we've all craved and the bio-mechanical mythology we've all wanted to see in the Alien universe.
This work is not played more often because it is forced. The whole work is uninspired - and it is not even a symphony. A listener tries to be moved but is left with a sad recognition of mediocrity.
You, Mr. Hanson, composed one of the most gorgeous symphonies ever written!! To my discerning ear this symphony will forever remain amongst the top ten!! Mr. Howard Hanson thank you!!!!
This recording makes a great case for composers conducting their own music.
Thank God for movies, such as "Alien," or most people would have never heard this wonderful music. I cry every time I play it.
Me too!
Good taste!
Agreed...I love classical music..but Hanson is not usually on the top of the played list...
It's MAGNIFICENT!!! I also first heard the melodic portion at the credits of the first "Alien" Syfy film and thought it had been specifically composed for the film until years later hearing the entire symphony on my local Classical music station here in Baltimore...
Actually, I discovered recently that it was used there. I'd always heard it when I watched "Alien," but I never made the connection. Strangely enough, parts of this were used as filler music for one of the "Porfirio Cadena" radionovelas, and once I found it with Shazam and listened to it all the way through, that's when it hit me.
Hanson was still alive in the 1960's. I saw him, Aaron Copland and some other American composers together at the Eastman Theater.
He was a great promoter of young musicians. I attended a program by our local all-city orchestra in the early '70s, and when they announced Hanson as the visiting conductor I almost fell over! I still regret that I didn't have a chance to speak to him after the program.
Hanson lived into 1981. I had the honor of performing in the world premiere of his "Sea Symphony" which he conducted at Interlochen, summer 1977. What an honor to play under him!
I sang in the first pres choir under eastman chorus assistant director George Corwin circa 1963 that was "Howard Hanson's church". He wrote a piece for our choir and I am pleased to have met the man on more than one time during those years. A gentleman of his times and among the memories I shall take to my grave. I'm always thrilled to hear the themes of his Symphony # 2. I wonder if anyone replying here can recall similar experiences of 1962-'63 in Rochester NY?
I have loved this piece since the first time I played it in 1999. It is my absolute favorite symphonic piece. Fave moments: the trumpet solo in mvmnt 2, the little licks in the woodwinds later in the same mvmnt, the driving tympani in the 2nd half of the 3rd, the intense cacophony that builds to the unison rhythm and the release of the tension when the theme comes back at the end of mvmnt 3, and the little trumpet fanfare at the end. Fun fact, first time I played this in public i entered a half beat early after the pause before the final note in mvmnt 3. Whoopsy doodles.
Greatest "Overlooked" Composer of all time..
I so agree. This is stunningly beautiful music that cracks my heart open every time I listen...
Henry Cowell?
I love how this is basically the Interlochen, Eastman, and Alien theme
I can see that John Williams was clearly inspired by this piece.
This piece of music is one my parents loved / walking together through the hills above the UC Berkeley campus in the 1940's as young lovers
I'm wondering what technology would have allowed them to listen to the piece while walking through the hills of Berkeley in 1940. Perhaps they both thought of the melodies, talked of it, hummed it?
Some how it's so "Californian" isn't it?
From the first time I remember hearing it, at the cinema in Pasadena, It has always reminded me of that landscape.
It makes me think of the wide-open prairies of Nebraska...which of course is where Hanson is from.
It was the best of decades for a lucky few, the worst of decades for just about everybody else.
One of the great American symphonies of the 20th century, alongside Randall Thompson's Symphony #2. This first recording is great in that it goes all out to hit the big moments. It also truly accentuates the syncopated rhythms in the final bars like no other recording ever. The only other recording you really need to hear is Hanson's stereo recording for Mercury Records in 1958. You will be blown away.
Agree about the composer's 1958 stereo recording, which is in much improved sound.
There never has been a better recording. 1939, what a year of misery and tragedy.
What happened?
@@msdawg2 presumably he's referring to the onset of WW2
Yes, Jim-awful year. The lingering world depression, occupation of Poland by Hitler, after he annexed Austria the year prior. But I’ve thought a lot about the years leading up to 1939, and the music that flourished in the 30s and 40s. Maybe I’ll share why, since one of your respondents didn’t catch why you made your comment.
it was really an intriguing time in that taste in serious arts after the 20s began leaning away from Modernism, which demands some analysis and deliberation, toward sentimental meaning from representational images and stock characters-Thomas Hart Benton paintings, Frank Capra films, John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway novels.
Samuel Barber’s “Adagio” was published in 1936, and though Barber’s compositions are very rigorous, given his blistering intelligence and academic elegance, his “sound” is antique, modal and melodic, but not exactly romantic, like Hanson. Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” was performed in ‘35, also composed with a noble but affectionate ethos, not hard to embrace. Copland’s “Quiet City” in 1940 prefigured his sound of the legendary “Great American Sadness,” which he reaffirmed by the spare melodies under lush orchestrations in “Appalachian Spring” a few years later.
Then the big, final farewell, as I’d frame it-an unfailingly composed, flawlessly polished denouement, complete with an Autumnal sun blazing above the faded glory of Troy and Marathon, casting an illusion of gold glimmering in the crumbling ruins of colonial empires, a feat mastered only by one gentleman of a certain age-and station, class, schooling and cultivation that not a single film-score in Hollywood will ever out-wrench: “Four Last Songs,” the final masterpiece in the long career of Richard Strauss, summed up about 200 years of coherence in music theory and Western art criticism generally. It was written shortly after the war was over and a year before Strauss died at an advanced age, without facing questions of culpability in de-Nazification trials. Hitler loved Haydn, Strauss and Wagner; but Mendelssohn, Mahler and Brahms, the Jew, half-Jewish and pro-Jewish, not so much.
Art, music and literature were elbowed away from the attention of nations by the war, of course. And imagine the oppressive numbers-less than ten years after 1939, over 75,000,000 people were dead from war, genocide, famine, fire-bombing, disease and deprivation. The five-year war redrew borders and recalibrated nations across Eurasia. China, Israel, India and Pakistan emerged as independent sovereignties, which sparked a wider, unstoppable wave of anti-colonial movements through the 1950s.
The only silver lining, and it’s an epic to soothe the fury of people who, like me, rage against the disingenuity and the embalming of trauma by the fatuous consolation of silver linings. But-Immanuel Kant’s dream of a truly global concord, managed by a consortium of enlightened powers and authorized by the assent of all nations, to promote liberty and dignity, literacy, prosperity and public health, was born soon after Germany surrendered. That’s when the charter for a “United Nations,” discussed by FDR and Churchill after the war had just begun, was drafted under the guidance of Eleanor Roosevelt and signed by international delegates convening in San Francisco in June of 1945. As more countries ratified the UN, the limping League of Nation’s disappeared and by October the first nuclear weapons had procured Japan’s surrender.
That could all be packaged as TMI, but there is a compelling, very contemporary reason to refamiliarize ourselves and our children with them- all were, arguably, caused by international policies or local prejudice. And many writers, political scientists, diplomats and academics. Though natural disasters have lives of their own, and the vicissitudes of fortune govern a lot of life, those externalities can be triggered or short-circuited by human choice. They can be inflamed to maximum woe or allowed to sputter to a stop by wise, experienced, leaders with an ethical heart and spine of conviction. With a grasp of history-and the study of ethical behavior in grade school and higher education, World War III, and genocidal campaigns, need never happen.
20 years that pivot in equipoise on the fulcrum of 1939, between 1929 and ‘49, were occupied by the greatest economic depression, labor stagnation, trade disruption, xenocidal unrest fueled by race, class, caste and civil hostilities, rejection of refugees pleading for asylum, massive crop-failures, the second truly global war (and most destructive ever war), and the most appalling genocide and deadliest weapons ever used in human history.
Let’s resolve now that such pointless misery will not survive the planning or consideration stage! War-what is it good for? Nothing. Music is the universal rocking chair, a bicycle built for two. Gather up the toy guns in your community and sell them to buy a piano for the local elementary school. Then 20 years later, ask around: who regrets the music recital and wishes instead they could have had more BB-shot visits to the Emergency Room?
@@elrichardo1337 I share my thoughts above, Richard.
@@msdawg2 I had some ideas about the possible sadness, MS . .
There never was an actual "Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra", though many have thought it was the school orchestra of the conservatory. It was a recording group consisting of members of the Rochester Philharmonic and the faculty of the Eastman School.
Your clarification is deeply appreciated. I, like many others, always thought it was the Eastman school orchestra. Live and learn. THANKS!
That pause in the Second Movement, followed by that soaring horn run gives me goosebumps everytime I hear it.
You nailed it, Sir.
Yes that french horn. Perfectly placed.
why this beautiful, moving, tuneful symphony isn't on symphony programs puzzles me. American orchestras appear prejudiced against their own native music. never hear harris, piston, hardly any Bernstein , certainly not Ives. a shame. does a disservice to our heritage.
True
Copland is the only one that gets played. Copland is amazing though.
I've been wanting to hear it live for decades! Even in recordings, there's only a handful of versions available.
@@thetruthis24 Barber?
@@plastique45 im in the Florida Youth Symphony Orchestra and we're playing it this year for our opener concert!
Although I also LOVE Hanson's magnificent performance on his later Mercury stereo LP, there are certain parts of this recording that grab me like no other recording, especially the last few minutes, which express a great vitality, especially in the accent of the syncopation during the build-up to the finale, which I've never heard again in any later recordings, even Hanson's.
Yes, that jumped out at me too. What a nice surprise!
So special with Hanson actually conducting his work. Thank you, shellackophile..... Just read this, "Hanson was displeased that the theme was used for the closing credits of Alien[12] without his permission, but decided not to fight it in court." Doubt Scott even offered to pay.... sad
Really?
Ridley Scott is a notorious rip off artist...
@@tonyregusters9078 nature of the business
Let us not also forget that Scott screwed over Goldsmith by substituting parts of other scores and eliminating pieces of the Alien soundtrack altogether.
Doesn't help that he used a bastardized version of The Romantic for the end credits.
@@fenwar9060 water under the bridge. Scott did not ask us.
I'm so glad I didn't watch that movie 'Alien' before hearing this, I know what this music is really about--it makes it countlessly more beautiful and touching. Actually, what I hear in this music too is John Williams' heart beating intensely.
Ah! So beautiful
A surprisingly good quality recording considering the time period it was made. I went searching for this classic to listen while I do some editing and animation. Soon as I saw that this was conducted by the man HIMSELF, I knew I had to give it a listen. Also, there's something kind of "modern" in the composition of this symphony. While it sounds romantic in tone, especially with the main theme that we're familiar with, there's also this feeling of a shining modern metropolis (that movie of the same name does come to mind). Anyway, that's just me.
The only thing that "brought me here" was that I played this piece with the city orchestra I was in, 10 years ago. Never seen Alien :D
It is a beautiful piece, regardless.
Transcendent. I fell in love with it when we played the first movement in high school orchestra. Still gives me chills fifty years later.
Bravo
3rd Movement Allegro con Brio, now I see from where John Williams got ideas for ET.
John Williams got many of his ideas from Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Check out the overtures from Captain Blood, Kings Row, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex and The Sea Hawk.
I think that E.T-Adventures on Earth is referring to 3rd mov.
@@kevincushman9238 Yes , absolutely! The Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a Wunderkind like Amadeus Mozart
A friend of mine has this playing in his Alien Theme Movie Theater! Crazy this was played in the 1930's. Wow!!! Most people don't know this!
I have to admit, the trickling down of the woodwinds in movement 2 is done expertly
At 4:45 in, my most favorite part beginning with the French horn opens up the most revealing piece of the symphony.
And at 11:40 it comes back full circle to an ending crescendo dropping off for one last suspenseful changing end.
En baguenaudant dans les prés du passé on peut cueillir des bouquets de fleurs folles et improbables on peut revenir avec des extraits somptueux de Howard Hanson et se dire que l'on a gagné du temps et de la sérénité !
Min 4:45 and 11:41 Ending fo movie Alien (1979) Beatiful Musical piece
The American Bruckner?
Not hearing it myself, but I'm thrilled to find some Alien OST music from the talented Mr. Hanson - music which I've known for 30 years.
Beatifully Beautiful!!!
MVT I. Adagio - Allegro moderato. Sonata form.
INTRODUCTION
0:08 | Introduction. (I.Int-a) Adagio. Note the repeated Ab-Bb-B motif and how it is picked up by more and more instruments. Violins take this theme and enter a rising passage that eventually climaxes at 1:07. Strings only at 1:33: this theme is stated a few more times, hushed.
1:58 | (I.Int-b) Muted trumpets herald the entrance of fortissimo horns at 2:01, which introduce a new theme, outlining a perfect 4th. This features prominently in the 3rd movement.
EXPOSITION
2:08 | Exposition begins. Allegro moderato.
2:13 | Theme 1. (I.1) Two distinct melodic ideas; the first (I.1a) at 2:13 outlines a dominant 7th(!), and the second at 2:22 (I.1b) is punctuated by the quartal chord it outlines. String tremolo at 2:23 - a rising whole-tone scale, followed by a harp glissando. I.1a and I.1b are passed around the orchestra and further developed. Transitional passage begins at 3:01.
3:11 | Transitional/bridge theme. (I.T) Initially, presented by oboe I; subsidiary motif (I.Ta) presented by violin I and violas at 3:23, which then pick up the theme and develop its first four notes, which are passed on to the brass. Note how this is related to I.1! Meno mosso at 4:11. Theme repeated, transposed a perfect fifth down, then a tritone down from the first statement; cellos state I.Ta. All other instruments drop out at 4:34, leaving only a horn I(?) solo, which leads into…
4:45 | Theme 2. Lento. (I.2) E-flat major. The “Interlochen theme”, a “hauntingly beautiful” one at that. Horn solo (I.2a) affirms the tonality of the theme, and strings play a limpid accompaniment, complete with harp. 2nd leg of the theme (I.2b) at 5:16 is played twice: first by the strings, while the brass (horns?) introduce a new figuration, then by winds at 5:48, where the accompaniment is taken up by the strings.
6:21 | Codetta. (I.C) Develops the last four notes of I.2b, first in the trumpets, and then with all the winds.
DEVELOPMENT
6:33 | Development begins with a sudden drop in dynamic level, with strings playing an accompanimental figure similar to that of I.2a. Molto meno mosso.
6:42 | I.1a presented by solo English horn; bassoon 1 eventually enters with I.Ta in diminution. Oboe I and clarinet 1 further develop this theme - eventually, only the quartal chord outlined in I.1b is left.
7:26 | Molto più mosso. The quartal figure is repeated and developed by the winds and harp.
7:46 | I.1a in horn I; strings (specifically the front 2 stands of the 1st violins and violas) join in the accompaniment, now playing a perfect 5th/perfect 4th. Flute I plays this same theme at 8:00. Oboe I outlines a modified version of I.1b at 8:14 - a similar melodic fragment is heard at the beginning of the 3rd movement.
8:27 | A run in clarinet I leads to a much faster statement of I.1a, disturbing the relative calm of this section, followed by I.1a in trumpet I. All the while, the other winds and strings gain momentum in their accompanimental figures, driving the music forward.
8:34 | Animato. Trombone I states I.1a, followed by trumpet I, which also outlines I.1b. Winds and strings play accompaniment in triplets (strings start tremolo but switch to triplets when the trumpet plays the theme). Violins, horns, oboes, and English horn reiterate I.1a and I.1b in diminution at 8:47, followed by piccolo, flutes, clarinets, and trumpets at 8:50. I.1b repeated again at 8:53 by many instruments, leading to the recapitulation.
RECAPITULATION
8:59 | Recapitulation begins. Molto meno mosso (largamente). I.1a restated by trumpets, while horns reintroduce I.Int-b. Quartal chords in horns, bassoons, and strings continue to propel the music forward.
9:14 | Animato. Features the same figuration as at the beginning of the exposition and the codetta.
9:24 | Meno mosso. After a brief pause, winds, horns, and cellos present a modified version of I.1a. High winds join in and present an ascending scalar run.
9:36 | Ancora meno mosso. Climax. Flutes, oboes, and trumpet I present a modified I.T, then repeat it joined by the rest of the winds. A repeated C builds towards another statement of I.1.
10:06 | Out of the quiet left from I.1 fading away, I.T is restated, this time by clarinet I; the theme begins very similarly to its presentation in the exposition.
10:56 | I.Ta, followed by a further development of I.Int at 11:01.
11:46 | Molto meno mosso. I.2 restated in D-flat major. Harp now plays eighth-note (quaver) accompaniment. I.2b taken by strings, accompanied by brass.
13:28 | Codetta restated, although it is much more languid than the first time. A sudden augmented major 7th chord is answered by a final D-flat major triad in the low strings.
MVT II. Andante con tenerezza. C major. Ternary form.
14:46 | A section. (II.A; we’ll call it the “Andante theme” when it reappears in the 3rd mvt) Theme presented in chords by winds, accompanied by lush chords in the strings. Restated three times (at 15:04, 15:22, and 15:42), briefly harmonized as E minor on the third iteration. Final statement accompanied by strings in high register and more pronounced presence of brass, encompassing a downward glissando. This is followed by an Ab pedal point, leading to the next section.
16:09 | B section begins with a restatement of I.Int in the brass, answered by the strings, which eventually pick this up in the form of a scale reminiscent of the opening (16:16).
16:33 | I.Int in strings and brass(?) leads to a Gbaug7 chord.
16:43 | II.A stated in diminution by winds, answered by brass. This is repeated a whole step higher (16:54). Violins present a fragment of II.A in a rising sequence, over a I.Int drone in the horns (17:05), before switching over to I.Int themselves, accompanied by II.A in diminution in the winds (17:22).
17:30 | A rising scale in the strings (hmm; sounds familiar, no?) climaxes with another statement of I.2, the “Interlochen theme” (17:39). This abruptly trails off at 18:23 and is followed by a transitional passage featuring major and minor 3rds and 6ths. Tension builds again; a fragmented statement of the Interlochen theme at 18:45 in D major leads to a G minor 9th chord and another rapid statement of II.A at 18:54.
19:05 | Transition back to A section. Bassoons and horns restate II.A in D major, but with tinges of G minor. Eventually, at 19:20, all that’s left is a B-flat pedal tone in the cellos, basses, and horn (which gets the last say here)…
19:26 | A section returns; II.A is taken up this time by the strings, restated in E minor at 20:06 and in C major at 20:30 in high chords in the violins. The A-flat pedal returns at 20:49, accompanied by a descending chromatic figure and increasingly chromatic fragments of II.A (C minor at 21:01). A B-flat pedal tone appears at 21:10, and the dotted figure occurring at the beginning of II.A is restated thrice in C major at 21:14, twice in the strings and finally in the horns.
MVT III. Allegro con brio - Animato - Molto meno mosso - Più mosso - Animato - Meno mosso. C major to D-flat major. Free form; makes extensive use of cyclical structure, bringing back themes from each of the prior movements for this finale.
21:41 | PART I. Violins and winds open with a rapid figure from I.C, the codetta of the first movement. Horns enter at 21:46 with a theme built on fourths (let’s call it III.1a) that calls back to multiple aspects of the first movement: I.Int-b, I.1b, and the quartal passage in the first movement’s development. At 21:57, the quartal chord is repeated in a “stretto” of sorts.
22:02 | For lack of a better word, listen to that badass cello and bass part! They take up III.1a, engaging in dialogue with the winds, who reference I.1a.
22:10 | Animato. New material! (III.1b) Horn solo, with tremolo accompaniment in the strings. The motive is then taken up by the trumpets at 22:17, and by the winds and brass at 22:22 Also, the time signature changes a lot here, which was a bit of a pain to count in the 2nd violin part… -_- The interval of a 5th (and augmented 5th) is repeated, bringing us back to…
22:27 | III.1a, restated in F major. Arpeggiated quartal chords then carry us away from this theme into the next part of the movement.
22:38 | PART II. Molto meno mosso. Strings play a repeated-note figure forming a quartal chord, reminiscent of the beginning of the 1st movement’s development section. At 22:44, cellos enter with a theme (III.2) that begins by outlining a quartal chord. E-flat minor 7th at 23:07.
23:14 | Violins pick up the quartal chord, rising to a climax on an E major triad - I.Int can be heard in the horns!!! Quickly drifts away harmonically again, and III.2 returns at 23:41. At 23:57, violins make another statement of I.Int, accompanied by the gradually transforming quartal figure. The Andante theme, II.A, is restated by oboe 1 and the clarinets at 24:15. At 24:35, only the accompanying 1st flute remains, joined by the bassoon at 24:39.
24:44 | PART III. Più mosso. Begins with the coolest-sounding pizzicato accompaniment that I’ve EVER heard, in the cellos and basses. Horns enter at 24:52 with a theme (III.3a) that is stated a total of 4 times; every second iteration features a quintuplet flourish, and the last two are played a perfect fourth higher. In between iterations, bassoons play a figure (III.3b) in response that goes with the low strings’ pizzicato.
25:22 | Violins join in on the accompanimental fun. Trombones restate a fragment of III.3a at 25:26, and again with the horns at 25:33.
25:37 | Animato. The Andante theme is restated three times (again at 25:48 and 25:58) in all its glory, although modified - III.3b interjects its rhythmic syncopations in between statements. First trumpets in A-flat major, then oboes, English horn, and horns in D major, then trumpets, piccolo, and flutes in A-flat major. All the while, a massive crescendo…
26:08 | PART IV. A huge climax, beginning the final part of the movement, where all of the significant thematic material is brought together. First I.1a and I.1b in strings, piccolo, trumpets, with III.3b still going full-blast in the winds; then again at 26:30, with more prominence given to III.3b, and one last time at 26:48.
26:55 | Repeated E-flats… hmm… what could that mean? Oh, right…
27:00 | Meno mosso. Of course, the Interlochen theme, in the violins! (I.2) Stated with much more grandeur this time around.
27:50 | A solo “quartet” but really sextet? Principal first and second violins share a cadential passage from I.2b, marked sentimentale. (I may or may not have hit that D-flat out of tune when performing this… oops)
28:00 | (animando) Oboes and clarinets pick up this triplet figure (rhythmically altered), and strings join in at 28:05 with a rising, mostly pentatonic passage. At 28:13, brass repeats this with a 3-3-2 syncopation, while winds carry on the figure.
28:19 | III.1a is restated in E-flat and then G-flat; at 28:23, I.1b is also heard, before winds and brass all pick up III.3b at 28:26.
28:35 | One last partial statement of the Andante theme, coming up to an E major triad at 28:43, a harp glissando, and to finish all of this off…
28:48 | ...a final, triumphant D-flat major triad!
You should post amogus on your channel
Can we have some amogus content please
tnetnoc sugoma
what a great service you give us sheckophile I did know of this performance I think its better then the mercury but the are both wonderful
+Max Hollick Knowing the 1958 Mercury recording very well, I can say that although Hanson's approach hadn't changed much, this performance sounds more nuanced.
Horn Excerpts
excerpt 1- 2:00
excerpt 2- 3:58
excerpt 3- 9:00
excerpt 4- 11:40
excerpt 5- 15:05
excerpt 6- 21:45
excerpt 7- 24:50
excerpt 8 28:05
Hanson 2 and Copland 3 are the greatest American symphonies.
One of my favorite Hanson stories I heard many years ago ... Hindemith and Hanson were in Berlin, sometime in the late 1930s, and they were walking out of a hotel through a revolving door. A man was entering as they exited. Once outside, Hindemith turned to Hanson and asked, "Do you know who that was?" Hanson said he did not know. Hindemith said that it was Adolf Hitler. Hanson said "Damn, I should have knocked the bastard down."
It must have been in the very early 1930's. The SS/SA would have made short work of Hanson not to mention Hindenmeth...🎉
@@herbertmarshal Who asked you? (And … it’s Hindemith, not Hindenmeth.) 🙄
"forced" I have no idea what you mean by that. I've heard other Hanson, and this is by far the best. You have no soul
Slightly dated sound, never dated music :)
Go To Your' Room! :-)
ハンソンの自作自演盤の中で１番良い演奏だと思う!
Fine.
11:42
tears every time
We played this for All State Chamber Orchestra this year and there were only four of us horn players :O poor principal hornist... our performance actually maybe a bit better than this recording (the winds mess up quite a bit in this one!), so that was good at least
My community orchestra is performing this symphony soon, and as I am charged with writing the program notes I have been listening to it with a music theorist's ear. I note all the gushing comments already posted. Doesn't anyone dislike this music? I find that each time I hear it, I like it less--and I didn't care much for it the first time.
Most people who don't like something don't take the time to comment; personally, this is one of my favorite 20th Century symphonies. There are a few snippets of analysis of this music on the internet, but not much. If I were writing the program notes, I would focus on the general theme of neo-romanticism.
Just played this symphony a week ago. Yeah it's really not all that great. It's just pretty melodies and sounds we now describe as "relating to space." There are moments of genius (the last minute or so never fails to make me smile), but as a large scale composition, it doesn't do it for me. Have to play it again in a month, oh boy...
MUSIC OF ALIEN
4:45
1:58 Is this the 2nd movement?
The 2nd movement starts at 14:46.
The original "Star Wars" sound track. Awesome.
William Walbridge Part of this was used as the "outro" music in "Alien" not "Star Wars"
Neither........... This music is a hymn to joy and peace ;-)
terrypussypower... The end title from the first ALIEN movie (11:41-14:36)!😊
It clearly inspired Star Wars though.
William Walbridge it's very John Williams. Probably why they chose it for Alien. I'd love to write an Alien/Star Wars crossover screenplay that explores HR Gigers Alien landscapes. We'd get the dark Star Wars we've all craved and the bio-mechanical mythology we've all wanted to see in the Alien universe.
(IAC '18 '19 '20) 11:46, 17:38 Does this take anyone back to Les Preludes?
P.S: The Horn part has always been my favorite.
4:50 " Чужой"
11:50 " Чужой '
The flute section has intonation problems
Jesus christ is only way to god
I don't like the atonal in His music. I like it tonal...Some but too much
Yikes. Far too many ticks from brass players.
This work is not played more often because it is forced. The whole work is uninspired - and it is not even a symphony. A listener tries to be moved but is left with a sad recognition of mediocrity.
Crawl back under your rock.
What do you think of Rachmaninoffs Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini?