Robert Clements:

>I've been listening to some of his best scores [...] over the last few
>days to toast his memory

I always think a small act of homage such as Robert describes is a thing
worth doing, even if it's a purely private event.  I also devoted some
listening time to Hovhaness over the weekend.  I remember well my first
encounter with his music:  the Prelude and Quadruple Fugue conducted by
Howard Hanson on a secondhand Mercury LP (we may never see it re-released),
followed not long after by Mysterious Mountain (Reiner's incomparable
version) and the fourth symphony, also on Mercury, regrettably a CD I
missed out on.  Among Hovhaness I've been unable to acquire is a piano
concerto I heard on the radio (from an ancient MGM LP) and just recently,
some enchanting harp music in a new recording.  I suppose it would now be
appropriate to play the Celestial Gate symphony.

Thanks to Floyd Wige for posting the news of Hovhaness's death, again
showing the value of the List.  It's unlikely the news would have reached
us in Australia until we read of it in one of the music magazines.  As it
was, I had to do a little drilling before I found a short obituary at The
Washington Post's web site.

Richard Pennycuick
[log in to unmask]