Celestial Canticle Op.305

It surprised me that my favorite pieces turned out to be the two pieces featuring the coloratura singing by Hovhaness's wife, Hinako Fujihara on Celestial Canticle and O, Joy At The Dawn Of Spring. I also liked Starry Night, a non-vocal piece. I usually don't like my classical music to be sung unless it's a big choral piece, e.g., a requiem, opera, etc. I prefer non-vocal instrumental music, but in this case, I found Fujihara's singing to be eerie, haunting and very well suited to the instrumental flow. I liked these two pieces, especially Celestial Canticle, much better than the two symphonies on this CD.

its just that most of his works sound the same to my ears. Wonderful flowing music with a very unique tonality and harmonics.

I would recommend this CD solely on the basis of Christmas Symphony 49, the most beautiful piece of music I have heard.

This disc starts of really nice with one of those lesser known works by Hovhaness, his Symphony no. 31 for strings. It's a typical Hovhaness work, with meandering melodies, mystical pizzicati and a fugue or two. Starry Night, for the unusual combination of harp, xylophone and flute also works really well.However, it is from the Celestial Canticle onward that this treasure trove seems to turn into a Pandora's Box! My first impression was that some ancient old woman from the Armenian mountains was flown in to sing this music in the appropriate ancient Armenian way. However, when the bad intonation kept grating on my nerves like fingernails drawn over a blackboard, I checked and found out that Miss Hinako Fujihara is in fact the widow of late Mr Hovhaness. This, then, must be an act of love on his part, making clear in no uncertain terms what madness love can bring about! Perhaps Miss Fujihara was a fine soprano in her time, unfortunately that time has long been past and I regret to say that bad intonation is just one of her offences on this disc. It's a shame, because the music, if expertly sung, would be quite nice! The orchestral accompaniment is gorgeous and also the recording is fine, but shame on everyone involved not to protect Miss Fujiharo against herself...Taht being said, the disc rounds of very nicely with Hovhaness Christmas Symphony.All in all, lovely music, but because of the astoundingly bad performance of the soprano, still only 2 stars...

This CD is worth owning for the two symphonies it contains, both of which are very good examples of the sort of work most Hovhaness-lovers expect from him, and you won't find them in any other collection as far as I know. I give the CD only 3 stars simply as a WARNING to those who may not appreciate the coloratura soprano singing of Hovhaness' widow on some of the shorter works. I do not take offense to it as another reviewer did, simply because coloratura is what it is...but for the uninitiated, it can take some getting used to.

This is some of the most beautiful Classical (and I do mean Classical) music I have ever heard. Even though Hovhaness was a modern composer his style is evocative of the Romantic period and his lush arrangements are jaw-dropping. Symphony 31 is phenomenal and Symphony 49 is absolutely awe-inspiring. When that first rush of strings begins in 'Celestial' it is nothing short of transcendental. The only drawback is the rather unimpressive opera stuff that litters the CD. Get it for the symphonies.