Hovhaness Alan – Shalimar, opus 177
Alan Hovhaness (March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) is an Armenian-American music composer. As one of the most prolific performers of 20th century, his official catalogue comprised 67 symphonies and 434 opus numbers. Some of his remarkable creations include ‘Symphony No. 17’ and Guitar Concerto No. 1. While creating Lousadzak, he applied an advanced technique that he referred to as ‘spirit murmur’.
In his quest for ancient traditional music of various countries, he visited India, Hawaii, Japan and South Korea. He destroyed many of his earlier works after facing criticism for them. Most of these works were the proof of his interest towards Renaissance style.
In Japan, he appeared in television and conducted music with the Tokyo Symphony. In later part of his life, he studied Indian Carnatic music and Japanese gagaku music to enrich his knowledge in music. His life and work has acted as inspiration for several films also.
