In an unrelenting, heady mixture of flux and inertia, Alan Hovhaness's Celestial Fantasy presents a somber conversation between the four sections of the string orchestra. Written at the age of twenty-four, during a time when Hovhaness was destroying large numbers of his early compositions, Celestial Fantasy captures via musical expression the inner dialogue of a conflicted young artist. Beginning with a single, mournful melody from the low strings, the higher strings respond each with their own melodies, resulting in four distinct lines simultaneously weaving in and out of each other, the energy and intensity of the conversation peaking as the end nears.

Recommended Tracks:
Celestial Fantasy, for string orchestra, Op. 44
And God Created Great Whales, for orchestra &...