Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360 Cover Image

Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360: Full Scores

$152.25 USD
$152.25 USD
Skip to product information
Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360 Cover Image
Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360: Full Scores

Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360: Full Scores

By Alan Hovhaness

Item: 98-EP66020
$152.25
Shipped

One moment…

Description
This product is Printed on Demand and may take several weeks to fulfill. Please order from your favorite retailer.

Symphony No. 50 'Mount Saint Helens' Op. 360: Full Scores isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.

Request This Title

Tell us you want it.

Start Your Free Trial

Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Pages

No sample pages found.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Series: Edition Peters
Publisher: Edition Peters
Page Count: 124
ISBN10: 0-30-071597-8
ISBN13: 979-0-3007-1597-1
SKU: 98-EP66020

More about this title

About the Composer: Alan Hovhaness

Alan Hovhaness (1911, 2000) was an Armenian-American composer whose prolific output, over 500 works across nearly every genre, drew deeply from Eastern musical traditions, Armenian church music, and ancient scales. His harmonic language and orchestral textures were shaped by decades of study in non-Western music systems, giving his compositions a distinctive spiritual and meditative quality that sets them apart from his European contemporaries.

Hovhaness brought equal energy to chamber and orchestral writing, always prioritizing clarity of line and emotional directness. His symphonies, particularly those written in his later years, distill his mature compositional voice into works of remarkable accessibility and profound depth.

Why we love this

This symphony captures Hovhaness at his most direct and evocative, pairing sweeping string textures with the kind of harmonic transparency that makes even complex passages feel inevitable rather than labored. The natural drama of the Mount Saint Helens subject matter gives shape and narrative arc to music that never resorts to cheap effects, making it a rewarding challenge for orchestras ready to inhabit something genuinely distinctive.

What to expect

Hovhaness channels the volcanic landscape, its scale, its ancient geological power, its moments of serene majesty, through shimmering harmonies and architecturally bold string writing. The music breathes with meditative calm interrupted by episodes of primal energy, never losing sight of the sublime beauty underlying the subject.

Who it's for

This work suits advanced string orchestras with secure intonation and the musical maturity to inhabit Hovhaness's extended harmonic palette. College orchestras, pre-professional ensembles, and top-tier high school programs will find substantial musical and technical challenges here.

How to get the most out of it

  • Balance the sustained harmonic masses against the moving lines within them; Hovhaness's sonorities depend on clarity of internal voices even when the overall sound is full.
  • Attend to the registral shifts between sections, they're subtle but essential to the symphony's architecture and emotional arc.
  • Allow space around the climactic moments rather than pushing into them; restraint amplifies the impact of Hovhaness's orchestral gestures.
  • Explore the recorded Edition Peters performance to understand the composer's preferred tempo relationships and the specific resonance he sought from the string sound.

How to use it

Position this as the centerpiece of a program exploring American symphonic writing, where its spiritual restraint and Eastern tonality provide striking contrast to more conventional orchestral fare. Alternatively, pair it with shorter Hovhaness works for strings to create a retrospective of his mature voice.

Skills your students will build

  • Playing with sustained harmonic complexity and clear voice independence within thick textures
  • Responding to non-traditional tonal centers and harmonic progressions grounded in modal and Eastern scales
  • Interpreting dynamic and expressive subtlety across a large-scale symphonic form
  • Ensemble balance and collective listening across 124 pages of continuous orchestral writing

You May Also Like