- Marseaya (1993)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, bassoon, string quartet, piano, and chorus
ca. 15'35"
- Javidi-Dastgah (2001)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for flute, bass clarinet, percussion, chorus
ca. 60'00"
- Pazyryk (2014)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for septet
ca. 10'45"
- Lullaby of the Stars (2003, rev. 2015)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 7'00"
The golden-eyed stars, gently ightning the skies,
Sounding orchestra-like, attacking, breathing, and vibrating,
They're lullabying for the sleeping earth...
But as the morning star's awakening a down,
Conducting them to fade through nights and constellations,
The golden-eyed stars are vanishing and melting in the heavens...
The earth continues to sing for them her lullaby:
It's time to sleep for golden-eyed stars.
- Rahilia Hasanova
The first version of Lullaby of the Stars (Ulduzlarin Laylasi) was written for chamber orchestra in 2003 and premiered at the Organ and Chamber Music Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2003.The second version of the Lullaby of the Stars (renewed for Symphony orchestra in 2015) was performed at the Nasimi festival of Art and Music on October 1, 2019 at the Center of Geydar Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan. Imadeddin Nasimi is the greatest Sufi poet, philosopher of 14 century well known by his revolutionary writings and progressive creation of mystic pantheistic doctrine.
Video is recorded by Azerbaijani TV Performers: Baku State Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Mustafa Mehmandarov Stage director: Aleksey Smirnov.
Click hear to listen to the recording.
- Yurt (2013)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 8'46"
- Fleeting Memories (1987)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for solo flute
ca. 10'00"
Fleeting Memories is a cycle of six simple pieces for Flute solo. They were published in 1987 but never performed as a whole cycle. The premiere of the Fleeting Memories took place at the Brandeis University, Boston in 2017 Performer: Jill Dreeben
Click here to listen to the recording.
- First Symphony (1976)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 21'00"
- Eos-Helios (2013)
-
Rahilia Hasanova
for orchestra
ca. 15'30"
Click here to listen to a YouTube recording of this piece.
- Ariadnemusic (1984)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, clarinet in Bb, violin, viola, violoncello, piano, and percussion
ca. 14'42"
For the Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman, music director
Click here to view revised performance notes.
Click here to hear a recording by the Prism Players on the Eleanor Hovda Collection CD on Spotify.
- Leaning Into and Away (1994)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, oboe, clarinet in Bb, percussion, piano, and string quartet
ca. 12'51"
Commissioned by the Cuicani Orchestra Project, with support from the US/Mexico Fund for Culture
Dedicated to the memory of Manuel Enriquez
I use the title Leaning Into and Away because the piece grew out of many thoughts about and experiences dancing and making music for dancers. I found myself focussing particularly on the energies of running on the ground and leaping into space, and the flow of energy involved in any physical moves from balance to suspension. I also wanted to work with the idea of excavating sounds from the bone and sinew of piano, wind, string, and percussion instruments – as dancers draw energy from deep inside their bodies.
Click here to view the performance notes.
Click here to hear a recording by the Prism Players on Spotify.
- Regions (1971, rev. 1997)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, clarinet in Bb, violin, grand piano, and crotales
ca. 12'40"
Commissioned by the Atlanta Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, California EAR Unit, and Boston Musica Viva through the Meet the Composer/Readers Digest Commissioning Program
Click here to view an addendum related to pages 4 - 11.
Click here to hear a recording by the California EAR Unit on Spotify.
- Snapdragon (1993)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn in F
Commissioned by the Holland Festival for the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble
Snapdragon is written for the Nederlands Wind Ensemble, and was completed on May 19, 1993. I use the title Snapdragon because it refers to a game** where raisins are snatched from burning flames. I wanted to work with extremes of energy (from relaxed to intense-but-inward, to most extroverted, flung energy). I also wanted to work with the idea of excavating sounds from the bone and sinew of wind instruments: the expansions of single pitches, either fingered or otherwise altered, which can happen when extremes of breath control, additions of auxilllary keys and alternatve fingerings are used. I imagine the energy of watching the flames and then swiftly snatching at the raisins. I imagine the energy of both participating in the game and watching the action.
**a Victorian-era game played during the winter, particularly on Christmas eve
Click here to hear a recording by the Prism Players on the Eleanor Hovda Collection CD (Spotify).
- Fields (1987)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for orchestra
ca. 16'00"
This piece was performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov on Thursday 21 October 2021 at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Click here to view the score and listen to the recording.
- Earthrunner (1966)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, timpani, and double bass
- Music from "The Proclamation" (1966, rev. 1968)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for solo flute
Written for David Gilbert
Music from the Proclamation was composed in 1966 as the musical component of a play "The Proclamation" by Iva Martirano. The script called for a flutist, a man (mime), and a woman (actor). The Flute, played and acted by David Gilbert, presided over the flow of action between the Man and the Woman, and had continuous shifting role-involveent throughout the play. It was performed at the Roundhouse, in Urbana, Illinois. It was revised, in concert version, in 1968.
I had become interested in considerations of breathing with respect to sound production, energy shape composing, and timbral painting as well as to the problems of periodicity (a natural resultant of inhale/exhale cycles of wind and brass players and singers). The necessity of producing a long (ca. 25 minutes), evolving statement for the flute character provided a "psychological form," a theatrical context, within which some ways to foil periodicity in a flute solo could be developed and shaped.
David Gilbert, a flutist and composer, had already developed new techniques using inhale and exhale melodically, vowel and consonant sounds, and alternate methods of sound production to enlarge the timbral palette. These included "air" sounds, combinations of air/pitch, pitch color, and weight change by alternate fingerings, "chords," etc. The compositional availability of "air" sounds combined with vowel and consonant articulations (which can be produced during inhale as well as exhale cycles) served to free me from the inevitability of the "sound/take-a-breath, sound/take-a-breath...n" loop.
Factors governing the durational limits of inhales and exhales were explored. For example, the greater the "force" required to play an inhaled/exhaled segment, the shorter the possible duration of that segment. Parameters which combine to determine the total "force" include registral placement, dynamics, density (ex.: single pitches/"chords"; flute alone/flute with humming; method of sound production (modo ordinario, pitch, and "air" combinations); phonetic articulation (vowel and/or consonant sounds, simple or complex, such as Ho versus rtchu with a rolled r).
This piece has been a process, in three general stages: First, by developing sound materials from combinations of parameters which focused on extents of time, weights and energy, and flow shapes, I hoped to avoid the natural periodicity of inhale and exhale cycles. Second, the sound material took shape and life when molded within the theatrical context/content (psychological form) of the play. Third, the flute music was revised into a concert version wherein the interaction between the performer and the material became the event, and the "meaning" is a timbral/energy flow soundscan.
Click here to view the script.
- Boundaries (1989)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for four flutes and four double basses
ca. 7'11"
Boundaries is about extents and limits. The piece makes use of the differences and similarities of the instruments, including variables in dynamic and pitch ranges, timbre and articulation (bowed, plucked, blown). The energy of extremes and stretched perimeters contrasted to dense overlays, works with ideas of expanding and conracting sound-fields.
Click here to listen to the recording by Anonymous on the Eleanor Hovda Collection CD on Spotify.
- A Quartet (1971)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for voice, flute, and Flexitone
- Song in High Grasses (1985)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for soprano, flute, cello, and bowed piano
ca. 12'14"
Song in High Grasses is written for Charlotte Regni, and is made around a yodel-like call which she learned as a child living in Zaire, Africa. The piece is a sonic visualization of an imaginary outdoor space with tall grasses, large plants, warm winds, and somnulant insects, birds, and beasts. The call-song floats around and dances with the ambience of wind, rustling grasses, and creature sounds.
- Piece for Flute Alone (1963)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for solo flute
- Ondes Doubles (1971)
-
Eleanor Hovda
for flute, viola, harp, and Ondes Martenot