Symphony No.50 "Mount St. Helens" - Alan Hovhaness

Seattle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gerard Schwarz.

I - Andante grazioso: 0:00
II - Spirit Lake. Allegro: 10:10
III - Volcano. Adagio - Allegro - Adagio: 17:35

Hovhaness' Symphony No.50 was composed between 1981-2, as a commission from the publishing house Edition Peters. It was premiered in March 2 of 1984, performed by the San Jose Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Cleve. Beyond the composer's fascination with mountains, the piece is directly inspired by the eruption of the volcano Mount Saint Helens. The work was a great success, being the most popular of Hovhaness' late symphonies.

The mountain belongs to the mountain range parallel to the Pacific coast, known as the Cascade Range, being located in the state of Washington 154 km south of Seattle. It was known by the Indians as Louwala-Clough, meaning smoky mountain. At the beginning of the year 1980 it was 2,950 meters high with a slender symmetrical silhouette that earned it the name of the Fujiyama of America. After having been without activity for 123 years, in the morning of May 18, 1980, an earthquake collapsed its north face pressed by the magma that rose through it, being reduced to a huge deposit of debris.

This produced a devastating explosion of gases, molten rock, and water vapor. The collapsed mountain fragment forever buried Spirit Lake with its water turned into steam. The lake at the foot of the mountain had been an idyllic place, much loved by hikers. An immense ash cloud covered the sky and the lateral explosion caused extensive devastation reaching 30 km away. The unexpected explosion caused the death of 57 people, destroying houses, bridges, railways, highways, scorching large areas of forests. It was the deadliest eruption in the history of the United States.

The composer said about the piece: "When Mount St. Helens erupted on the morning of May 18, 1980, the sonic boom struck our south windows. Ashes did not come here at that time but covered land to the east all across the State of Washington into Montana. Ashes continued to travel all around the world, landing lightly on our house a week later, after their journey all around our planet. In my Mount St. Helens Symphony I have tried to suggest a musical tribute to the sublime grandeur and beauty of Mount St. Helens and the surrounding majestic Cascade Mountains."

The first movement is structured as a prelude and a fugue. Opens with a serene and blissfull theme on the strings, representing the grandiosity and beauty of the mountain itself before the incident. The presence of the trombone enhances this rich music, with a solemn motive that passes to the trumpet. The English horn combines these materials in a solo of oriental flavour, followed by the clarinet, oboe and flute. A noble fugue opens in the basses of the strings, rising to the higher instruments as it's voices multiply, almost like a song of praise to the mountain. The whole orchestra rises in a brilliant climax, followed by continuation of the fugue. After a new climax, the fugue is resumed again, leading to a glowing coda.

The second movement refers to the spirit lake close to the mountain which was obliterated by the 1980 eruption. In structure, it is very free. Opens with a percussive passage in the jhala indian stile, representing the constant flow of the water. The English horn presents a lyrical main theme, which represents the beauty of the lake itself. It is taken by the bassoon, flute, clarinet and oboe. The percussive passage is recapitulated. The flutes perform a lyrical duo over the string's pizzicatos. The clarinet joins briefly before the duet continues. The percussive passage is recapitulated as a coda, ending the movement.

The third movement represents the volcano eruption, being structured in ternary form. Opens with calm hymn presented by strings and ornamented by the celesta, it is a variation of the fugue theme heard in the first movement. It represents the calm morning of the day everything happened. The piccolo briefly recapitulates the theme in pianissimo, before being cut-off by a massive percussive outburst. Brasses introduce a menacing and dissonant theme as a representation of the mountain's explosion. This is followed by a violent senza misura passage of controled chaos by the whole orchestra. Brasses and percussion turn this menacing theme in an imposing march. However, this violence slowly fades away, concluding when the strings recapitulate the opening hymn in a brilliant manner, a new sing of praise to the mountain. It becomes the subject of a joyful fugue for strings. The whole orchestra rises in a thrilling recapitulation of the hymn. The whole work ends with a massive coda.

Picture: Photograph of Mount St. Helens in eruption.

Musical analysis done mostly by myself. Sources: https://bit.ly/3CtIGKl and https://bit.ly/3zpm3VI