Hovhannes - Macedonian Mountain Dance

[andhow04]

the favorite of many a piano student, alan hovhannes' most popular piano piece (out of many many unheard pieces that he wrote). i included this in a program called "the cosmopolitan pianist," which featured music written by composers in a style that was foreign to them, ie bach's italian concerto, liszt's spanish rhapsody, etc. hovhannes, though american, was armenian extraction. the mountain dance calls to mind a wild hedonistic shepherd dance lit by a midnight mountain campfire. it should be played with Bacchic abandon, not calling attention to the strict rhythmic organization.