Alan Hovhaness

I think that of my 21 symphonies, each has its own place.

— Alan Hovhaness

I found a greater identity with my own emotions in the Armenian culture as I grew older, as well as from the…

— Alan Hovhaness

I was born in Somerville, but I don't remember very much about it because we moved from there to Arlington when I…

— Alan Hovhaness

No, no, I didn't know him. He lost his mind around 1917 because of the tragedy of the Armenians.

— Alan Hovhaness

There is nothing like practice.

— Alan Hovhaness

I've always regarded nature as the clothing of God.

— Alan Hovhaness

There were periods when I sometimes made fires in a large, open fireplace that lasted about two weeks, which was how long…

— Alan Hovhaness

The composer...joins Heaven and Earth with threads of sounds.

— Alan Hovhaness

My purpose is to create music not for snobs, but for all people, music which is beautiful and healing. To attempt what…

— Alan Hovhaness

This is not to say that the Scots are not fine people, but they were all sort of... well, my grandfather was…

— Alan Hovhaness

I did all kinds of things in order to earn a living.

— Alan Hovhaness

It's hard for me to think of others because I'm not particularly in sympathy with the music of this century.

— Alan Hovhaness

I was much more interested in the orchestra than the piano, but I did become fairly proficient as a pianist and my…

— Alan Hovhaness

My mother's background was Scottish. She came from an old family, some of whom lived in upper New York State and some…

— Alan Hovhaness

The greater the emotional intensity, the greater the simplicity.

— Alan Hovhaness

To me, atonality is against nature. There is a center to everything that exists. The planets have the sun, the earth, the…

— Alan Hovhaness