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Catalogue of works

Opera

• Opus 31. "The Merry Mount", 3 acts (libretto by Richard L. Stokes, based on a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1933)

Incidental music

• 16. California Forest Play of 1920 (1919)

Choral works

• 22. Symphonic poem "North and West" with obbligato chorus (1923)
• 25. "The Lament for Beowulf" for chorus & orchestra (1925)
• 28. "Heroic Elegy" for wordless chorus & orchestra (1927)
• 32. "Drum Taps" (Walt Whitman) for baritone, chorus & orchestra (1935)
• Also some smaller works

Orchestral works

• 6. Symphonic Prelude (1916)
• 8. Symphonic Legend (1917)
• 14. Symphonic Rhapsody (1919)
• 17. Symphonic poem "Before the Dawn" (1920)
• 21. Symphony No. 1 ("Nordic"), E mi. (1922)
• 30. Symphony No. 2 ("Romantic") (1930)
• 33. Symphony No. 3 (1941)
• 34. Symphony No. 4 (1943) (won the Pulitzer Prize)
• 35. Serenade (1945)
• ? Symphony No. 5 ("Sinfonia Sacra") (1955)
• ? Symphony No. 6 (1967)
• ? Symphony No. 7 ("Sea Symphony") (Walt Whitman) (1977)
• ? Ballet "Nymphs and Satyr" (1979)

Solo instrument and orchestra

• 20. Symphonic poem "Exaltation" with piano obbligato (1920)
• 22. Concerto for organ strings & harp (1921)
• 24. Symphonic poem "Lux aeterna" with viola obbligato (1923)
• 25. Symphonic poem "Pan and the Priest" with piano obbligato (1926)
• 27. Organ Concerto (1926)
• 36. Piano Concerto (1948)

Voice and orchestra

• 3. 3 Songs from Walt Whitman (1915)
• 1. The Untold Want
• 2. Portals
• 3. Joy! Shipmate, Joy!

Chamber music

• 5. Quintet, F mi., for 2 violins, viola, cello & piano (1916)
• 7. "Concerto da camera" for 2 violins, viola, cello & piano (1917)
• 23. String Quartet (1923)

(Tommy Westbrook sent me the next list some time after the previous. JS)

Stage

• California Forest Play of 1920, op.16, solo vv, chorus, dancers, orch, 1919
• Merry Mount, op.31 (opera, R. L. Stokes, after Hawthorne), 1933, New York, Metropolitan

Choral

• The Lament for Beowulf, op.25, chorus, orch, 1925
• Songs from Drum Taps, op.32, Bar, chorus, orch, 1935
• The Cherubic Hymn, op.37, chorus, orch, 1949
• How Excellent Thy Name, op.41, female vv, pf, 1952
• Song of Democracy, chorus, orch, 1957
• Song of Human Rights, chorus, orch, 1963
• Psalm CL, male vv, 1965
• Psalm CXXI, Bar, chorus, orch, 1968
• Streams in the Desert, chorus, orch, 1969
• The Mystic Trumpeter, narrator, chorus, orch, 1970
• New Land, New Covenant, oratorio, 1976

Orchestral

• Exaltation, op.20, symphonic. poem, pf obbl., 1920
• Sym. no.1 ‘Nordic’, e, op.21, 1922
• Lux aeterna, op.24, sym. poem, va obb1., 1923
• Pan and the Priest, op.26, sym. poem, pf obb1., 1926
• Organ Concerto, op.27, 1926
• Sym. no.2 ‘Romantic’, op.30, 1930
• Sym. no.3, op.33, 1937 - 8; Merry Mount, suite, 1938
• Sym. no.4 ‘The Requiem’, op.34, 1943
• Serenade, op.35, fl, harp, str, 1945
• Piano Concerto, op.36, 1948
• Pastorale, op.38, ob, harp, str, 1949
• Fantasy-Variations on a Theme of Youth, op.40, pf, orch, 1951
• Sym. no.5 ‘Sinfonia sacra’, op.43, 1954
• Elegy, op.44, 1956
• Mosaics, 1958
• Summer Seascape, 1958
• Bold Island Suite, op.46, 1961
• For the First Time, 1963
• Summer Seascape II, 1966
• Dies natalis I, 1967
• Sym. no.6, 1968
• Sym. no.7 ‘Sea’, with chorus, 1977

Other works

• Wind ensemble: Centennial March, band, 1967
• Dies natalis II, band, 1972
• Young Person’s Guide to the Six-tone Scale, pf, wind, perc, 1972 Chamber Str Qt, op.23, 1923
• Elegy, va, str qt, 1966 Songs, pf pieces, arrangements

Principal publisher: Fischer

Marie Ann Nicola <manclmta.ca> adds the following:

His opera "The Maypole of Merry Mount (1933) is a rare composition by Hanson since it deals almost entirely with American subjects.

The opera "Symphony #2: Romantic." Is entirely in the Romantic style.

The composition Symphony No 1:Nordic" reflect his admiration of Sibelius through this strongly influenced work.

Hanson was primarily responsible for raising the prestige of the Eastman School of Music as he was a director there.

<paulthepianomanyahoo.com> writes: I know that he wrote a piece for wind ensemble called "Laude", which was a theme and variations piece.

<rvsbandwebtv.net> writes: You fail to mention one of Dr. Hanson’s finest and most popular works composed for the symphonic band. "Chorale and Alleluia" was completed in January, l954 and was his first work for symphonic band. It was commissioned by Edwin Franko Goldman for the American Bandmasters Association.

Howard Hanson (1896-1981) was a distinguished American composer, conductor, educator and pre-eminent advocate of American music. Born in Wahoo, Nebraska to Swedish emigrants, he began music studies at an early age. His Scandinavian heritage played a life-long role in the inspiration of his works, which combine the ethos of Sibelius and Grieg with a distinctive American flavor. He was a leading practitioner of American Romanticism, dedicating his professional life to the encouragement, creation and preservation of beauty and emotional expressiveness in music. He cherished these ideals and his conviction that musicians and audiences alike could respond openly to each other with mutual respect. From 1924 to his retirement in 1964, Hanson served as Director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where two generations of students of composition and performance were influenced by his vision.

Source: Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1954 Edition, Volume 4

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