]]Alan Hovhaness () (March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American composer of Armenian and Scottish ancestry, but the inspiration for his mature work was as much Eastern as Western."In Memoriam Alan Hovhaness", The Musical Times, Vol. 141, No. 1872. (Autumn, 2000), pp. 6-7. His music is accessible to the lay listener and often evokes a mood of mystery or contemplation. The Boston Globe music critic Richard Buell wrote: "Although he has been stereotyped as a self-consciously Armenian composer (rather as Ernest Bloch is seen as a Jewish composer), his output assimilates the music of many cultures. What may be most American about all of it is the way it turns its materials into a kind of exoticism. The atmosphere is hushed, reverential, mystical, nostalgic." He was among the most prolific composers of the 20th century, composing 67 symphonies and 434 opus numbers.