American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000). One of the most prolific composers in recent musical history. Hovhaness composed over 1.500 works, and while he had destroyed somewhere in the region of 1.000 of these, the remaining 500 include 67 symphonies, eight operas and over 20 concertos. For twenty years he travelled extensively throughout Asia, frequently visiting India, Japan and Korea, and composing music directly inspired by their art and culture.