Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) was one of the most prolific American composers of the twentieth century, with a catalog of over 1,000 surviving works, including 67 numbered symphonies. He was a student of the folk musics of Armenia, India, and Japan, and the synthesis of those diverse traditions was the foundation for his unique and colorful musical style. He worked outside the academic community for most of his career, which he thought stifled original thinking, and he developed as a maverick with a distinctive and idiosyncratic compositional voice. He is best known for his Symphony No. 2, "Mysterious Mountain."