51, was composed by Alan Hovhaness in 1944 during the portion of his life when he lived near Boston and began to reconnect with his Armenian roots.
[3] Critics have noted that these rhapsodies "display a sense of atmosphere and a fresh approach to modal polyphony that was not present in his earlier work".
This improvisatory, Byzantine language became known as a 'spirit murmur' in the context of Hovhaness's pieces which consisted of improvisations across instruments contained within certain scales.
[5] Hovhaness's pieces were often described as "[mixing] long, melismatic lines with Baroque-inspired counterpoint", with "several rhythmic pulses going on at once, and an individual and unpredictable sense of harmony".
Critics have described the piece as one that "develops into a series of at first decidedly un-nationalist fugues", with more typical classical natural minor scales used.
The composition is similar in style to Enescu and the musical model of Liszt in the way in draws on tradition and folk songs.