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Christopher Rouse (1949-     )

American composer Christopher Rouse started out at as a rock & roll drummer. However, It was not long until his love for classical composing took over and he enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory. Having received a degree in composition in 1971, he continued with graduate work at Cornell University. He has taught at the Eastman School of Music since 1981, began teaching composition at the Juilliard School in 1997 and became co-composer in residence at the Aspen Music Festival in 1999. In a successful career as a composer he has won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for his Trombone Concerto in 1993. Rouse is best known for his large body of concertos and symphonic works. He has been described as "the Stephen King of composition," since many of his works from the late 1980s and early 1990s dealt with issues of death, horror, tragedy, and mythology. His music is dramatic in an almost Mahlerian sense -- a side effect of which seems to be that his music is the loudest and boldest of his time. One orchestra playing his music called in OSHA because orchestra members thought the volume level was too loud and, therefore, unsafe. That said, Rouse has written some of the most beautiful and touching music of any composer of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A New York Times article stated, "Rouse has written some of the most anguished, most memorable music around."
COMPOSITIONS                                                            Rouse Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre    ~ ~ ~    Rouse on Rouse
Morpheus, cello (1975)
Ogoun Badagris, 5 percussion (1976)
Quattro Madrigali, 8 voices (1976)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku, 4 percussion (1978)
Mitternachtslieder, bass-baritone and chamber ensemble (1979)
Liber Daemonum, organ (1980)
String Quartet No. 1 (1982)
Rotae Passionis, fl/pic/alto fl/perc, cl/Eb cl/bass clar/perc, vln, va, vc, pf/perc and 1 perc (1982)
The Surma Ritornelli, fl/picc, cl/bass cl, hn, trpt, trom, vln, vc, db, pf/perc and 2 perc (1983)
Lares Hercii, violin and harpsichord (1983)
Gorgon, orchestra (1984)
Phantasmata, orchestra (1981–85)
    - The Evestrum of Juan de la Cruz in the Sagrada Familia, 3 A.M.
    - The Infernal Machine (1981)
    - Bump, orchestra (1985)
Double Bass Concerto (1985)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1986)
Phaethon, orchestra (1986)
Little Gorgon, piano (1986)
Jagannath, orchestra (1987)
Artemis, brass quintet (1988)
Bonham, 8 percussion (1988)
String Quartet No. 2 (1988)
Iscariot, chamber orchestra (1989)
Concerto per Corde, string orchestra (1990)
Karolju, chorus and orchestra (1990)
Trombone Concerto (1990–91) [1993 Pulitzer Prize Winner]
Violin Concerto (1991)
Cello Concerto (1992–93)
Flute Concerto (1993)
Symphony No. 2, orchestra (1994)
Envoi, orchestra (1995)
Ricordanza, cello (1995)
Compline, flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet (1996)
Two Goldberg Variations II, cello and piano (1996)
Valentine, flute (1996)
Der gerettete Alberich, fantasy, percussion and orchestra (1997)
Mime, snare drum (1997)
Kabīr Padāvalī – Kabīr Songbook, soprano, off-stage percussion and orchestra (1997–98)
Seeing (concerto), piano and orchestra (1998)
Concert de Gaudí, guitar and orchestra (1998–99)
Rapture, orchestra (1999–2000)
Clarinet Concerto (2001)
Rapturedux, 8 or more celli (2001)
The Nevill Feast, orchestra (2002–03)
Oboe Concerto (2003–04)
Friandises, dance work (2005) [also as work for orchestra]
Wolf Rounds, band (2006)
Requiem, baritone, children's chorus, chorus and orchestra (2007)
Concerto for Orchestra (2006–08)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Rouse Links     ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Friandises, dance work (2005) [also as work for orchestra]

Orchestra
Gorgon, orchestra (1984)
Phantasmata, orchestra (1981–85)
    - The Evestrum of Juan de la Cruz in the Sagrada Familia, 3 A.M.
    - The Infernal Machine (1981)
    - Bump, orchestra (1985)
Symphony No. 1, orchestra (1986)
Phaethon, orchestra (1986)
Jagannath, orchestra (1987)
Iscariot, chamber orchestra (1989)
Concerto per Corde, string orchestra (1990)
Symphony No. 2, orchestra (1994)
Envoi, orchestra (1995)
Rapture, orchestra (1999–2000)
The Nevill Feast, orchestra (2002–03)
Friandises, orchestra (2005) [ from dance work]
Concerto for Orchestra (2006–08)
Zhizn, orchestra (to be premiered February 2010)

Band
Wolf Rounds, band (2006)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Double Bass Concerto (1985)
Trombone Concerto (1990–91) [1993 Pulitzer Prize Winner]
Violin Concerto (1991)
Cello Concerto (1992–93)
Flute Concerto (1993)
Der gerettete Alberich, fantasy, percussion and orchestra (1997)
Seeing (concerto), piano and orchestra (1998)
Concert de Gaudí, guitar and orchestra (1998–99)
Clarinet Concerto (2001)
Oboe Concerto (2003–04)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Karolju, chorus and orchestra (1990)
Requiem, baritone, children's chorus, chorus and orchestra (2007)

Choral
Quattro Madrigali, 8 voices (1976)

Chamber
Ogoun Badagris, 5 percussion (1976)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku, 4 percussion (1978)
String Quartet No. 1 (1982)
Rotae Passionis, fl/pic/alto fl/perc, cl/Eb cl/bass clar/perc, vln, va, vc, pf/perc and 1 perc (1982)
The Surma Ritornelli, fl/picc, cl/bass cl, hn, trpt, trom, vln, vc, db, pf/perc and 2 perc (1983)
Lares Hercii, violin and harpsichord (1983)
Artemis, brass quintet (1988)
Bonham, 8 percussion (1988)
String Quartet No. 2 (1988)
Compline, flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet (1996)
Two Goldberg Variations II, cello and piano (1996)
Rapturedux, 8 or more celli (2001)

Solo Instrument
Morpheus, cello (1975)
Ricordanza, cello (1995)
Valentine, flute (1996)

Percussion
Ogoun Badagris, 5 percussion (1976)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku, 4 percussion (1978)
Bonham, 8 percussion (1988)
Der gerettete Alberich, fantasy, percussion and orchestra (1997)
Mime, snare drum (1997)
Kabīr Padāvalī – Kabīr Songbook, soprano, off-stage percussion and orchestra (1997–98)

Piano/Organ
Little Gorgon, piano (1986)
Liber Daemonum, organ (1980)

Vocal
Mitternachtslieder, bass-baritone and chamber ensemble (1979)
Kabīr Padāvalī – Kabīr Songbook, soprano, off-stage percussion and orchestra (1997–98)


ROUSE  LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
Christopher Rouse: Q & A (Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper)
Christopher Rouse's "Der Gerettete Alberich" (Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times)
Going to Eleven - Nothing Against Tradition (Frank J. Oteri, NewMusicBox)
How Christopher Rouse Does His Thing (David Salvage, Sequenza21)

Composer's website

Rouse @ Wikipedia
Rouse @ Answers.com
Rouse @ Art of the States
Rouse @ Boosey & Hawkes
Rouse @ Classical Archives
Rouse @ Classical Composers Database
Rouse @ ClassicalSource.com
Rouse @ Classical Net
Rouse @ ClassicsToday
Rouse @ composition:today
Rouse @ Dilettante Music
Rouse @ Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
Rouse @ Facebook
Rouse @ Ionarts
Rouse @ Johns Hopkins University
Rouse @ The Living Composers Project
Rouse @ MusicWeb International
Rouse @ musicianguide.com
Rouse @ MySpaceMusic
Rouse @ NationMaster
Rouse @ Naxos
Rouse @ New World Records
Rouse @ The New York Times
Rouse @ Nonesuch Records
Rouse @ Peabody Institute
Rouse @ Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Rouse @ Present Music

Check also - Music Sage   http://www.musicsage.org/

Streaming Audio
Rouse @ Composer's website
Rouse @ Classical Archives
Rouse @ last.fm
Rouse @ Rhapsody

Recordings
Rouse @ ArkivMusic
Rouse @ ClassicsOnline

Rouse @ YouTube


 Rouse on Rouse: @ La Jolla Music Society: SummerFest







 Rouse on Rouse: Interview with Soli Deo Gloria CEO Chandler Branch







 Rouse on Rouse: On Rapture (New York Philharmonic)







 Rouse on Rouse: On Composing (New York Philharmonic)







 Rouse on Rouse: Interview with Susan Elliott, Editor of MusicalAmerica.com