Christopher Rouse

Started by Archaic Torso of Apollo, April 18, 2007, 10:18:25 AM

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relm1

Rouse was a very fine composer and I deeply miss his loss.  I so much wish he had composer another symphony.  Six feels incomplete, but seven feels like a cycle.  He was a fabulous man too.  Humorous and intellectual.  And I feel like I look like him in the age of corona with hair too long and a beard. 

Mirror Image

Quote from: relm1 on May 25, 2020, 04:31:09 PM
Rouse was a very fine composer and I deeply miss his loss.  I so much wish he had composer another symphony.  Six feels incomplete, but seven feels like a cycle.  He was a fabulous man too.  Humorous and intellectual.  And I feel like I look like him in the age of corona with hair too long and a beard.

He was a composer of immense talent and, most of all, heart. Even when there's a huge battery of percussion pounding away, I never felt this to be empty or simply orchestral gesturing of any kind. It actually meant something within the context of the piece. Yes, he seemed like a lovely man.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

relm1

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 07, 2020, 06:05:14 PM
Rouse's 5th Symphony is out. This looks like a must-buy disc. Anyone heard it?

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/rousing-rouse-fifth-and-concerto-for-orchestra-on-naxos/

Yes, I heard it and enjoyed it.  Fine performances and really liked the Concerto for Orchestra as well.

Brian

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 07, 2020, 06:05:14 PM
Rouse's 5th Symphony is out. This looks like a must-buy disc. Anyone heard it?

https://www.classicstoday.com/review/rousing-rouse-fifth-and-concerto-for-orchestra-on-naxos/
I saw the live world premiere of the Fifth. I'd agree this is a must buy. The Fifth is very loosely inspired by Beethoven's Fifth - in that the opening motif is on the same rhythm and there's a scherzo which leads into the finale - but overall it's typically thrilling, combative Rouse. The finale contains the most bass drum I've ever heard in a work. Rouse came onstage afterwards and looked very frail; we could tell he was in his last years. He did apparently manage to complete a Sixth Symphony.

Streamed "Supplica" and it was everything that the symphony was not - quiet, tender, lyrical, much smaller orchestral force.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Brian on October 08, 2020, 06:05:47 AM
The Fifth is very loosely inspired by Beethoven's Fifth - in that the opening motif is on the same rhythm and there's a scherzo which leads into the finale - but overall it's typically thrilling, combative Rouse.

Interesting approach. He did a similar thing with the 3rd Symphony (based on Prokofiev's 2nd).

If you didn't know it was based on LvB 5, would you have guessed it?
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Maestro267


Brian

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 08, 2020, 07:08:39 AM
If you didn't know it was based on LvB 5, would you have guessed it?
The first few bars are quite obvious - but after that, the relationship is very abstract and not at all clear at the surface level. No quotes are anything like that.

Brahmsian

Quote from: Brian on October 08, 2020, 06:05:47 AM

Streamed "Supplica" and it was everything that the symphony was not - quiet, tender, lyrical, much smaller orchestral force.

I get to hear this piece tonight with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as a livestream event as part of the Winnipeg New Music Festival.

Will be my introduction to the music of Rouse.

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: OrchestralNut on January 23, 2021, 10:06:13 AM
I get to hear this piece tonight with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as a livestream event as part of the Winnipeg New Music Festival.

Will be my introduction to the music of Rouse.

Hey, Ray, how was the performance of Supplica?

Brahmsian

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on June 02, 2021, 04:32:13 AM
Hey, Ray, how was the performance of Supplica?

Hi Greg!

It really was terrific. I was very impressed with the work!

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 02, 2021, 04:49:45 AM
Hi Greg!

It really was terrific. I was very impressed with the work!

That's great, Ray. I haven't read through this thread so I'm sure you've probably received a good amount of Rouse recommendations here, but my top choice is always the Flute Concerto. Not only is it an amazing work, but I think it is the epitome of Rouse's musical style. There are moments of lyrical serenity similar to Supplica, and also the more thornier, and heavier side of his music. A perfect mix of Rouse's sound.

Mirror Image

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on June 02, 2021, 10:48:10 AM
That's great, Ray. I haven't read through this thread so I'm sure you've probably received a good amount of Rouse recommendations here, but my top choice is always the Flute Concerto. Not only is it an amazing work, but I think it is the epitome of Rouse's musical style. There are moments of lyrical serenity similar to Supplica, and also the more thornier, and heavier side of his music. A perfect mix of Rouse's sound.

I can only agree about the Flute Concerto --- it's a gem.

DavidUK

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 02, 2021, 07:08:32 PM
I can only agree about the Flute Concerto --- it's a gem.

Which has just been playing on Radio 3 in concert.  I missed the beginning but what I heard sounded excellent.

Mirror Image

Quote from: DavidUK on April 28, 2022, 11:48:03 AM
Which has just been playing on Radio 3 in concert.  I missed the beginning but what I heard sounded excellent.

Buy the Bezaly/Gilbert recording of it on BIS!

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 07, 2020, 06:05:14 PM
Rouse's 5th Symphony is out. This looks like a must-buy disc. Anyone heard it?


Well, now I've heard it. The entire disc gets a thumbs-up from me, but based on a couple of listens, I like the Concerto for Orchestra and Supplica somewhat better than the 5th Symphony.

The symphony alternates moody and exciting episodes, and held my attention, but I'm not sure how well it holds together structurally. I don't really have such doubts about the other two pieces. Supplica reminded me that Rouse does the atmospheric tone-poem thing really well (see pieces like Phaeton, Rapture, and Prospero's Rooms).

My preferred Rouse symphonies remain 2 and 3. 4 and 5 are interesting but I'm not quite convinced. Haven't heard 1.

Nashville Symphony sounds very good on this (hooray for "America's Music City").
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Mirror Image

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on May 04, 2022, 08:40:50 AM
Well, now I've heard it. The entire disc gets a thumbs-up from me, but based on a couple of listens, I like the Concerto for Orchestra and Supplica somewhat better than the 5th Symphony.

The symphony alternates moody and exciting episodes, and held my attention, but I'm not sure how well it holds together structurally. I don't really have such doubts about the other two pieces. Supplica reminded me that Rouse does the atmospheric tone-poem thing really well (see pieces like Phaeton, Rapture, and Prospero's Rooms).

My preferred Rouse symphonies remain 2 and 3. 4 and 5 are interesting but I'm not quite convinced. Haven't heard 1.

Nashville Symphony sounds very good on this (hooray for "America's Music City").

I like Rouse's 3rd symphony very much. I like the 2nd symphony quite a bit, but I'm honestly more taken with his concerti like the Trombone Concerto and Flute Concerto for example. I also LOVE works like Gorgon, Iscariot, Rapture and Odna Zhizn.

foxandpeng

Cross posted from the WAYLT thread...

Definitely time to explore Rouse. Shamefully overlooked by me, so far. Iscariot is equally fascinating.

Quote from: foxandpeng on July 07, 2022, 01:23:29 PM
Christopher Rouse
Symphony 1
Flute Concerto
Alan Gilbert
Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra


Very much enjoying Christopher Rouse's Flute Concerto and Symphony 1 today. Darkness and dissonance, beauty and colour, pain and anguish. Considering that the flute concerto is dedicated to the memory of the murdered Liverpool toddler, James Bulger, the dreadful collapse of beauty into brokenness is understandable.

Much to explore in Rouse, I think.
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

Brian

Was just reading his Wikipedia page and discovered he wrote a concerto for string orchestra "commissioned by Absolut Vodka"!

relm1

Quote from: Brian on May 30, 2023, 04:42:30 PMWas just reading his Wikipedia page and discovered he wrote a concerto for string orchestra "commissioned by Absolut Vodka"!

Who do you think commissioned this from Andy Warhol? 

https://artplease.com/artworks/andy-warhol-absolut-vodka/

Like many corporations, Absolute Vodka commissions new art as part of their interest in cultural impact.