Christopher Rouse

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

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lescamil

Quote from: snyprrr on September 22, 2010, 06:13:49 AM
That phrase should send shivers down any prospective Compser's spine! I wouldn't want to read that about myself, haha.

I don't like that term, really. I was using it for the sake of easy identification for those here that use that term. I just call it his period from the 1980s.
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Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: lescamil on September 22, 2010, 11:39:37 AM
I don't like that term, really.

Well I was just using it as a term of convenience...no shivers intended  :)

Quote from: lescamil on September 21, 2010, 09:29:38 PM
If you can, listen to the Concerto for Orchestra, Odna Zhizn, or the Requiem (this one is another massive work not to be missed).

Do you know if there are any recordings of these pieces in the works? I found 32 sec. worth of the CfO on YouTube, but that's just a snapshot.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

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

lescamil

#22
Quote from: Velimir on September 22, 2010, 11:44:13 PM
Do you know if there are any recordings of these pieces in the works? I found 32 sec. worth of the CfO on YouTube, but that's just a snapshot.

None of them have been recorded commercially. Odna Zhizn was available on the NYPhil's website for some time. I heard the Requiem and Concerto for Orchestra through broadcasts online. Same goes for the Oboe Concerto, which I mentioned earlier. As you can tell, I am a very active online radio listener.
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snyprrr

Quote from: lescamil on September 21, 2010, 09:29:38 PM
He actually had three string quartets (of which the first two are recorded and the third will be premiered soon) and a piece called Compline for string quartet, harp, clarinet, and flute. The first two string quartets are from his so-called "good period" and are very gritty pieces that should please anyone who likes works similar to his first two symphonies. Compline is a much more restrained work that is in his new sort of more tonally oriented idiom, but it is still a decent work. Not one of my favorites, though.

On the topic of Rouse's latest music, I have heard two of his most recent orchestral works and I think my faith in him has been restored. I heard his Concerto for Orchestra (performed at the Cabrillo Festival in 2008) and Odna Zhizn (performed this year at the NY Phil). The Concerto for Orchestra is a very tightly structured work with a great deal of virtuosity, not much different from his Second Symphony, particularly the outer movements of that piece, in how a small amount of material gets transformed gradually over the whole work. It is a very explosive work that reminds one of his ear splitting pieces from the 1980s. Odna Zhizn is a more personal work, but it is still in a very advanced idiom that one doesn't find in his other recent works like Rapture or the Oboe Concerto. It reminded me of his work Iscariot, in how it seemed to be one constant rhapsodic meditation. Don't give up hope on Rouse! He is still one of my favorite composers, despite the questionable works he has produced over the past 10 years. If you can, listen to the Concerto for Orchestra, Odna Zhizn, or the Requiem (this one is another massive work not to be missed).

I hadn't seen that disc of SQs until yesterday. Sounds pretty good. I like the vehemence in No.1.

Elnimio

His Gorgon suite is the loudest thing I've ever heard

snyprrr


Mirror Image

Quote from: Elnimio on January 07, 2011, 10:18:21 PM
His Gorgon suite is the loudest thing I've ever heard

I thought that honor went to Jon Leifs? :D

lescamil

Quote from: Mirror Image on March 28, 2011, 09:37:15 PM
I thought that honor went to Jon Leifs? :D

I can think of a few pieces louder than Hekla. One is definitely Gorgon. The ending will blast out your eardrums literally if you listen with headphones. Another work louder than Hekla is Corigliano's Circus Maximus.
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Mirror Image

Quote from: lescamil on March 28, 2011, 09:38:59 PM
I can think of a few pieces louder than Hekla. One is definitely Gorgon. The ending will blast out your eardrums literally if you listen with headphones. Another work louder than Hekla is Corigliano's Circus Maximus.

Hell, most of Leifs' output will put a hurting on the ol' eardrums. Yes, Gorgon is loud. I have not heard the Corigliano work you heard, but, then again, his music never interested that much anyway.

lescamil

Here is something that might be interesting to some. It gives an insight to Rouse's musical influences in his early musical life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMmEuQAuYLM&feature=player_embedded
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Archaic Torso of Apollo

formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

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

lescamil

I perused the score of Heimdall's Trumpet and it looks like an excellent piece. The trumpet part looks impossible and both soloist and orchestra alike have a ton of both lyrical and pyrotechnic displays. It ends with a Rouse trademark, a hammerblow to end it all. Too bad the world didn't end after its premiere. It would have been fitting. But because the world didn't end, we can all listen to it in February when it gets broadcasted. Rest assured I will post that recording here when it is available.
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snyprrr

This new trumpet concerto reinvigorates my resolve to continue 'trying' with Rouse. I still want to hear the other wind concertos.

lescamil

Quote from: snyprrr on December 22, 2012, 10:16:22 AM
This new trumpet concerto reinvigorates my resolve to continue 'trying' with Rouse. I still want to hear the other wind concertos.

His wind concertos are a varied bunch. The Clarinet Concerto is a demented, whimsical piece. The Oboe Concerto is a bit dreamier and lyrical. The famous Trombone concerto is passionate and mournful with a violent middle movement. The even more famous Flute Concerto is the most accessible (and, ironically, my least favorite) and is the most crowd-pleasing of the lot. All are worth your time. Heimdall's Trumpet seems like a very strong work in his catalogue just from the score. For him being a composer that loves his strings and percussion, he does very well with winds.
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Madiel

My best friend just told me to add Rouse to the list of my composers to listen to (at some point, there's a queue).

The level of enthusiasm and activity on this thread is a bit concerning...
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Daverz

I'll have to have a Rouseathon the next time the neighbors are at work.

kyjo

I'll contribute here later today when l have time......

Karl Henning

Rouse enthusiasts: indulge me, and keep it short and sweet... Designate the three works which Make the Case. Just pow-pow-pow, three.

I don't want a list of 15 pieces you think well of. I want three signal successes. Go.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

If you list more than three pieces, I ain't reading the post >:D
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

amw

Quote from: karlhenning on September 25, 2013, 02:52:53 AM
Rouse enthusiasts: indulge me, and keep it short and sweet... Designate the three works which Make the Case. Just pow-pow-pow, three.

Wouldn't call myself an "enthusiast". But if you like stuff that's gloomy and very, very noisy, lots of "wie verrückt" bass clarinet multiphonics and deep piano clusters and nasty things being done to percussion instruments, you may enjoy Rouse's early period. Look for this at your local library/secondhand record shop/YouTube/etc:

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Rotae Passionis is for mixed ensemble and was for me the highlight (helped that my library had a score); the Concerto reminded me somewhat of the more angosciato midcentury composers (Hartmann/early Henze etc as well as Ginastera's (better) piece of the same title). The other two pieces are for percussion ensemble and his Opus 1 and 2 in some order, I think. If you like any of these things there are also some string quartets and Gorgon.

The later stuff, meh.