Music[edit] Rouse is commonly described[weasel words] as a neoromantic composer. Some of his works are predominantly atonal (e.g., "Gorgon", Concerto for Orchestra) while o thers are clearly tonal ("Karolju", "Rapture"). Most often he seeks to integrate tonal and non-tonal harmonic worlds, as in his concerti for flute, oboe, and gu itar. Rouse has been praised for his orchestration, particularly with percussion .[1] He often quotes other composers' works (e.g., his Symphony No. 1, composed in 1986, incorporates quotations of Bruckner and Shostakovich), and his music al so sometimes shows the influence of rock. In general his work is notable for the intensity of its expression.[2][not in citation given] Rouse's oldest extant works are two brief pieces for percussion ensemble, both i nspired by mythological subjects: "Ogoun Badagris" (1976, Haitian) and "Ku-Ka-Il imoku" (1978, Polynesian); a later percussion score inspired by rock drumming, " Bonham", was composed in 1988. The early 1980s found him creating a harrowing se ries of compositions in fast tempi and an often astringent harmonic language, al l in the service musical savagery and brutality. Rouse described these pieces as an attempt "to bring back the allegro",[this quote needs a citation] having com e to feel that the composition of extended music in fast tempi was becoming a lo st art. Works such as his String Quartet No. 1 of 1982 (five connected movements , all fast) and his 1984 orchestral piece Gorgon typify this style. After compos ing Phaethon in 1986, Rouse moved in the opposite direction, creating his Sympho ny No. 1, a one-movement composition entirely in slow tempo. This ushered in a s eries of works that explored the darker aspects of the human condition. Although his harmonic language now had more recourse to the use of tonality, the express ive intent was often a tragic one.[citation needed] The death of Leonard Bernstein in 1990 was the first in a series of deaths that made a profound impression on Rouse, and his Trombone Concerto (1991) became the first score of his so-called "Death Cycle", a group of pieces that all served a s reactions to these deaths. Subsequent scores memorialized William Schuman (Vio loncello Concerto - 1992), James Bulger, the two-year-old English boy abducted f rom a mall and subsequently murdered by two ten-year-old boys (Flute Concerto 1993), the composer Stephen Albert (Symphony No. 2 - 1994), and Rouse's mother ( "Envoi" - 1995). His pieces from the second half of the 1990s represented a cons cious effort "to look towards the light", in the composer's words.[this quote ne eds a citation] These more optimistic and life-affirming works include Compline (1996), Kabir Padavali (1997), the Concert de Gaudi (1998), and Rapture (2000). Since 2000 Rouse has followed an unpredictable path. His thorny Clarinet Concert o (2001) contrasts markedly with the pop-inflected humor of The Nevill Feast (20 03). Lush neoromantic works like the Oboe Concerto of 2004 stand alongside twelv e-tone experiments (Concerto for Orchestra, 2008). The most significant work of these years is his 90-minute Requiem (2002), a piece Rouse considers his valedic tion and one that evidences his music's wide stylistic variety. Recent years hav e seen him embrace a personal system of translating alphabetical letters into mu sical pitches, thereby allowing him to musically "spell" various names, events, or other words and phrases. The most thoroughgoing use of this system can be fou nd in his 2009 composition Odna Zhizn.[citation needed] Commercial Use[edit]
