Christopher Rouse is a very colorful composer who is known for his excellent orchestral work. I’d like to bring our attention to his Fourth Symphony, which was premiered at the New York’s first Biennial Festival. The music of Christopher Rouse is very dramatic and buzzing with excitement as was witnessed at the premier. The first movement is very colorful with the strings reaching into the extremely high registers in all strings. Pair this with mid-range woodwinds and you’ve got a fabulous display of orchestral color that hasn’t been heard in a long time, let alone possibly ever before. I get a vision in the first movement of the fall leaves rapidly blowing in the wind, amid a coming shower. It could belong in a film, it’s so bright and cheery. The harmony for this movement is moving so fast that you really have to strain to keep up with what is going on. That’s the beauty of it. It will make you run. It has the energy and intent of a kid running through the halls of a school yard. It is very precarious and precocious. I could listen to that over and over again. It will certainly give an energy boost when things are slow in the world.
This symphony among of his others follows a two-movement form. It is far away from the traditional four or five movement formats. The two movement form allows for a yin and yang balance—one mood versus another which is typically not heard of in classical music very often.
The second movement features a complete shift in the tonal and and range material. The piece goes from this surging, high energy strings and mid-woodwinds to low brass on a muted plane, low strings and high woodwinds in a rather peculiar harmony that is away from the traditional 1-3-5 relationship. This gives way to a thundering ending with highest woodwinds and mid-range brass, thundering drums and thundering timpanis. It is a complete festival in and of itself.
