Symphonic Rouse

Synopsis

On today's date in 1995, the Houston Symphony, led by conductor Christoph Eschenbach, premiered a new symphony by the American composer, Christopher Rouse.

Rouse's Second Symphony was a three-movement work, in the traditional fast-slow-fast pattern, with the slow, middle movement intended as a memorial tribute to Rouse's colleague, Stephen Albert, a talented American composer who had died in a car accident.

As Rouse himself put it, "The central adagio functions as a kind of prism through which the music of the first movement is 'refracted,' in the process altering its mood and affect. This adagio, composed in memory of my friend Stephen Albert, might be said to act as a tunnel through which the somewhat mercurially-mooded first allegro passes; on the other end of the tunnel, this music emerges both the same and different, darker and more threatening in tone... The conclusion's emotional world is light years away from that at the beginning."

Like many composers of his Baby Boomer generation, Christopher Rouse grew up with rock 'n' roll music and, as a Professor at the Eastman School, even taught a popular course on the History of Rock. The music critic of the Houston Chronicle noted rock's influence in the finale of Rouse's Second Symphony, writing, "Rouse brings the piece to an electrifying conclusion with a percussion-dominated outburst that has all the visceral, kinetic energy of the drum-dominated peak of a rock concert."

Music Played in Today's Program

Christopher Rouse (b. 1949) Symphony No. 2 Houston Symphony; Christoph Eschenbach, cond. Telarc 80452

On This Day

Births

• 1678 - Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, in Venice;

• 1915 - Spanish-born American composer Carlos Surinach, in Barcelona;

• 1928 - German-born American composer Samuel Adler, in Mannheim;

Deaths

• 1925 - German-born composer Moritz Moszkowski, age 70, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1791 - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27 in Bb, K. 595, in Vienna with the composer as soloist;

• 1870 - 1870–Tchaikovsky: fantasy-overture "Romeo and Juliet" (first version) in Moscow, with Nicolas Rubinstein conducting (Gregorian date: Mar. 16);

• 1877 - Tchaikovsky: ballet "Swan Lake," at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow (Julian date: Feb. 20);

• 1885 - R. Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1, by the Meiningen Orchestra conducted by Hans von Bülow, with Gustav Leinhos, that orchestra's principal horn, as the soloist;

• 1895 - movements 1-3 only of Mahler: Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection"), by Berlin Philharmonic, with Mahler conducting; The first complete performance, also with the composer conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, took place on December 13 that same year;

• 1905 - Glazunov: Violin Concerto, in St. Petersburg, with violinist Leopold Auer as the soloist (Julian date: Feb. 19);

• 1921 - Daniel Gregory Mason: "Prelude and Fugue" for piano and orchestra, in Chicago;

• 1988 - Argento: "Te Deum" for chorus and orchestra, by the Buffalo (N.Y.) Philharmonic Orchestra and Schola Cantorum, Thomas Swan conducting;

• 1995 - Christopher Rouse: Symphony No. 2, by the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach conducting;

Others

• 1809 - The U.S. Marine Band performed for James Madison's Presidential inaugural ball, the first ever held. The President, First Lady Dolly Madison, and their guests were serenaded by popular songs and dances of the period;

• 1965 - American premiere of Ligeti: "Poème symphonique" for 100 metronomes, in Buffalo, N.Y.