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Rouse, Christopher (b. February 15, 1949, Baltimore, Maryland). American composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works that have been performed throughout the world.
Mr. Rouse began composing around age seven and studied drumkit and guitar as a child. He studied composition with Richard Hoffmann at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1967–71, where he earned his BMus. He had private studies with George Crumb in Philadelphia from 1971–73 and studied composition with Karel Husa at Cornell University from 1973–77 and there earned his MFA and DMA.
His honors include two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1976, 1980), a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation (1980), the League of Composers/ISCM Prize (1981, for The Infernal Machine from Phantasmata), the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award (1988, for Symphony No. 1), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1990). He has also received the Pulitzer Prize in Music (1993, for Concerto [trombone]), the Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1993) and the Koussevitzky Foundation Award (1996). More recently, he received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition (2002, for the recording of Concert de Gaudí) and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2002). In addition, he served as composer-in-residence to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1986–89 and at Tanglewood in 1997, the Helsinki Biennale in 1997 and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo in 1998. He has served as composer-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival since 1999 and was featured as Composer of the Year by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2004–05.
Mr. Rouse taught composition as a fellow at the University of Michigan from 1978–81 and at the Eastman School of Music from 1981–2002. He taught composition part-time at the Juilliard School of Music from 1997–2002 and has taught there full-time since 2002.
Boosey & Hawkes publishes most of his music.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: http://www.christopherrouse.com/
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: Friandises (dance music), 2005 (may be performed as a concert work)
ORCHESTRAL: Gorgon, large orchestra, 1984; Phantasmata, large orchestra, 1981–85 (two of its three sections may be performed separately: The Infernal Machine; Bump); Concerto, double bass, orchestra, 1985; Symphony No. 1, 1986; Phaethon, large orchestra, 1986; Jagannath, large orchestra, 1987; Iscariot, small orchestra (6 winds, 3 French horns, trumpet, celesta, 2 percussion, strings), 1989; Concerto per Corde, string orchestra, 1990; Concerto, trombone, orchestra (2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 11 brass, harp, timpani, 4 percussion, strings), 1990–91; Concerto, violin, orchestra, 1991; Concerto, cello, orchestra, 1992–93; Concerto, flute, orchestra, 1993; Symphony No. 2, large orchestra, 1994; Envoi, 1995; Der gerettete Alberich (fantasy), percussion, large orchestra, 1997; Seeing (concerto), piano, large orchestra, 1998; Concert de Gaudí, guitar, orchestra, 1998–99; Rapture, large orchestra, 1999–2000; Concerto, clarinet, orchestra, 2000; The Nevill Feast, large orchestra, 2002–03; Concerto, oboe, orchestra (7 winds, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, celesta, 3 percussion, strings), 2003–04; Friandises, 2005 (dance music; may be performed as a concert work); Wolf Rounds, symphonic band, 2006; Concerto for Orchestra, 2006–08
CHAMBER MUSIC: Morpheus, cello, 1975; Ogoun Badagris, 5 percussion, 1976; Ku-Ka-Ilimoku, 4 percussion, 1978; String Quartet No. 1, 1982; Rotae Passionis, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute, percussion), clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion), violin, viola, cello, piano (+ percussion), percussion, 1982; The Surma Ritornelli, flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), French horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, cello, double bass, piano (+ percussion), 2 percussion, 1983; Lares Hercii, violin, harpsichord, 1983; Artemis, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1988; Bonham, 8 percussion, 1988; String Quartet No. 2, 1988; Valentine, flute, 1995; Compline, flute, clarinet, harp, string quartet, 1996; Two Goldberg Variations II, cello, piano, 1996; Mime, snare drum, 1997; Rapturedux, 8 or more celli, 2000
CHORAL: Quattro Madrigali (texts by Torquato Tasso, Giovanni Battista Guarini, Michelangelo Buonarroti, an anonymous Italian source), 8 mixed voices, 1976; Karolju (text by the composer, after Latin, Swedish, French, Spanish, Russian, Czech, German, Italian holiday songs), mixed chorus, orchestra, 1990; Requiem (texts by Seamus Heaney, the Requiem Mass, Siegfried Sassoon, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Ben Jonson, John Milton), baritone, children's chorus, mixed chorus, large orchestra, 2001–02
VOCAL: Mitternachtslieder (text by Georg Trakl), bass-baritone, oboe (+ English horn), clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet), trumpet, violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano (+ celesta, tam-tam, slapstick), 2 percussion (all except piano, 2 percussion + bamboo wind chimes), 1979; Kabīr Padāvalī – Kabīr Songbook (text by Kabīr), soprano, off-stage percussion, orchestra, 1997–98
PIANO: Little Gorgon, 1986
ORGAN: Liber Daemonum, 1980
DISCOGRAPHY
Symphony No. 1; Phantasmata. David Zinman/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Nonesuch: 79230, 1989 [also reissued as First Edition Music: 0026, 2004])
Bonham. David Zinman/8 percussion of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Argo: 444 454, 1991)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku; Bonham. Robert Hohner Percussion Ensemble (Digital Music Products: CD-485, 1991)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku. Continuum Percussion Quartet (New World Records: 80382, 1992)
Concerto (trombone); Iscariot; Gorgon. Joseph Alessi, trombone; Marin Alsop/Colorado Symphony Orchestra (BMG/RCA: 68410, 1995)
Mitternachtslieder; Quattro Madrigali. Leslie Guinn, bass-baritone; Sydney Phillip Hodkinson, Donald Neuen/Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble (Albany Records: 192, 1996)
Concerto (trombone). Christian Lindberg, trombone; Grant Llewellyn/BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BIS Records: 788, 1996)
Concerto (cello). Yo-Yo Ma, cello; David Zinman/Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony Classical: 66299, 1996)
Symphony No. 2; Concerto (flute); Phaethon. Carol Wincenc, flute; Christoph Eschenbach/Houston Symphony Orchestra (Telarc: 80452, 1997)
Ogoun Badagris. University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble (Equilibrium: EQ 2, 1999)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku; Rotae Passionis; Ogoun Badagris; Concerto per Corde. Marin Alsop/Concordia Orchestra (Koch/Schwann: 7468, 2000)
Ku-Ka-Ilimoku. University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble (Equilibrium: EQ 3, 2000)
Concert de Gaudí. Sharon Isbin, guitar; Muhai Tang/Gulbenkian Orchestra (Teldec: 81830, 2001)
Der gerettete Alberich; Rapture; Concerto (violin). Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Leif Segerstam/Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Ondine: ODE 1016, 2004)
Iscariot; Concerto (clarinet); Symphony No. 1. Martin Fröst, clarinet; Alan Gilbert/Kungliga Filharmonikerna (BIS Records: 1386, 2008)
(Last updated on October 6, 2008)
