Rouse: Symphony No. 6 (Live) Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra & Louis Langrée

• Christopher Rouse (1949 - 2019): Symphony No. 6:
• 1Rouse: Symphony No. 6: 1. Desolato (Live)08:57
• 2Rouse: Symphony No. 6: 2. Piacevole (Live)04:46
• 3Rouse: Symphony No. 6: 3. Furioso (Live)05:58
• 4Rouse: Symphony No. 6: 4. Passacaglia (Live)09:05
• Total Runtime28:46

Info for Rouse: Symphony No. 6 (Live)

The Symphony No. 6 is a symphony for orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was completed in the composer's Baltimore home on June 6, 2019. It was first performed in Cincinnati Music Hall by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Louis Langrée on October 18, 2019. Written as a personal epitaph, the symphony was Rouse's last completed work before his death in September 2019.

Composer's Notes: In my earlier years I found the task of writing a program note for a new work a comparatively easy, even pleasant, one. More than a few of my pieces had some sort of quasi-programmatic basis, and I found that I could often say much about the sources of inspiration in hopes that my observations might help the listener better understand my intent. In more recent years, however, I find that my new pieces fall into one of two categories: (a) scores that, while always placing emotional expression at the forefront of my intent, had no particular story or triggering event that led to the work's composition, or (b) works that were so deeply personal that I found myself reluctant to share intimately private sources of motivation. In both cases, though, it seemed that there wasn't much I could say.

My Sixth Symphony inhabiting the second of these two groups, I hope listeners will not be disappointed if I limit myself to more "objective" observations about the music. Commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, this twenty-five minute symphony was completed at my home in Baltimore on June 6, 2019. The first challenge I face when planning a new piece is to settle upon a beginning and an ending and to decide the number and order of movements; in this case, I (rather unusually for me) chose a more-or-less standard four-movement structure with the outer movements being slow in tempo and elegiac in mood. The two middle movements are faster and the third, in particular, is meant to be highly dramatic. As is usual in my music, each movement connects to its successor without a break. In each of my symphonies I've also chosen to use an instrument or instrumental combination that might be seen as somewhat unusual in a symphonic context. My First Symphony, for example, requires a quartet of Wagner tubas. Here I have chosen to make use of the fluegelhorn, a larger and more mellow member of the trumpet family, and it is the fluegelhorn that presents the symphony's opening melodic material; it returns later in the first movement and again near the end of the entire work as a way of bringing the music "full circle". The scoring comprises two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets (second doubling of bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets (first doubling on fluegelhorn), three trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, percussion (two players), and strings. As is also my wont, the harmonic language traverses areas of substantive dissonance as well as sections much more consonant (especially near the end of the symphony).

I know the "meaning" of this work in my own mind but wish to leave it to each listener to decide for him or herself what this could be. My main hope is that it will communicate something sincere in meaning to those who hear it. (Christopher Rouse)

“It’s a haunting and profound farewell, though not one of maudlin anguish or tearfulness. If you listen closely enough, all of Mr. Rouse—contemplative elegy, rowdy playfulness, eclectic homage—is in this score, masterfully orchestrated and transparently rendered. Twenty-five minutes long, it has the sweep of Mahler but the concision of poetry. The Sixth, like its composer, is also extremely likable: warmly received by the audience at Music Hall here, as I imagine it would be anywhere else.” — New York Times

“Speaking of this final work, the composer said “My main hope is that it will communicate something sincere in meaning to those who hear it.” Christopher Rouse’s Sixth Symphony does that with great feeling, sterling craft and economy and concentrated dramatic impact in a work that should quickly become a repertory standard. Rouse’s Sixth is not only arguably the finest of all his works in the genre but among the handful of truly great symphonies written by an American composer.” — The Classical Review

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Louis Langrée, conductor

Louis Langrée
has been Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2013 and Music Director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center since 2003. In November 2021, he was named Directeur of the Théâtre National de l’Opéra Comique by Emmanuel Macron, President of France.

A regular presence in New York since his 1998 debut, Langrée has conducted more than 250 performances and concerts at Lincoln Center, at the Metropolitan Opera, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the New York Philharmonic; he has also taught masterclasses at the Juilliard School. Langrée has raised the artistic profile of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, widening its repertoire from Lully to contemporary music, including Bernstein’s Mass, the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Lisa Batiashvili, and New York premieres of Osvaldo Golijov’s Azul with Alisa Weilerstein and David Lang’s man made with Sō Percussion.

Louis has guest conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, and Leipzig Gewandhaus, as well as Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Freiburg Baroque, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In addition to The Met, he frequently conducts at the leading opera houses including the Vienna Staatsoper; Teatro alla Scala; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; and at festivals including Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence, BBC Proms, Edinburgh International, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Wiener Festwochen, and Salzburg Mozartwoche and Whitsun.

An advocate for the music of our time, Langrée has conducted world premieres by Julia Adolphe, Daníel Bjarnason, Anna Clyne, Jonathan Bailey Holland, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nico Muhly, André Previn, Caroline Shaw, and Christopher Rouse.

Among his recent recordings, the DVD of Thomas’ Hamlet, filmed at the Opéra Comique in Paris with the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées won “Best Recording of the Year” Award at the International Opera Awards, “Best Video Performance” at the International Classical Music Awards, the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Caecilia Prize, and Diapason d’Or of the Year. His two most recent CDs with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra were both nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Orchestral Performance.”

Louis Langrée is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and Officier des Arts et des Lettres. A native of Alsace, he is an Honorary Member of the Confrérie Saint-Étienne d’Alsace, an Alsatian winemakers’ brotherhood dating back to the 14th century.

Booklet for Rouse: Symphony No. 6 (Live)