Rouse in the House

Alex Ross notes the upcoming premiere of Christopher Rouse's Requiem by the Los Angeles Master Chorale. You can watch Grant Gershon, the Chorale's music director, give an informal talk about the Requiem on YouTube, with some excerpts at the piano; this is a pretty neat taster. Gershon's modest preview of the bombastic Rex Tremendae section is fun to watch, and the quieter bits sound like they'll be incredible in concert.

It's part of a talk that Gershon gave to the Chorale's Board of Directors: low-tech, for sure, but earnest and endearing, and also I think surprisingly exciting. Good marketing, and cheap at that.

The LAMC has a great marketing angle on this on their website, too, making it clear there's something really big at stake. Every premiere should be described like this.

Anyway, here's hoping this makes its way to the East Coast sometime fairly soon. Gershon & LAMC, who a couple years back premiered and recorded Steve Reich's fantastic "You Are" Variations, know what they're talking about when they say something's a modern masterpiece.

(Two Rouse CDs are on my "essential listening" list, such as it is: the Second Symphony & Flute Concerto, and the Violin Concerto & Rapture. If you haven't heard these yet, you're missing out on some of the best orchestral music to come out of the 1990s.)