Symphony No. 5 (Rouse)

The symphony has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is written in one continuous movement, mimicking the traditional four-movement symphonic form. Rouse drew inspiration for the work from Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, about which he recalled in the score program notes:

The first piece of "classical music" I remembering hearing — "Peter and the Wolf" doesn't count — was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I was six years old and had been listening to a great deal of early, new-at-the-time rock and roll; my mother said, "That's fine, but you might like this as well." It was a recording of the Beethoven symphony, and I remember thinking that a whole new world was opening up to me. I decided that I wanted to become a composer.^[1]

The composition thus features a number of homages to the Beethoven symphony, including a paraphrase of the famous four-note motif that opens the first movement. Rouse added, "The most extended reference is to the connective passage that links the third and fourth movements of the Beethoven: the mysterious passage for timpani over a long chord in the strings. My timpani part is identical to Beethoven's; once again, though, what goes on around it is different." He concluded, "As is often the case in my music, the language ranges freely — but I hope in an integrated way — between a dissonant language and a more consonant one. There is no programmatic element to the work, though I do hope to transport the listener through a series of emotional states, from turbulence to serenity."^[1]

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (third doubling bass flute), three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (three players), two harps, and strings.^[1]