Though he wrote for various ensembles, Rouse is primarily known for his orchestral compositions, including a Requiem, a dozen concertos, and six symphonies.
Also in that year, he won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his Concert de Gaudí.
His notable students included Kamran Ince, Marc Mellits, Michael Torke, Lawrence Wilde, Nico Muhly,[10] Robert Paterson, Jeff Beal, Jude Vaclavik, Kevin Puts, D. J. Sparr, and Joseph Lukasik.
Most often he sought to integrate tonal and non-tonal harmonic worlds, as in his concerti for flute, oboe, and guitar.
[15] These scores memorialized William Schuman (Violoncello Concerto—1992),[16] the James Bulger murder (Flute Concerto—1993),[17][18] the composer Stephen Albert (Symphony No.
[20] After Envoi he purposely set out to compose scores that were more "light infused", works intended to take on a less dark cast; pieces from this second half of the 1990s include Compline (1996), Kabir Padavali (1997), the Concert de Gaudí (1999),[21] Seeing (1998),[22] and Rapture (2000).
In late 2006, Rouse composed the wind ensemble piece Wolf Rounds, which premiered in Carnegie Hall March 29, 2007.
[36] Excerpts from Symphonies 1, 2 and 4, and Concerto per corde were used as the soundtrack to William Friedkin's 2017 film The Devil and Father Amorth.