[1] The events of Ragnarök were also famously depicted musically in Richard Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung, last of his four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen.
In the score program notes, Rouse wrote:Cast in four movements, the title of the piece refers properly to the finale, which attempts in a general way to depict these mythological events as I imagine them.
[1] Reviewing the world premiere, music critic John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune highly lauded the concerto as "bolster[ing] Rouse's reputation as one of the most compelling American composers around" and noted, "The musical style melds the pile-driver sonorities and manic accumulation of rhythmic energy of Rouse's earlier manner with the more consonant calm of his recent pieces.
Rhein also praised the trumpet and orchestral writing, adding, "Rouse's handling of the orchestra, right up to a screaming mass plunge off the musical cliff at the very end (abruptly followed by ominous silence), is nothing if not individual.
Spiced with the composer’s usual ear for percussive coloring and rhythmic insistence, and scored with characteristic ingenuity and audacity with plenty of opportunities for the soloist, this work should find a wide audience (for those hardy trumpeters who can handle its tortuous demands).