Rouse first conceived Karolju in the early 1980s as a collection of Christmas carols in a form modeled after the cantata Carmina Burana by the German composer Carl Orff.
While I can assert with assurance that this score does not represent a wholesale 'change of direction' for me and thus constitutes an isolated example among my compositions, Karolju is nevertheless a piece which I 'mean' with the most profound sincerity, one which I hope will help instill in listeners the same special joy which I feel for the season it celebrates.
[1] Karolju has duration of roughly 27 minutes and consists of 11 original carols: The work is scored for SATB choir and an orchestra comprising two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, four percussionists (on glockenspiel, two tambourines, snare drum, triangle, two pairs of cymbals, rute, small cymbals, bass drum, chimes, sleigh bells, maracas, and güiro), harp, and strings.
"[3] Julie Amacher of Minnesota Public Radio also lauded the piece, calling it an "uplifting work" and writing, "Traditions are handed down from one generation to another.
"[4] Conversely, Anthony Burton of BBC Music Magazine critically referred to the composition as "a rum affair" and wrote, "not only is the title a made-up word, but the composer’s texts, in eight different languages, are meaningless apart from the odd seasonal phrase.