While quite a few of my scores have symbolically translated various words into notes and rhythms, this process has been carried to an extreme degree in "Zhizn": virtually all of the music is focused on the spelling of names and other phrases, and it was an enormous challenge for me to fashion these materials into what I hoped would be a satisfying musical experience that functions both as the public portrayal of an extraordinary life as well as a private love letter.
[1]In a September 2016 interview on All Things Considered, Rouse revealed that piece was written for his wife Natasha, whom he married earlier that year.
Describing the more unpleasant aspects of the piece, he remarked, "[Natasha] was sexually abused as a child, so she ran away from home at 16 and decided to hitchhike out west.
Reviewing the world premiere of Odna Zhizn, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times called the piece "a magical score" and said:Against a backdrop of haunting, pianissimo strings, which move at a glacial pace, Mr.
But as in many new scores, the real action is in the huge percussion array, which not only contributes shimmering effects and underpins the brass bursts, but also provides the connective tissue between the string and wind writing.