Phaethon (composition)

Rouse described the narrative in the score program notes, writing:The legend tells of Phaethon, son of the sun god, Helios.

They raced through the universe and finally threatened even Olympus itself, forcing Zeus to destroy Phaethon by hurling at him a thunderbolt which knocked him from the chariot to his death.

Phaethon is dedicated to the memory of Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, and Christa McAuliffe -- the seven astronauts who lost their lives that morning when they, too, were knocked from the sky.

Despite describing its scenario as "promising," he added that it "testified chiefly to the composer's ability to put an orchestra in motion and keep it there without the support of a memorable musical idea.

"[6] James McQuillen of The Oregonian similarly wrote, "Densely orchestrated, loud and fast, it sounded something like the demolition of a musical instrument shop over seven minutes through the precise deployment of explosive charges.

"[7] Allan Kozinn of The New York Times later called Phaethon "a spectacularly noisy, colorful evocation of the Greek myth" and wrote, "continuously reconfigured textures, dynamics and timbres wove spells so magical that debates about harmonic language were beside the point.