[1] The second movement, Adagio, is dedicated to Rouse's friend and fellow composer Stephen Albert, who had died December 27, 1992.
[1] The symphony is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, four French horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, timpani (two players), percussion (three players), and strings (violins I & II, violas, violoncellos, and double basses).
[1] Stephen Wigler of The Baltimore Sun praised the symphony as "tightly constructed and fun to listen to" and added, "It was the finale, with its pile-up of ear-splitting sonorities so typical of this composer, that occasioned the catcalls from the audience.
"[3] Steve Metcalf of the Hartford Courant also lauded the work, saying, "The ideas are crisp and unforced, the orchestration brilliant.
It's a piece of such physical urgency that a listener finds himself literally sitting up a little straighter in response to its restless opening bars.