Phaethon (composition)

Phaethon was inspired by the story of the eponymous Phaethon from Greek mythology. Rouse described the narrative in the score program notes, writing:

The legend tells of Phaethon, son of the sun god, Helios. The boy, after doubts had been aroused concerning his parentage, secured from his mighty father a promise that he would be allowed to demonstrate irrevocably his divine origins. Helios swore to permit such a demonstration, but he was horrified when Phaethon demanded to be allowed to guide the chariot of the sun across the sky for one day; as Helios had made his oath in the name of the river Styx, Olympian law required that he guarantee his promise. Once off, Phaethon realized quickly that he lacked the ability to control his father's horses, which dashed madly across the sky. They hurtled too close to the earth, set its land aflame, and dried up its rivers. 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.[1]

The story had previous been set to music by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns in his 1873 tone poem Phaéton. However, where Saint-Saëns's piece detailed the full story, Rouse's work concerns only Phaethon's ride itself.[1]

In a pre-premiere interview with Daniel Webster of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Rouse explained why the piece had no references to the United States Bicentennial for which it was commissioned, remarking, "There are no subtle references to the Constitution here. Occasional works have very short lives." He continued, "I believe the Constitution guarantees us freedoms which others don't have. I think of Shostakovich and the pressures he worked under in the Soviet Union. Here, we have no sense that we must write a work acceptable to some governmental board. The fact that there is no pressure to write a particular thing shows best the Constitution's importance to me [...] So I chose another of my lovely myths."[2]

Rouse dedicated the piece in memory of the final crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, also recalling in the score program notes:

In a disturbingly ironic twist, I found myself on the morning of January 28, 1986 at bar 443 of the work, the measure in which Zeus' thunderbolt knocks Phaethon from the sky, when the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. 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.[1]

The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes (all doubling piccolos), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), three clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinet), three bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), six horns, four trumpets, four trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, three percussionists, and strings.[1]