Phaethon is composed in a single movement and has a duration of approximately 6 minutes.
Background
Phaethon was inspired by the story of the eponymous Phaethon from Greek mythology. Rouse described the narrative in the score program notes, writing: 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. 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." Rouse dedicated the piece in memory of the final crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger, also recalling in the score program notes:
Instrumentation
The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of three flutes, three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, six horns, four trumpets, four trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, three percussionists, and strings.
Reception
Reviewing the New York City premiere of Phaethon, Donal Henahan of The New York Times gave the work a mixed review, remarking, "Mr. Rouse's seven-minute tone poem met the basic requirements of its genre, though not much more." 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." However, the work has since garnered a more positive response from music critics. Stephen Maddock of BBC Music Magazine said it "confronts violent death in the most brutal and musically demanding way: in just eight minutes it tells of man's bravery and fall from grace." 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." 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."
