The following is from an interview conducted by Robert R.  Riley with
conductor John Nelson.  The interview appeared originally in the April
2000 issue of "Crisis" magazine and can be seen on the Web at:

   http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Crisis/2000-04/music.html

   "I commissioned Christopher Rouse to write a Requiem in the memory
   of Berlioz (for the 200th anniversary of Berlioz's birth in 2003)
   .... The ... commission came about because I've known Christopher
   since he was my composer in residence in Indianapolis, before anybody
   knew his name.  We talked for hours and hours about the music of
   Berlioz.  I'm considered an interpreter of his and somewhat of an
   authority on his music.  And I found that Chris knew every bit, if
   not more, about Berlioz's music than I did.  I sensed that he felt
   a kinship with the composer even so far as to say - I'm going to say
   this because he hasn't really come out and said it - I consider him
   the Berlioz of our time.  That means that the person has a fantasy,
   an unusually creative mind, and a sound image that is very, very
   different than that of his contemporaries."

Gene