Leading British critic Stephen Johnson called Poul Ruders "The Richard Strauss of the computer-aged orchestra", and indeed the Ruders six symphonies, collected here for the first time, sparkle with vivid color and brilliant orchestral virtuosity. Ruders is best known for his score to the opera "The Handmaid's Tale", based on Margaret Atwood's dystopian American tale, produced by opera companies throughout Europe and North America.