Ned Rorem
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Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Frequently described as a neoromantic composer, he showed limited interest in the emerging modernist aesthetic of his lifetime. As a writer, he kept—and later published—numerous diaries in which he spoke candidly of his exchanges and relationships with many cultural figures of America and France.
Born in Richmond, Indiana, Rorem found an early interest in music, studying with Margaret Bonds and Leo Sowerby. He developed a strong enthusiasm for French music and received mentorship from Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson, among others. After two productive years in Morocco, Rorem was hosted by the arts patron Marie-Laure de Noailles in Paris, where he was influenced by the neoclassicist group Les Six, particularly Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud. He returned to America in around 1957, establishing himself as a prominent composer and receiving regular commissions. For the American Bicentennial, he worked on seven different commissions concurrently, among which was Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976.
Much of Rorem's life was spent with his lifelong partner James Holmes, between his apartment in New York and house in Nantucket. From 1980 onwards he taught at the Curtis Institute. He wrote the large-scale song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen (1997) to 36 texts by 24 writers, for the New York Festival of Song. It is considered by commentators and Rorem himself to be his magnum opus. Much of his later compositions were devoted to concertante and his final major work was the opera Our Town (2006).
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- Chopin: 12 Études, Op. 10: No. 4 in C-Sharp Minor - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Bach, JS: An Wasserflüssen Babylon, BWV 267 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Stravinsky: L'histoire du soldat, Pt. 1: Musique pour la scène 3. Petits airs au bord du ruisseau - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Shall We Gather at the River - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Bartók: For Children, Sz. 42, Book III "Slovakian Folk Songs": No. 55, A Swim in the River. Allegro - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Handel: Dixit Dominus, HWV 232: VII. De torrente in via bibet - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Liszt: Années de pèlerinage, Première année "La Suisse", S. 160: No. 4, Au bord d'une source - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Poulenc: La fraîcheur et le feu, FP 147: No. 7, La grande rivière qui va - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin, Op. 25, D. 795: No. 20, Des Baches Wiegenlied - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Debussy: Images, Livre II, CD 120, L. 111: No. 3, Poissons d'or - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Down by the Riverside - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Vivaldi: Orlando, RV 728, Act 2: "Se cresce un torrente" (Bradamente) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Einaudi: I due fiumi - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Fauré: Le ruisseau, Op. 22 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Mancini: Moon River (From "Breakfast at Tiffany's") - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Rossini: Guillaume Tell, Act 1: "Près des torrents qui grondent" (Chœur) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Hasselmans: La source, Op. 44 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Delius: To Be Sung of a Summer Night on the Water: I. Slow, But Not Dragging - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Mendelssohn: Warnung vor dem Rhein, WoO 16, MWV K105 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Deep River - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Stuck: Cantates françaises et italiennes, Livre IV: No. 5, Les festes bolonnoises: Air. "Que de la Seine à la Tamise" - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Schenck: L'écho du Danube, Op. 9: Sonata No. 6 in A Minor: II. Presto - Adagio - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Enescu: Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, Op. 27 "Villageoise": IV. River in the Moonlight - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Ives: Set No. 1 for Chamber Orchestra: III. The Ruined River - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Blue River (Arr. Wiéner & Doucet for Two Pianos) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Brahms: 18 Liebeslieder, Op. 52: No. 9, Am Donaustrande - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Elgar: 2 Songs, Op. 60: No. 2, The River - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Anonymous: Like a Mighty River Flowing - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Bliss: A Knot of Riddles: I. Fish in River. Slowly Flowing - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Rorem: The Lordly Hudson - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Kern / Arr. Carradot: Show Boat, Act 1: "Old Man River" - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Jiping: On the Yellow River. Unflinching Love (From "Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker") - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Strauss II, J: An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48: No. 6, Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Zabel: La source, Op. 23 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Monteverdi: Il sesto libro de madrigali: No. 9, Presso un fiume tranquillo, SV 116 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Gluck: Ezio, Wq. 15, Act 1: Aria. "Se povero il ruscello" (Massimo) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Victoria: Liber primus: No. 27, Super flumina Babylonis - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Mondonville: Dominus regnavit: IV. Elevaverunt flumina, Domine - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Verdi: Aida, Act 1: "Su! Del Nilo al sacro lido" (Il Re, Ramfis, Aida, Radamès, Amneris, Coro, Messaggero) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Picker: Old and Lost Rivers - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Vierne: 24 Pièces de fantaisie, Suite No. 3, Op. 54: No. 5, Sur le Rhin - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Cavalli: Ercole amante, Prologo: "O Gallia fortunata" (Coro di Fiumi) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn: No. 7, Rheinlegendchen - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Smetana: Má Vlast: No. 2, The Moldau - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Mussorgsky: Khovanshchina, Act 1: Prelude. Dawn Over the Moscow River - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Rameau: Les fêtes d'Hébé, Prologue: "Volons sur les bords de la Seine" (Chœur) - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Song of the Volga Boatmen - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Fučík: Donausagen, Op. 233 - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral": II. Szene am Bach. Andante molto moto - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Wagner: Götterdämmerung, Prologue: Siegfried’s Rhine Journey - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Roussel: Évocations, Op. 15: III. Aux bords du fleuve sacré - Airs by the River - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: Opening - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Thank You, Thank You. I Have Another Question Here" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "The Earth Turns, Just a Simple Turn" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Emily, Can I Carry Your Books Home for You?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "See What I Mean?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Hello There, George. Howdy, Emily" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "Why, Hello, George Gibbs" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "These Are So Expensive" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "What a Lot of Beans" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "And Now We'll Get On With the Wedding" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "Thank You, Emily. Thank You, Mrs. Webb" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "This Time Nine Years Have Gone By, Friends" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "It's Evening Now in Grover's Corners" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "We're All Coming Up Here" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "Oh George, Can You Come Down a Minute?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Hello" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "Can You Get Home Safe, Louella?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Little Cooler Than it Was" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act I: "Emily! Are You Still There?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "One Can Go Back Again . . . Into Living" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Well, Friends, Three Years Have Gone By" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Look! There's the Church Where I Got Married!" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Well, Mother, You're Losing Your Chick Today" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Coming! Morning, Mama. Morning, Papa" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Morning, Everybody! Only Five More Hours to Live" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Seen Enough?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act II: "Well, George, How are You?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Were You Happy, Emily?" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
- Our Town, Act III: "Most Everyone's Asleep in Grover's Corners" - Ned Rorem: Our Town - Ned Rorem
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