Ned Rorem, classical music composer

Ned Rorem

Biography

Ned Rorem (born October 23, 1923) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist. He is best known and most praised for his song settings.

He was born in Richmond, Indiana and received his early education in Chicago at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the American Conservatory and then Northwestern University. Later, Rorem moved on to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and finally the Juilliard School in New York City.

In 1966 he published The Paris Diary of Ned Rorem, which, with his later diaries, has brought him some notoriety, as he is honest about his and others' sexuality, describing his relationships with Leonard Bernstein, Noel Coward, Samuel Barber, and Virgil Thomson, and outing several others[vague] (Aldrich and Wotherspoon, eds., 2001). Rorem has written extensively about music as well. These essays are collected in anthologies such as Setting the Tone, Music From the Inside Out, and Music and People. His prose is much admired, not least for its barbed observations about such prominent musicians as Pierre Boulez. Rorem has composed in a chromatic tonal idiom throughout his career, and he is not hesitant to attack the orthodoxies of the avant-garde.

His notable students include Daron Hagen. His most recent work is Wings of Friendship: Selected Letters 1944–2003, published by Shoemaker & Hoard.

Composer Title Date Action
Ned Rorem The Lordly Hudson 06/09/2009 Play Add to playlist
Ned Rorem The Lordly Hudson 10/18/2020 Play Add to playlist
Ned Rorem Self Portrait, from String Quartet no. 4 10/18/2020 Play Add to playlist
Ned Rorem Sonnet 10/23/2023 Play Add to playlist