| Length | 59:00 |
| Licensor | WNYC |
| Producer(s) | Sara Fishko for WNYC, New York Public Radio |
| Formats | Documentary, Interview |
| Topics | Historical, Music |
| Produced | October, 2003 |
| Added to PRX | April 19, 2006 |
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A one-hour conversation between Ned Rorem and Sara Fishko with many musical excerpts
Authoritative, Polished, Sound Rich
English
Pulitzer-prize winning composer Ned Rorem is a rare combination: musical figure of great distinction, and accomplished writer of memoirs and essays. He has spent decades living a life interesting enough to write about, and writing music interesting enough to be seen apart from his life! Rorem is especially appreciated for his musical settings of American, English and French poems which have resulted, by now, in a huge body of much-admired song repertoire.
In this hour he discusses, in his distinctive way, his aesthetic; his childhood studying piano on the 'wrong side of the tracks;' his take on 12-tone music ('of course I was part of that serial movement,' he once wrote,--'the part that talked against it'); his technique in setting great poems to music; and his studies and early work with Virgil Thomson. His views on Beethoven, the Beatles and Barbra Streisand are also very much in evidence.
Excerpts from his compositions, and some works by others that have interested and/or inspired him, are used throughout.
