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{{good article}}
{{Short description|American composer and writer (1923–2022)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| name               = Ned Rorem
| image              = Ned-Rorem-1968.jpg
| alt                = Middle-aged man looking into the distance, with serious expression and ornate scarf
| caption            = Rorem in 1968
| birth_name         = Ned Miller Rorem
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1923|10|23}}
| birth_place        = [[Richmond, Indiana]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2022|11|18|1923|10|23}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| education          = {{ubl |[[Northwestern University]] |[[Curtis Institute]] |[[Juilliard School]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Music|MM]])}}
| occupation         = {{hlist|Composer|writer}}
| list_of_works      = [[List of compositions by Ned Rorem|List of compositions]]
| website            = {{url|nedrorem.net|Official website}}
}}
'''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 song]]s, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing in the genre. Frequently described as a [[Neoromanticism (music)|neoromantic]] composer, he showed limited interest in the emerging [[modernism (music)|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 [[Neoclassicism (music)|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|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 [[concerto|concertante]] and his final major work was the opera ''[[Our Town (opera)|Our Town]]'' (2006).
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==Life and career==
===1923–1940: Childhood and youth===
{{multiple image|align=right|perrow = 2|total_width=275
| image1 = Claude Debussy by Atelier Nadar.jpg
| link1  = Claude Debussy
| image2 = Maurice Ravel 1925.jpg
| link2  = Maurice Ravel
| footer = Rorem maintained a life-long interest in the French [[Impressionism in music|Impressionist]] composers [[Claude Debussy]] (left) and [[Maurice Ravel]] (right)
}}
Ned Miller Rorem{{sfn|Page|2022}} was born in [[Richmond, Indiana]], US on October 23, 1923.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 1}} Born to parents of [[Norwegian people|Norwegian]] descent, he was their second child after his sister Rosemary.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=3}}{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=540}}{{refn|The family name, Rorem, is an [[anglicized]] version of the Norwegian surname Rorhjem.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}}|group=n}} His father Clarence Rufus Rorem was a [[medical economics|medical economist]] at [[Earlham College]] whose work later inspired the [[Blue Cross Blue Shield Association]], while his mother Gladys Miller Rorem was active in antiwar movements and the [[Religious Society of Friends]] (Quakers).{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=3}}{{sfn|Page|2022}} Ned described his background as "upper middle-class, semi-[[bohemia]]n but with a strong Quaker emphasis".{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=540}} He later explained that his family was more culturally but not religiously Quaker;<ref group="R">{{harvnb|Rorem|1967|p=133}}: "We were Quakers of the intellectual rather than the puritanical variety"</ref> throughout his life he described himself as a "Quaker atheist".{{sfn|Page|2022}} The family moved to Chicago a few months after Rorem's birth, where he attended the [[University of Chicago Laboratory Schools]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=540}} Though not musicians themselves, his parents were enthusiastic about the arts, and brought their children to numerous concerts by the famous pianists and dancers.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=3}}{{refn|{{harvtxt|McDonald|1989|p=3}} names piano recitals by [[Josef Hofmann]], [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]] and [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]], as well as the dance performances by [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]], [[Mary Wigman]] and the [[Ballets Russes]] as among those young Rorem attended|group=n}}

Rorem showed an early talent and interest in music, learning piano in his youth with Nuta Rothschild.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=3}} Though he had other teachers before Rothschild, she was his first to make a lasting impression: she inaugurated his life-long enthusiasm for French music and culture, especially [[Impressionism in music|Impressionists]] such as [[Claude Debussy]] and [[Maurice Ravel]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=3}}{{refn|Although {{harvtxt|Ewen|1982|p=540}} claims it was his second teacher, [[Margaret Bonds]], who first introduced him to French Impressionist music, this contradicts both {{harvtxt|McDonald|1989|p=3}} and Rorem's own account: "for it was an awakening sound which immediately, as we Quakers say, spoke to my condition, a condition nurtured by Mrs. Rothschild, who began to immerse me in impressionism".<ref group="R">{{harvnb|Rorem|1994|p=63}}</ref> He expands on this further in {{harvtxt|Rorem|1983|p=9}}, quoted in {{harvtxt|McDonald|1989|p=3}}|group=n}} By age 12, Rorem began piano lessons with [[Margaret Bonds]], who helped foster his interest in [[music composition]] and introduced him to both American jazz and American classical music by composers such as [[Charles Tomlinson Griffes]] and [[John Alden Carpenter]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}} The music of [[Igor Stravinsky]] and songs of [[Billie Holiday]] also left deep impressions.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 1}}{{refn|Rorem later remarked that "A singer like Billie Holiday has been more influential on my way of writing a song than any so-called classical singer".{{sfn|Beck|Rorem|1993|p=27}}|group=n}} He began piano study with Belle Tannenbaum in 1938, under whom he learned and performed the first movement of [[Edvard Grieg]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Grieg)|Piano Concerto]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}} Throughout his youth he also studied [[music theory]] at the [[American Conservatory of Music]] with [[Leo Sowerby]], a well known church music composer of the time.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}} He graduated high school in 1940, around when he began a close friendship with the future writer [[Paul Goodman]], whose poems he would later set to music.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}} Rorem also found interest in literary activities, having kept a diary since his youth.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=540}}

===1940–1948: Emerging composer===
{{Quote box|width=325px|align=right|quote=
'''Ned Rorem's institutional education timeline'''{{sfn|Griffiths|2011}}
----
: [[American Conservatory of Music|American Conservatory]] ([[Leo Sowerby|Sowerby]]): 1938–40
: [[Northwestern University]] (Nolte): 1940–42
: [[Curtis Institute]] ([[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]] & [[Rosario Scalero|Scalero]]): 1942
: [[Juilliard]] ([[Bernard Wagenaar|Wagenaar]]): 1943–46 ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]]); 1946–48 ([[Master of Music|MM]])
: [[Tanglewood Music Center|Tanglewood]] ([[Aaron Copland|Copland]]): Summers of 1946 & 1947
| salign = left}}

Rorem attended the [[Bienen School of Music|School of Music]] of [[Northwestern University]] in 1940, studying composition with Alfred Nolte and piano with Harold Van Horne.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}} Under the latter he focused on standard repertoire by [[Bach]], [[Beethoven]] and [[Chopin]], but transferred to the [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in 1942.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=4}}{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 2}} There, he studied composition and [[orchestration]] under [[Gian Carlo Menotti]] and [[counterpoint]] under [[Rosario Scalero]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|pp=540–541}} He had numerous compositions premiered, including ''The 70th Psalm'' (1943), a choral piece with orchestral accompaniment, and a Piano Sonata for Four Hands.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=5}} Considering Scalero unprogressive, he left Curtis after a year; his parents disagreed with the decision and ceased providing him a regular allowance.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=5}} Moving to New York in late 1943, to support himself he took a job as copyist for the composer [[Virgil Thomson]], with whom he also studied orchestration and [[Prosody (music)|prosody]].{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 2}} Via a mutual friend, he became acquainted with the conductor and composer [[Leonard Bernstein]], and Bernstein introduced him to [[Aaron Copland]].{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} Rorem later attended two of the [[Tanglewood Music Center]]'s summer sessions to study with Copland.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 3}} Rorem later remarked in an article of ''[[The New York Times]]'': "Well, I took the job with [[Virgil Thomson|Virgil]], became an instant fan of [[Aaron Copland|Aaron]] and [[Leonard Bernstein|Lenny]], and for the next 42 years with many an up and a down I've remained staunch friends with all three men. Some weekend!"<ref group="R">{{harvnb|Rorem|1985}}</ref>

Later in 1943 he enrolled in the [[Juilliard School]] and studied composition with [[Bernard Wagenaar]].{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 3}} Rorem graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Arts in 1946 and a [[Master of Music]] in 1948.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 3}}{{sfn|Griffiths|2011}} While a student he worked as a piano accompanist for performers such as the dancer [[Martha Graham]] and the singer [[Éva Gauthier]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=5}} Due to his interest in literature he became increasingly interested in composing [[art songs]], and also wrote [[incidental music]], ballet music and music for a [[puppet show]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=5}} In 1948, his song ''The Lordly Hudson'' on [[The Lordly Hudson|a poem by Goodman]] won the [[Music Library Association]]'s published song of the year award.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 3}} That same year, his orchestral ''Overture in C'' won a [[Gershwin Prize]] and was premiered by [[New York Philharmonic]] under {{ill|Mishel Piastro|de}} in May 1948.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 3}} The positive reception of both these compositions was an important milestone in his career as an emerging composer.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|pp=5–6}}

===1949–1957: France and Morocco===
[[File:Marie-Laure de Noailles1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|link=Marie-Laure de Noailles|The arts patron [[Marie-Laure de Noailles]] (1949, [[Carl Van Vechten|Van Vechten]]) who allowed Rorem to stay in her Paris mansion and introduced him to other cultural figures of the city]]

Rorem later remarked that the 1940s were formative for charting his future career and by 1950 he was certain of being a composer.{{sfn|Gruen|1972|p=74}} With money from the Gershwin Prize, he left for France in early 1949, though spent much of the next two years in [[Morocco]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}}{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=6}} He was hugely productive in the comparatively quieter Morocco, and produced a variety of compositions in rapid succession.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=6}} He later explained that "The best influence for a composer is four walls. The light must come from inside. When it comes from outside, the result is postcard music."<ref group="R">{{harvnb|Rorem|1968|p=125}}</ref> Among his earliest large-scale works, he wrote the ballet ''Melos'' in 1949, and both his Piano Concerto No. 2 and Symphony No. 1 1950.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} The ballet won the Prix de Biarritz in 1951, while the Symphony was premiered in Vienna in February 1951 by [[Jonathan Sternberg]] and the piano concerto in 1954 by [[Julius Katchen]] via French Radio.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} During this period he wrote numerous song cycles dedicated to a single textual source: ''Flight for Heaven'' (1950) to [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]]; ''Six Irish Poems'' (1950) to [[George Darley]]; ''Cycle of Holy Songs'' (1951) to biblical texts; and ''To a Young Girl'' to [[W. B. Yeats]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} He composed his first opera, ''A Childhood Miracle'', to [[Elliott Stein]]'s libretto based on ''[[The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales]]'' by [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]].{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}} Though written in 1951, the opera was not premiered until May 10, 1955, in New York.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} He later received two further honors: the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award in 1950 and a [[Fulbright Scholarship]] in 1951.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}}

On the Fulbright Scholarship, in 1951 Rorem settled in Paris to study with [[Arthur Honegger]], a representative from the [[Les Six]] group of [[Neoclassicism (music)|neoclassicist]] music.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=6}} Unlike most young American musicians in the city, he did not study with [[Nadia Boulanger]], as she opined that her instruction might tarnish his already individual style.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=6}} He became associated with the wealthy arts patron [[Marie-Laure de Noailles]], at whose mansion he resided.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} Through her influence, he met with the leading Parisian cultural figures of his time, including other composers of Les Six, [[Francis Poulenc]], [[Georges Auric]] and [[Darius Milhaud]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} Their proximity solidified the French influence of his style and he set numerous medieval French poems in the 1953 song cycle ''Poémes pour la paix''.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} Other compositions written in Paris include: Piano Sonata No. 2 (1950); two ballets, ''Ballet for Jerry'' (1951) and ''Dorian Gray'' (1952); ''Design for Orchestra'' (1953); ''The Poet's Requiem'' (1955); and Symphony No. 2.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} A Paris concert in 1953 featured solely Rorem's compositions.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}}

===1957–1973: Return to the US===
{{external media
| topic  = ''4 Poems of Walt Whitman'' (1957)
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFglvRBCiwo Performance] by [[Susan Graham]] (mezzo-soprano) and [[Malcolm Martineau]] (piano)
}}
Rorem returned to the US in either 1957 or 1958 to further pursue composition.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 4}}{{refn|Modern sources are divided on the exact year Rorem returned to the US. {{harvtxt|Ewen|1982|p=541}} and {{harvtxt|Page|2022}} give 1957, while {{harvtxt|McDonald|1989|p=8}} and {{harvtxt|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 4}} give 1958.|group=n}} By now, his music had attracted the attention of several important American musicians and ensembles, and most of his compositions from the 1960s onwards were commissions.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=8}} In 1959, the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] under [[Eugene Ormandy]] premiered Rorem's ''Eagles'', a Whitman-inspired and dreamlike [[tone poem]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|pp=541–542}}{{refn|The same piece was later performed by [[Leopold Stokowski]] for his 1964 debut with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}}|group=n}} His Symphony No. 3 (1958) was premiered by Bernstein and the [[New York Philharmonic]] in 1959 to critical praise; the [[New York Herald Tribune]]'s music editor Jay S. Harrison called it "lavish, luscious, and luxe".{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} Conversely, his first full-length opera, ''[[Miss Julie (Rorem opera)|Miss Julie]]'', was not well received at its 1965 premiere at the [[New York City Opera]].{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=11}} Rorem received commissions from organizations such as the [[Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge]] Foundation, [[Ford Foundation]] and [[Koussevitzky Foundation]] among others.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=10}} By this time, he was established as a [[Neoromanticism (music)|neoromantic]] composer, who largely rejected a strict application of [[modernism (music)|modernist]] techniques or emerging genres such as [[electroacoustic music]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}}

Rorem held his first teaching position at the [[University of Buffalo]] from 1959 to 1960, during which he wrote ''11 Studies for 11 Players''.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} A few years later he taught composition at the [[University of Utah]] from 1965 to 1967.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 4}} His short tenures were because he believed that "this is the kind of assignment that should not last more than two years as a teacher begins to believe what he says after that long a time and becomes sterile".{{sfn|McDonald|1989|pp=10–11}} His compositions of the time included more instrumental music, although songs remained a central aspect of his activities.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=9}} These songs were largely set to 20th-century American poets, though copyright issues sometimes prevented their immediate publication.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=9}} Among these was the song cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano, ''Poems of Love and Rain'' (1963), written to texts by [[W. H. Auden]], [[Emily Dickinson]], [[Howard Moss]] and [[Theodore Roethke]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} Premiered by [[Regina Sarfaty]] and Rorem at the piano on April 12, 1964, it included two different musicals settings for each of the poems.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}}

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Rorem struggled with alcoholism.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=8}} He commented that "The minute a drop of wine touches my lips I begin to be this other person—an infantile regression takes place", though he insisted that he "not be categorized as an alcoholic because [he had] such a puritanical sense of order".{{sfn|Gruen|1972|p=81}} Although he scheduled it carefully, he admitted to feeling a strong sense of guilt when drinking, which he considered detrimental to his artistic creativity.{{sfn|Gruen|1972|pp=80–81}} Rorem attended [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] meetings and used [[Antabuse]], with little success.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=9}} In late 1967, he became partners with the organist James Roland Holmes; their relationship offered enough stability for Rorem to abandon alcohol completely.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=9}}{{sfn|Tommasini|1999}}

===1974–1999: Pulitzer and Curtis===
{{quote box|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|width=22em|align=right|quote=When I got the Pulitzer, everything changed overnight. Of course, I was shocked because I thought I would never get it because of my wicked ways. To this day I can't believe those stuffy Pulitzer people would settle on me. But it sort of gives you a certain authority. My name is now always preceded by "Pulitzer Prize-winning composer."{{nbsp}}... So if I die in a whorehouse, at least the [[obit]] will say, "Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer Ned Rorem Dies in Whorehouse."|source=Rorem in the ''[[Hartford Courant]]''{{sfn|Metcalf|1993}}}}

In 1974 Rorem and Holmes bought a summer house in [[Nantucket]], Massachusetts.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} His time there was generally peaceful and he later remarked that "I wrote ''Air Music'', made pies, felt no competition, was content".{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=11}} There Rorem worked on seven different commissions concurrently between 1974 and 1975 for the [[American Bicentennial]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} One of these was ''[[Air Music|Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra]]'' for [[Thomas Schippers]] with the [[Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra]], where each movement was limited to different combinations of instruments.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}}{{refn|Aside from ''Air Music'', the other six [[American Bicentennial]] commissions were ''Assembly and Fall''; ''Book of Hours''; ''8 Piano Etudes''; ''Serenade''; ''Sky Music''; and ''Women's Voices''.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=10}}|group=n}} ''Air Music'' would win the [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]] in 1976;{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 6}} Rorem later noted his surprise from the award, having been convinced that his music would not be accepted by "those stuffy Pulitzer people".{{sfn|Metcalf|1993}} Other major works of this time include the 1977 orchestral suite ''Sunday Morning'', inspired by the [[Sunday Morning (poem)|poem of the same name]] by [[Wallace Stevens]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=543}}

Rorem accepted his third teaching post in 1980 at the Curtis Institute, his alma mater, where he headed the composition department with [[David Loeb (composer)|David Loeb]] until 2001.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=11}}{{sfn|Curtis|2018}} His students at Curtis included [[Daron Hagen]] and [[David_Horne_(composer)|David Horne]];{{sfn|Page|2022}} outside of Curtis, he taught [[Roger Briggs]].{{sfn|SCI|1998}} During this time, Rorem's pace of composition did not diminish.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=12}} He wrote compositions for varied genres, including ''The Santa Fe Songs'' (1980) song cycle for baritone and [[piano quartet]] and the ''String Symphony'' (1985), a recording of which by the [[Atlanta Symphony Orchestra]] won the 1989 [[Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance|Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Recording]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=543}}{{sfn|Lewis|2022}}

In 1993, Rorem wrote the [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Rorem)|Piano Concerto No. 4 for Left Hand and Orchestra]] for his Curtis colleague with an injured right hand, [[Gary Graffman]].{{sfn|Oestreich|1994}} The following year, his earlier opera ''Miss Julie'' was revived at the [[Manhattan School of Music]] Opera Theater.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 8}} For the 1997 [[New York Festival of Song]], Rorem wrote the large-scale song cycle ''Evidence of Things Not Seen'',{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 8}} described as his "masterwork" by Daniel Lewis in the ''Times''.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} A deeply personal work, the composition included settings of 36 texts by 24 poets, split into three larger sections: "Beginnings" for optimistic and forward-looking songs, "Middles" exploring [[coming of age]] and the devastation of war, as well as the final "Ends" that concerns death, particularly Rorem's friends killed by AIDS.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 8}} With an hour and a half duration, it called for a soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone with piano accompaniment.{{sfn|Page|2022}} The music critic [[Peter G. Davis]] called it "one of the musically richest, most exquisitely fashioned, most voice-friendly collections of songs",{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} while Rorem himself lauded it as his best work.{{sfn|Page|2022}} His partner Holmes died in 1999, after having lived with Rorem for 32 years.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}}

===2000–2022: Later years===
In the ''Times'', Daniel Lewis noted that "Well into the 21st century, when quite a few of his modernist critics had passed into irrelevance, Mr. Rorem was still going strong. Admirers turned up at concerts to help celebrate his 80th birthday, his 85th, his 90th, his 95th; the audiences looked that much older each time around, while he looked pretty much as always".{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} The music critic Steve Smith furthered that compared to the birthday anniversaries of [[Britten]], [[Verdi]] and [[Wagner]], "Mr. Rorem's birthday has occasioned less fanfare, seemingly confirming his oft-repeated assertions about the invisibility of living composers".{{sfn|Smith|2013}} This latter sentiment would be a focus of his tenure while president of the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] from 2000 to 2003.{{sfn|Page|2022}}{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=93}} During this time he engaged in a series of larger works, beginning with ''Aftermath'' (2002) a ten-part song cycle written in response to the [[September 11 attacks]].{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} Set to English-language poets from the 18th-century to present day, it was written for medium voice accompanied by violin, cello and piano.{{sfn|Song of America}} What followed next was concertante: a [[Cello Concerto (Rorem)|Cello Concerto]] (2002) and [[Flute Concerto (Rorem)|Flute Concerto]] (2002), both written in memory of Thomas Schippers.{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=92}} His next concerto, the 2003 [[Mallet Concerto]], was compared by the writer Bret Johnson in its evocation and sparseness to his first two symphonies.{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=92}} In 2006, his opera ''[[Our Town (opera)|Our Town]]'' premiered at the [[Indiana University]] Opera Theater, Bloomington.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}}

From 2010 onwards, Rorem essentially ceased composing, explaining that "I've kind of said everything I have to say, better than anyone else".{{sfn|Barone|2022}} Two exceptions were the 2013 song "How Like a Winter", based on Shakespeare's [[Sonnet 97]],{{sfn|Boosey & Hawkes}} as well as his final work, ''Recalling Nadia'', a brief organ piece written in 2014.{{sfn|Plymouth UCC Church|2021}} Regardless, Rorem himself noted that by then he didn't receive commissions, "but then, nobody I know does".{{sfn|Smith|2013}} His last years were instead spent in the care of his niece, playing piano, doing [[crossword puzzle]]s and walking through [[Central Park]].{{sfn|Barone|2018}} Rorem died at home in Manhattan on November 18, 2022, at age 99.{{sfn|Page|2022}}

==Music==
{{see also|List of compositions by Ned Rorem}}

Although Rorem wrote works for piano, orchestra and chamber ensemble and solo instruments, he considered all of his music vocal and song-like in nature.{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=9}} Often described as a neoromantic composer, Rorem generally rejecting the emergence of strict modernist aesthetics.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} He wrote in a generally [[tonality|tonal]] manner, ''[[Grove Music Online]]'' asserts that he did so with considerable diversity, complexity and potency.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 6}}

===Songs===
[[File:Spring by Rorem excerpt.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Opening measures of ''Spring'' (1947) by Rorem. The piano's left hand employs [[ground bass]] below a higher melody]]
He is best known for his [[art song]]s, of which he wrote more than 500.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ paras 6–7}}{{refn|While older publications such as {{harvtxt|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 7}} approximate Rorem's song output as "nearly 400", the music critic [[Tim Page (music critic)|Tim Page]] explains that "By the time Mr. Rorem was 40, he had written more than 400 such songs", and that by his death "In all, he wrote{{nbsp}}... more than 500 songs".{{sfn|Page|2022}}|group=n}} Many are coupled into some thirty or so [[song cycle]]s, written from the early 1940s to 2000s.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}}{{refn|Many of his earliest songs remain unpublished;{{sfn|Henry|1986|p=12}} his first published cycle was ''Flight for Heaven'' (1950), a setting of nine poems by the [[Lyric poetry|lyric]] poet [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]], along with a piano interlude.{{sfn|Henry|1986|pp=33–36}} See {{harvtxt|Henry|1986|pp=12–14}} for an overview on Rorem's early unpublished song cycles.|group=n}} Rorem stressed the importance of a cycle's overall structure, paying close attention to the song order, progression of [[key signature|key]]s and transition between songs.{{sfn|Henry|1986|p=14}} He also emphasized [[theatricality]], aiming to convey an overarching message via a unified emotional affect or mood.{{sfn|Henry|1986|p=15}} Like in other genres, the musicologist Philip Lieson Miller remarked that "Rorem's chosen field of song is not for the avant garde and he must be classified as{{nbsp}}... conservative", and that "he has never striven for novelty".{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=31}} Rorem's strict definitions of what constitutes a song has molded them to be typically be single-voice and piano settings of lyrical poems of moderate length.{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=26}} He named songs by [[Monteverdi]], [[Schumann]], [[Poulenc]] and [[the Beatles]] as particular favorites.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} To obtain certain effects, however, Rorem has occasionally experimented with more modernist sentiments, such as intense [[Chromatic scale|chromaticism]], successive [[Modulation (music)|modulations]] and alternating [[time signature]]s.{{sfn|Miller|1978|pp=27–31}}

Rorem's main interest in the art song is the setting of poetry, rather than the sound of the human voice.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 7}}{{sfn|Beck|Rorem|1993|p=31}} Numerous commentators have lauded his abilities in prosody, with ''[[Grove Music Online]]'' noting that he "sets words with naturalness and clarity, without compromising the range and scope of vocal lines".{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 7}} The vast majority of Rorem's songs are set in English and he has criticized American colleagues who prioritize setting other languages over English.{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=26}}{{sfn|Peyser|1987}} In his early years, he was particularly devoted to the poems of his friend [[Paul Goodman]], and later set many works by [[Theodore Roethke]].{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=26}} Rorem often composed entire cycles to the poetry of a single writer: [[John Ashbery]], [[Witter Bynner]], [[Demetrios Capetanakis]], [[George Darley]], [[Frank O'Hara]], [[Robert Herrick (poet)|Robert Herrick]], [[Kenneth Koch]], [[Howard Moss]], [[Sylvia Plath]], [[Wallace Stevens]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], and [[Walt Whitman]], to whom he dedicated three cycles.{{sfn|Henry|1986|pp=115–116}} His few settings in other languages include French poems by [[Jean-Antoine de Baïf]], [[Jean Daurat]], {{ill|Olivier de Magny|fr}}, [[Henri de Régnier]], [[Pierre de Ronsard]], as well as ancient Greek texts by [[Plato]].{{sfn|Henry|1986|p=13}}

Many of Rorem's songs are accompanied by piano, though some have mixed instrumental ensemble or orchestral accompaniment.{{sfn|Henry|1986|p=v}} A pianist himself, his accompaniment parts for the instrument are not completely secondary to the voice and more a "full complement to the melody".{{sfn|Page|2022}} They include motives to emphasize textual elements—such as rain and clouds—and are wildly diverse in function, sometimes responding to the voice in counterpoint or simply [[Voicing (music)#Doubling|doubling]] the vocal line.{{sfn|Miller|1978|pp=30–31}} He sometimes uses the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]]-derived [[ground bass]] technique of a slow and repeated [[bassline]] in the left hand.{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=30}} Reflecting on his piano accompaniments, the writer Bret Johnson describes Rorem's musical hallmarks as "chiming piano, rushing triplets, sumptuous harmonies".{{sfn|Johnson|1985|p=10}}

===Operas===
{{further|Miss Julie (Rorem opera)|Our Town (opera)|label1=Miss Julie|label2=Our Town}}
{{external media
| topic  = Final aria-monologue from ''Our Town''
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9N2yGGbcac Performance] by [[Marnie Breckenridge]]
}}

Only two full-length operas were written by Rorem: ''Miss Julie'' (1965) and ''[[Our Town (opera)|Our Town]]'' (2005).{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=93}} ''Miss Julie'' was not well-received; the music critic [[Harold C. Schonberg]] commented that his melodies were bland and lacked individuality.{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} Holmes explained that Rorem himself "contends that song specialists cannot automatically turn out good operas any more than opera composers can turn out true songs: a gift for tune and a gift for tragedy do not always join hands".{{sfn|Holmes|2002}} The opera's libretto was written by [[Kenward Elmslie]], itself based on the [[Miss Julie|play of the same name]] by [[August Strindberg]].{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=542}} Rorem revised it for a more successful revival in 1979;{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=11}} it was again revived again in 1994 at the [[Manhattan School of Music]] Opera.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 8}}

His second full-length opera, ''Our Town'', was written 40 years later on the [[Our Town|play of the same name]] by [[Thornton Wilder]].{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=93}} It received a successful 2006 premiere at the [[Indiana University Opera Theater, Bloomington|Indiana University Opera Theater]] and was later performed at the [[Juilliard Opera Center]], New York (2008) and the Central City Opera, Denver (2013).{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} The music critic Joshua Barone noted that it is "a tastefully restrained echo of the play's text that has found a home on smaller stages but deserves bigger ones".{{sfn|Barone|2022}} The play's already small-scale set and condense narrative was matched by Rorem's setting as a [[chamber opera]] and Johnson explained that "the economy of resources may well be the key to the opera's mobility and then its success".{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=93}} The work's final monologue-aria from the character Emily Webb is particularly well-regarded and often standard repertoire for soprano singers.{{sfn|Smith|2013}}

Throughout his career Rorem wrote some six small one-act operas, many of which do not fit squarely into the genre.{{sfn|Holmes|2002}} The first of these was ''A Childhood Miracle'' of 1951, which had to wait three years for its premiere in New York 1955.{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}} Rorem wrote his own libretto for his 1958 opera based on Chaucer's "[[The Pardoner's Tale]]", ''The Robbers''.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|loc=§ "Works"}} His 1961 two-act opera ''The Anniversary'' was never performed.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}} It included a libretto by Jascha Kessler and was, unusually for Rorem, based on the serialist [[tone row]] which he included on the [[title page]].{{sfn|Kessler|2003}} Rorem wrote the one-act ''[[Bertha (opera)|Bertha]]'' (1968) to a libretto by Kenneth Koch.{{sfn|Holmes|2002|loc=§ "Works"}} The same year he wrote the three-act ''Three Sisters who are Not Sisters'' (1971), his second collaboration with Stein as the librettist.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}} The 1970s saw his two final short operas: ''Fables'' (1971), 5 brief scene based on [[La Fontaine's Fables|La Fontaine's ''Fables'']]; and ''Hearing'' (1976) on a libretto by Holmes based on Rorem's song cycles.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}}

===Orchestral works===

Rorem's three numbered symphonies were written in a span of eight years during the 1950s.{{sfn|Serebrier|2003|loc=§ para 4}} They have remained relatively "ostracized", even during the late 20th-century revival of neoromanticism.{{sfn|Sanderson}} The music critic [[David Hurwitz (music critic)|David Hurwitz]] remarked that "Ned Rorem's symphonies are shot through with long, lyrical melodies that some observers might relate to his gifts as a songwriter, but strike me as more likely inspired by the "Sunrise" sequence from Ravel's ''[[Daphnis et Chloé|Daphnis et Chloë]]''–music so strikingly lovely that the beauty it describes can only exist in the world of fantasy and make-believe."{{sfn|Hurwitz|2003|loc=§ para 1}}

Rorem's Symphony No. 1 (1950) is cast in four fairly brief movements: I:&nbsp;Maestoso, II:&nbsp;Andantino, III:&nbsp;Largo, and IV:&nbsp;Allegro;{{sfn|Sanderson|loc=§ "Track Listing"}} the composer himself noted that it "could easily be called a Suite".{{sfn|Serebrier|2003|loc=§ para 6}} The [[AllMusic]] critic Blair Sanderson considered it the most lyrical and gentle of his symphonies.{{sfn|Sanderson}} His Symphony No. 2 (1956) is cast in 3&nbsp;movements, I:&nbsp;Broad, Moderate; II:&nbsp;Tranquillo; III:&nbsp;Allegro.{{sfn|Sanderson|loc=§ "Track Listing"}} They are of highly unequal proportion—the second movement and the third movement combined being less than half the length of the first movement—akin to the structure of [[Symphony No. 6 (Shostakovich)|Symphony No. 6]] by [[Dmitri Shostakovich]].{{sfn|Hurwitz|2003|loc=§ para 1}} Both the first and second symphonies are infrequently performed; the second in particularly had not been performed since 1959 until, as the composer puts it, "[[José Serebrier]] resurrected" it 43&nbsp;years later.{{sfn|Serebrier|2003|loc=§ paras 6, 8}} The [[Symphony No. 3 (Rorem)|Third Symphony]] (1958) is cast in five movements: I:&nbsp;Passacaglia, II:&nbsp;Allegro molto vivace, III:&nbsp;Largo, IV:&nbsp;Andante, V:&nbsp;Allegro molto.{{sfn|Sanderson|loc=§ "Track Listing"}} It is the best known of Rorem's numbered symphonies,{{sfn|Rickards|2022}} described by Sanderson as "the most fully realized, [with] resilient rhythms and cogent structures".{{sfn|Sanderson}} Hurwitz opines that it should be among the "great American symphonies".{{sfn|Hurwitz|2003|loc=§ para 2}} Rorem later arranged the Scherzo movement for [[wind orchestra]] in 2002.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}}

===Piano music===
From 1948 onwards, Rorem wrote numerous pieces for solo piano, usually dedicated to relatives or close friends.{{sfn|Smith|2013}} Many of these were written for his partner Holmes, and others are named for their recipient, such as ''For Shirley'' (1989) and ''For Ben'' (1999).{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}} Johnson described most of them as brief sketches that contained precedents for his later works.{{sfn|Johnson|2014|pp=92–93}} His earliest published piano work was the 1948 set ''A Quiet Afternoon'', written for his sister's children.{{sfn|Johnson|2014|p=92}}

Among his main piano compositions are three sonatas written in his early years 1948, 1949 and 1954.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}} Barone singles out the "sparking [[Toccata]]" third movement from the First Sonata,{{sfn|Barone|2022}} noting that it is a common [[encore]] for pianists.{{sfn|Barone|2018}} A few months after its publication, Rorem published the Toccata as a separate piece.{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Works"}}

==Legacy==
{{quote box|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|width=22em|align=right|quote=Near his death, Rorem was described as the "elder statesman of American art song, prolific prose writer, [and] pioneer of gay liberation".|source=Barone in ''[[The New York Times]]''{{sfn|Barone|2018}}}}

Rorem's reputation primarily revolves around art songs, during a time when the genre lacked interest from other American composers.{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=25}} Since the 1950s, he has been described as the "America's foremost composer of art songs",{{sfn|Johnson|1985|p=7}} a designation echoed by the choral conductor [[Robert Shaw (conductor)|Robert Shaw]].{{sfn|Lewis|2022}} Miller ranks him highly with the British song composers [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]], [[Peter Warlock]], [[Gerald Finzi]] and [[Benjamin Britten]].{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=31}} His mentor Thomson characterized him as "an American Poulenc", explained by ''Grove Music Online'' as due to his expression of "restraint, wit, elegance and direct yet unsentimental expressivity"{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 7}} Although his music for orchestra, piano and chamber ensemble is substantial,{{sfn|Miller|1978|p=25}} it less known than his art songs.{{sfn|Johnson|1985|p=7}} In light of his renown for small-scale works, Barone concludes that "You would be hard-pressed to find greatness in Mr. Rorem's vast oeuvre. But he has never aimed to be a Beethoven."{{sfn|Barone|2018}}

Rorem was called "an icon of gay history" by Barone, who cited his confidence and openness towards his sexuality.{{sfn|Barone|2018}} Barone furthered that although his writings were not central [[Gay liberation]] texts, they offered impetus for the movement.{{sfn|Barone|2022}} Rorem himself frequently commented as to the general unremarkability of both homosexuality and heterosexuality.{{sfn|Mass|Rorem|1994|p=85}} In an interview with Rorem, the physician and writer [[Lawrence D. Mass]] compared Rorem's indifference to the writer [[William Hoffman (author)|William Hoffman]]—who "is similarly defensive about being called a gay writer"—and contrasted it to [[Lou Harrison]]—who is "proud to be a gay composer and interested in talking about what that might mean".{{sfn|Mass|Rorem|1994|p=110}} Rorem similarly rejected any connection between a composer's music and sexuality, ridiculing the proposal that [[Schubert]]'s supposed homosexuality had any effect on his music.{{sfn|Beck|Rorem|1993|pp=29–30}}

A dedicated diarist, Rorem wrote candidly on his and other men's sexuality, describing his relationships with [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[John Cheever]], [[Noël Coward]] and [[Tennessee Williams]].{{sfn|Page|2022}} Rorem's writings estimate his total romantic and sexual relationships as 3,000.{{sfn|Hubbs|2004|p=69}} He wrote extensively about music as well, collected the anthologies ''Music from Inside Out'' (1967), ''Music and People'' (1968), ''Pure Contraption'' (1974), ''Setting the Tone'' (1983), ''Settling the Score'' (1988), and ''Other Entertainment'' (1996).{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ "Writings"}} In 2005, Rorem was the subject of a documentary film, ''Ned Rorem: Word And Music'', co-directed by James Dowell and John Kolomvakis.{{sfn|Harvey|2005}}

==Writings==
'''Books'''
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1966 |title=The Paris Diary |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |oclc=220705 |ref=no }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1967 |title=The New York Diary |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |oclc=419642 |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1967 |title=Music from Inside Out |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |oclc=637907 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1968 |title=Music and People |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |oclc=449570 |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1970 |title=Critical Affairs: a Composer's Journal |publisher=[[George Braziller]] |location=New York |oclc=91619 |isbn=978-0-8076-0569-1 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1974 |title=Pure Contraption |publisher=[[Holt, Rinehart and Winston]] |location=New York |oclc=622504 |isbn=978-0-03-011021-4 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1974 |title=The Final Diary |publisher=[[Holt, Rinehart and Winston]] |location=New York |oclc=914568 |isbn=978-0-03-012251-4 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1978 |title=An Absolute Gift |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |oclc=3516613 |isbn=978-0-671-22666-4 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1983 |title=Setting the Tone: Essays and a Diary |publisher=[[Coward, McCann & Geoghegan]] |location=New York |oclc=869040899 |isbn=978-0-698-11234-6 |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1984 |title=Paul's Blues |publisher=Red Ozier Press |location=New York |oclc= 13481014 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1987 |title=The Nantucket Diary |publisher=[[North Point Press]] |location=San Francisco |oclc=16902949 |isbn=978-0-86547-259-4 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1988 |title=Settling the Score: Essays on Music |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |location=New York |oclc=915855727 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1994 |title=Knowing When to Stop: A Memoir |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |oclc=30593756 |isbn=978-0-671-72872-4 |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1996 |title=Other Entertainment: Collected Pieces |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |oclc=34623876 |isbn=978-0-684-82249-5 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1997 |title=Dear Paul, Dear Ned: The Correspondence of Paul Bowles and Ned Rorem |publisher=Elysium Press |location=New York |oclc=37781932 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=2005 |title=Wings of Friendship: Selected Letters, 1944–2003 |publisher=[[Shoemaker & Hoard]] |location=Washington |oclc=57625802 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=2006 |title=Facing the Night: A Diary (1999–2005) and Musical Writings |publisher=[[Shoemaker & Hoard]] |location=Washington |oclc=70230711 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}

'''Articles'''
* {{cite journal |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=Spring 1963 |title=Poulenc: A Memoir |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=64 |pages=28–29 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200028035 |jstor=943868 |s2cid=145116275 |ref=no }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=December 1968 |title=The Music of the Beatles |journal=[[Music Educators Journal]] |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=33–34+77–83 |jstor=3392348 |doi=10.2307/3392348 |s2cid=143918646 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=June 1974 |title=Why I Write as I Do |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=109 |pages=38–40 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200055534 |jstor=944099 |s2cid=145320328 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite news |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=April 20, 1975 |title=Some Notes (Mostly Sour) On Singing Songs |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/20/archives/some-notes-mostly-sour-on-singing-songs-ned-rorems-musings-on.html |url-access=limited |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=December 1978 |title=Messiaen and Carter on Their Birthdays |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=127 |pages=22–24 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200018374 |jstor=945956 |s2cid=145322090 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite news |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=May 1, 1983 |title=A Composer Offers Some Candid Thoughts on His Art |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/01/arts/a-composer-offers-some-candid-thoughts-on-his-art-by-ned-rorem.html |url-access=limited |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite news |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=November 10, 1985 |title=Aaron Copland: 'He Is Like a Song-Filled Rock of Gibraltar' |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/10/arts/aaron-copland-he-is-like-a-songfilled-rock-of-gibraltar.html |url-access=limited |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rorem |first=Ned |date=December 1990 |title=Leonard Bernstein (An Appreciation) |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=175 |pages=6–9 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200012559 |jstor=944575 |s2cid=145197594 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=1992 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Young Caeser |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O907008 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000907008 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rorem |first1=Ned |last2=Robbins |first2=Jerome |year=2000 |title='Ballet for Jerry': Three Letters from Jerome Robbins to Ned Rorem |journal=[[Dance Chronicle]] |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=263–273 |doi=10.1080/01472520008569391 |jstor=1567981 |s2cid=191581741 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Flanagan, William |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09782 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009782 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Rorem |first=Ned |year=2013 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Goodman, Paul |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2282988 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002282988 |ref=no |author-mask=2 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}

==Recordings==

{| class = "wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
|+Selected recordings of compositions by Ned Rorem
|-
! scope="col"                    | Year
! scope="col"                    | Album
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Performers
! scope="col"                    | Label
|-
| 1998
| ''String Quartet No. 4''
| [[Emerson String Quartet]]
| [[Deutsche Grammophon]] UPC 00028947432128}{{sfn|DG}}
|-
| 2000
| ''Songs of Ned Rorem''
| [[Susan Graham]] (mezzo), [[Malcolm Martineau]] (piano)
| [[Erato Records|Erato]] 80222{{sfn|Clements|2000}}{{sfn|WorldCat 43818955}}
|-
| 2002
| ''Gotham Ensemble Plays Ned Rorem''
| [[Thomas Piercy]] (clarinet) Rolf Shulte (violin), Judith Olson (piano), Angelina Réaux (soprano), Humbert Lucarelli (oboe), Delores Stevens (piano)
| Albany Records TROY520{{sfn|WorldCat 818251648}}
|-
| 2003
| ''Three Symphonies''
| [[José Serebrier]] (conductor), [[Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra]]
| [[Naxos Records]] 8.559149{{sfn|Hurwitz|2003}}{{sfn|WorldCat 811333016}}
|-
| 2006
| ''Songs of Ned Rorem''
| [[Charles Bressler]] (tenor), [[Phyllis Curtin]] (soprano), [[Gianna D'Angelo]] (soprano), [[Donald Gramm]] (bass), [[Regina Sarfaty]] (mezzo-soprano), Rorem (piano)
| [[Other Minds Records]] 1009-2{{sfn|WorldCat 903639127}}
|-
| 2013
| ''Piano Album I – Six Friends''
| Carolyn Enger (piano)
| [[Naxos Records]] 8.559761{{sfn|Naxos}}
|}

==Awards and honors==
* 1950: Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award{{sfn|Ewen|1982|p=541}}
* 1951: [[Fulbright Fellowship]]{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=6}}
* 1957: [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=10}}
* 1968: Award from the [[National Institute of Arts and Letters]]{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=10}}
* 1976: [[Pulitzer Prize for Music]]{{sfn|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003|loc=§ para 6}}
* 1977: Honorary doctorate from Northwestern University{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=11}}
* 1977: Guggenheim Fellowship{{sfn|McDonald|1989|p=10}}
* 2003: [[ASCAP]]'s Lifetime Achievement Award{{sfn|ASCAP|2003}}
* 2004: [[Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]{{sfn|Embassy of France|2004}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===Citations===
====Primary====
:''This list identifies each item's location in Rorem's writings.''
{{reflist|group=R|28em}}

====Secondary====
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
:'''Books'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Ewen |first=David |year=1982 |title=American Composers |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-399-12626-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/americancomposer00davi |url-access=limited }}
* {{cite book |last=Gruen |first=John |author-link=John Jonas Gruen |year=1972 |title=The Party's Over Now: Reminiscences of the Fifties -- New York's Artists, Writers, Musicians, and Their Friends |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-670-54129-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/partysovernowrem0000grue |url-access=limited }}
* {{cite thesis |last=Henry |first=Leon Austin Jr |year=1986 |title=The Song Cycles of Ned Rorem: a Technical Survey |type=MA Thesis |publisher=[[Louisiana State University]] |docket=4240 |url=https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5239&context=gradschool_disstheses |access-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120084953/https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5239&context=gradschool_disstheses |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Hubbs |first=Nadine |year=2004 |title=The Queer Composition of America's Sound: Gay Modernists, American Music, and National Identity |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-93795-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wHg6Q8UoEwC |access-date=May 20, 2023 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318235939/https://books.google.com/books?id=4wHg6Q8UoEwC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Mass |first1=Lawrence D. |author-link=Lawrence D. Mass |last2=Rorem |first2=Ned |editor-last1=Brett |editor-first1=Philip |editor-link1=Philip Brett |editor-last2=Wood |editor-first2=Elizabeth |editor-last3=Thomas |editor-first3=Gary C. |year=1994 |title=Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology |chapter=A Conversation with Ned Rorem |pages=85–112 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-90753-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/queeringpitchnew00bret |url-access=limited }}
* {{cite book |last=McDonald |first=Arlys |year=1989 |title=Ned Rorem: A Bio-Bibliography |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport |isbn=978-0-313-25565-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/nedrorembiobibli0000mcdo |url-access=limited }}
{{refend}}

:'''Articles'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite news |last=Barone |first=Joshua |date=October 23, 2018 |title=At 95, Ned Rorem Is Done Composing. But He's Not Done Living |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/arts/music/ned-rorem-birthday.html |url-access=limited |access-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212025554/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/arts/music/ned-rorem-birthday.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Barone |first=Joshua |date=November 20, 2022 |title=In Life and Music, Ned Rorem Was Unwaveringly Himself |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/arts/music/ned-rorem-appraisal.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120221359/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/arts/music/ned-rorem-appraisal.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Eleonora M. |last2=Rorem |first2=Ned |date=September 1993 |title=On Music and Politics: An Interview in Celebration of the Composer's Seventieth Birthday |journal=Current Musicology |volume=54 |pages=24–37 |url=https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/issue/view/498/CurrentMusicology54 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123022054/https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/currentmusicology/issue/view/498/CurrentMusicology54 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=March 31, 2000 |title=Other Classical Releases: Songs of Ned Rorem |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,178257,00.html |access-date=December 15, 2016 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305205654/http://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,178257,00.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |date=November 18, 2022 |title=Curtis Mourns the Loss of Composer Ned Rorem ('44) |work=[[Curtis Institute of Music]] |url=https://www.curtis.edu/news/curtis-mourns-the-loss-of-composer-ned-rorem-44/ |ref={{sfnRef|Curtis|2018}} |access-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225022651/https://www.curtis.edu/news/curtis-mourns-the-loss-of-composer-ned-rorem-44/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Griffiths |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Griffiths (writer) |editor-last=Latham |editor-first=Alison |year=2011 |title=Rorem, Ned |encyclopedia=[[The Oxford Companion to Music]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-957903-7 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-5744 |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122052944/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199579037.001.0001/acref-9780199579037-e-5744 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Harvey |first=Dennis |date=June 30, 2005 |title=Ned Rorem: Word And Music |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/2005/film/reviews/ned-rorem-word-and-music-1117927535/ |access-date=August 8, 2024 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Holmes |first=James |year=2002 |orig-year=1992 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Rorem, Ned (opera) |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O007340 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000007340 |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123081203/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000007340 |url-status=live }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Holmes |first=James |others=Revised by [[Anthony Tommasini]] and Arlys McDonald |year=2003 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Rorem, Ned |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.48611 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000048611 |ref={{sfnRef|Holmes|Tommasini|McDonald|2003}} |access-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119211256/https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000048611 |url-status=live }} {{Grove Music subscription}}
* {{cite news |last=Hurwitz |first=David |author-link=David Hurwitz (music critic) |date=August 16, 2003 |title=Rorem: Symphonies Nos. 1–3 |publisher=ClassicsToday.com |url=https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-9491/ |access-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314040206/https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-9491/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Bret |date=June 1985 |title=Still Sings the Voice: A Portrait of Ned Rorem |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=153 |pages=7–12 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200059386 |jstor=946231 |s2cid=146297830 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Bret |date=April 2014 |title=A Portrait of the Artist: Ned Rorem at 90 |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |volume=68 |issue=268 |pages=92–93 |doi=10.1017/S0040298213001885 |jstor=43927993 |s2cid=145502711 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Jascha |date=March 9, 2003 |title=Rorem, composed |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-09-ca-letters9.1-story.html |access-date=December 10, 2022 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210005621/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-mar-09-ca-letters9.1-story.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Daniel |date=November 18, 2022 |title=Ned Rorem, Composer Known for Both His Music and His Diaries, Dies at 99 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/arts/music/ned-rorem-dead.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118222141/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/arts/music/ned-rorem-dead.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Metcalf |first=Steven |date=November 13, 1993 |title=Rorem at 70: Rambunctious, Purposeful |work=[[Hartford Courant]] |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1993-11-14-0000002016-story.html |access-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227235052/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1993-11-14-0000002016-story.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Philip Lieson |date=December 1978 |title=The Songs of Ned Rorem |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=127 |pages=25–31 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200018386 |jstor=945957 |s2cid=144600309 }}
* {{cite news |last=Oestreich |first=James R. |author-link=James R. Oestreich |date=April 25, 1994 |title=Pianist Wins Contest No One Can Enter |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/25/arts/pianist-wins-contest-no-one-can-enter.html |access-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-date=December 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229230008/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/25/arts/pianist-wins-contest-no-one-can-enter.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Page |first=Tim |author-link=Tim Page (music critic) |date=November 18, 2022 |title=Ned Rorem, Pulitzer-winning composer and noted diarist, dies at 99 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/18/ned-rorem-dead-composer-diarist/ |access-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119022152/https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/11/18/ned-rorem-dead-composer-diarist/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Peyser |first=Joan |date=May 3, 1987 |title=Ned Rorem Delivers a Solo on the State of Music |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/arts/ned-rorem-delivers-a-solo-on-the-state-of-music.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123033154/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/arts/ned-rorem-delivers-a-solo-on-the-state-of-music.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Rickards |first=Guy |date=November 20, 2022 |title=Ned Rorem obituary |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/nov/20/ned-rorem-obituary |access-date=June 8, 2023 }}
* {{cite news |last=Smith |first=Steve |date=October 25, 2013 |title=Celebrating Ned Rorem's 90th Birthday |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/music/celebrating-ned-rorems-90th-birthday.html |url-access=limited |access-date=February 27, 2017 |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223215557/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/arts/music/celebrating-ned-rorems-90th-birthday.html |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Tommasini |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Tommasini |date=January 9, 1999 |title=James Holmes, 59, Composer, Choir Director and Organist |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/09/arts/james-holmes-59-composer-choir-director-and-organist.html |url-access=limited |access-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-date=November 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125215458/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/09/arts/james-holmes-59-composer-choir-director-and-organist.html |url-status=live }}
{{refend}}

:'''Online'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite web |title=Aftermath |publisher=Song of America |url=https://songofamerica.net/song/aftermath/ |access-date=December 11, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|Song of America}} |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212025806/https://songofamerica.net/song/aftermath/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=The ASCAP Foundation Life in Music Award |publisher=[[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]] |url=https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/awards/award-recipients/lim.aspx |access-date=November 20, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|ASCAP|2003}} |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417173411/https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/awards/award-recipients/lim.aspx |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Composer Biographical Sketches |year=1998 |publisher=SCI National Conference |url=https://wp.societyofcomposers.org/legacy/1998national/bios.html |access-date=November 21, 2023 |ref={{sfnRef|SCI|1998}} }}
* {{cite web |title=Frenchculture.org &#124; Ned Rorem and Susan Graham Decoration (Jan. 12, 2004) |publisher=[[Embassy of France, Washington, D.C.]] |url=http://www.frenchculture.org/people/honorees/roremgraham.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021141634/http://www.frenchculture.org/people/honorees/roremgraham.html |archive-date=October 21, 2006 |ref={{sfnRef|Embassy of France|2004}} }}
* {{cite web |title=Gotham Ensemble Plays Ned Rorem |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/818251648 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|WorldCat 818251648}} |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120235319/https://www.worldcat.org/title/818251648 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=How Like a Winter (2013) |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |url=https://boosey.com/cr/music/Ned-Rorem-How-Like-a-Winter/57655 |access-date=December 11, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|Boosey & Hawkes}} |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212014414/https://boosey.com/cr/music/Ned-Rorem-How-Like-a-Winter/57655 |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |title=Meyer Quintet, Rorem Quartet No. 4 / Emerson String |publisher=[[Deutsche Grammophon]] |url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/meyer-quintet-rorem-quartet-no-4-emerson-string-7510 |access-date=January 23, 2024 |ref={{sfnRef|DG}} }}
* {{cite web |date=January 20, 2021 |title=Mark's Music Minute |publisher=Plymouth UCC Church |url=https://www.plymouthucc.org/musicminute/3rd-sunday-after-epiphany-12421 |access-date=December 11, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|Plymouth UCC Church|2021}} |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212025817/https://www.plymouthucc.org/musicminute/3rd-sunday-after-epiphany-12421 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Rorem: Piano Album I – Six Friends |publisher=[[Naxos Records]] |url=https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.559761 |access-date=December 7, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|Naxos}} |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207091619/https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.559761 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last=Sanderson |first=Blair |title=Ned Rorem: Three Symphonies |work=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ned-rorem-three-symphonies-mw0001849892 |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314040205/https://www.allmusic.com/album/ned-rorem-three-symphonies-mw0001849892 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last=Serebrier |first=José |author-link=José Serebrier |year=2003 |title=Rorem: Symphonies Nos. 1–3 |publisher=[[Naxos Records]] |url=https://www.naxos.com/MainSite/BlurbsReviews/?itemcode=8.559149&catnum=559149&filetype=AboutThisRecording&language=English |access-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120100245/https://www.naxos.com/MainSite/BlurbsReviews/?itemcode=8.559149&catnum=559149&filetype=AboutThisRecording&language=English |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Songs of Ned Rorem |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/43818955 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|WorldCat 43818955}} |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120100650/https://www.worldcat.org/title/43818955 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Songs of Ned Rorem |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/903639127 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|WorldCat 903639127}} |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120103701/https://www.worldcat.org/title/903639127 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=Three symphonies |publisher=[[WorldCat]] |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/811333016 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |ref={{sfnRef|WorldCat 811333016}} |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120105157/https://www.worldcat.org/title/811333016 |url-status=live }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
:''See {{harvtxt|McDonald|1989|pp=105–242}} for an extensive bibliography''
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Atack |first=Sharon A. |year=1969 |title=Ned Rorem and his Songs |type=MA Thesis |publisher=[[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] |docket=990 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/archivaltheses/990/ |oclc=7753382 |access-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120090822/https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/archivaltheses/990/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite news |last=Bernheimer |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Bernheimer |date=December 13, 1987 |title=MUSIC: Ned Rorem: Vindicating His Wicked Ways |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-13-ca-28888-story.html }}
* {{cite thesis |last=Bloomquist |first=Marvin R. |year=1970 |title=Songs of Ned Rorem: Aspects of the Musical Setting of Songs in English for Solo Voice and Piano |type=Thesis |publisher=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City]] |oclc=28243417 }}
* [[Dufallo, Richard]] (1989). ''Trackings: Composers Speak with Richard Dufallo''. New York: Oxford University Press.  {{ISBN|0-19-505816-X}}
* Gagne, Cole (1993). ''Soundpieces 2: Interviews with American Composers''. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press.  {{ISBN|0-8108-2710-7}}
* {{cite journal |last1=McClatchy |first1=J. D. |author-link=J. D. McClatchy |last2=Rorem |first2=Ned |date=Spring 1999 |title=Ned Rorem, The Art of the Diary No. 1 |journal=[[The Paris Review]] |volume=Spring 1999 |issue=150 |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/986/the-art-of-the-diary-no-1-ned-rorem |access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230030927/https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/986/the-art-of-the-diary-no-1-ned-rorem |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal |last=Middaugh |first=Bennie |date=May 1968 |title=The Songs of Ned Rorem: Aspects of Musical Style |journal=[[The NATS Bulletin]] |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=36–39 }}
* {{cite thesis |last=North |first=William Sills Wright |year=1965 |title=Ned Rorem As A Twentieth Century Song Composer |type=DMA Thesis |publisher=[[University of Illinois]] |oclc=1307487 }}
* {{cite thesis |last=Provenzano |first=Therese A. |year=1994 |title=The Choral Music of Ned Rorem |type=PHD Thesis |publisher=[[Boston University]] |oclc=32190277 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box |about=no |by=yes }}
* {{official website|http://www.nedrorem.net/}}
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2740&ttype=SNAPSHOT&ttitle=Snapshot Profile for Ned Rorem] at Boosey & Hawkes
* {{cite book |title=Ned Rorem collection, 1935–2006 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |location=Washington, DC |url=https://lccn.loc.gov/2006569276}}
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/rorem.html Interview with Ned Rorem]  on [[WNIB (defunct)|WNIB]] Classical 97, Chicago, April 24, 1986
* {{discogs artist|Ned Rorem}}
* {{IMDb name|0635268}}

{{Ned Rorem}}
{{PulitzerPrize Music 1971–1980}}
{{Subject bar
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| portal2  = Classical music
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rorem, Ned}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
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[[Category:American contemporary classical composers]]
[[Category:American diarists]]
[[Category:American gay musicians]]
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[[Category:American male opera composers]]
[[Category:American opera composers]]
[[Category:American people of Norwegian descent]]
[[Category:Bienen School of Music alumni]]
[[Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni]]
[[Category:Gay composers]]
[[Category:Juilliard School alumni]]
[[Category:LGBTQ classical composers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Richmond, Indiana]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Music winners]]
[[Category:University of Chicago Laboratory Schools alumni]]