The Songs of Ned Rorem

Extract

To be America's leading song writer at a time when practically nobody is writing songs may seem on the surface like no great distinction. But to have over a hundred songs in print, many of them sung and recorded by leading artists, is a real achievement. And to have accomplished this with a serene disregard for the fads and trends of the time, with no interest in novelty for its own sake is, to say the least, remarkable. But lest there be any mystery about Ned Rorem or his music, he is the author of some eight volumes of diaries, journals and essays in which his frankness has gained him readers while losing him friends, and his lucid discussions explain as well as possibly could be done the workings of his own musical mind.