Editing Ned Rorem (section)

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{{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                =
| 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, U.S.
| education          = [[Northwestern University]]<br>[[Curtis Institute]]<br>[[Juilliard School]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Composer|writer}}
| list_of_works      = [[List of compositions by Ned Rorem|List of compositions]]
| website            = {{URL|www.nedrorem.net/}}
}}
'''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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