Editing Ned Rorem (section)

===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"}}