Songs of Ned Rorem

I was first drawn to the recordings on this CD four decades ago by the delicate poignancy Ned Rorem achieves in setting the most tender of these poems. I soon grew to know and love the others as well — the dramatic, the heroic, the severe and the spiritual. When it was released on LP by Columbia Records in 1964, the name of the composer was yet to be catapulted into headlines and weekly magazines by the sensational and uninhibited revelations of his 1966 Paris Diary of Ned Rorem.

Consider that the mid-Sixties were a period in which the ascendancy in the U.S. of twelve-tone composers seemed to be eclipsing the modernism of the Copland-Bernstein school and the more radical camps of Cage, Fluxus and later minimalism were about to explode onto the scene. In that light, the songs of Rorem, composed between 1947 and 1958 in a conservative harmonic language and with such serious texts, might have seemed passé. But to those who listened sympathetically it was apparent that a composer of extraordinary talent had arrived.

This collection was originally released on Columbia Records in January 1964. It's arguably the finest recital of American art songs ever released, filled with inspiring
poetry and electrifying performances by some of the top soloists of the day, accompanied by the composer.

For a special offer of the CD, along with Rorem's published scoreof his song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen click here.

— Charles Amirkhanian
Artistic Director
Other Minds

Sung by:
Charles Bressler (tenor)
Phyllis Curtin (soprano)
Gianna d’Angelo (soprano)
Donald Gramm (bass)
Regina Sarfaty (mezzo-soprano)
Accompanied at the piano by the composer

Released Under License from the
SONY BMG Custom Marketing Group,
SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.