Gretchen Ehrenberg wrote:

>Is it just me?  I don't "get" Ned Rorem.  I tried so hard to like the
>organ pieces and some of the songs, but I just find myself at a loss.
>If there is a recommendation for a Rorem skeptic, please offer it.

There was a time when I felt the same way, but now...well I still feel
that way about some of his works. One of his least characteristic works,
"Lions, A Dream," is amongst my favorite Rorem. Other favorites include
pieces like Design for Orchestra; the Lovers for Harpsichord and chamber
ensemble and the Poems of Love and Rain.

When I think of his music...it seems to me that his melodic inspiration
is magnificent. In many works when I encounter that "line," it disappears
all too quickly. It is as though he is afraid of dwelling on the line
for too long, almost afraid of the expression. As a result, all too
often, I find that he almost seems to be running away from his inspiration.
I know I am not expressing this very well...

I could write...his music seems to suffer from a lack of structural
unity, or...the ideas seem fragmentary...but that does quite capture it
for me.

When I can accept what I find to be odd changes of gesture as a style,
I find more value in the music.

Karl