Ned Rorem - Piano Sonata No. 2 (1949)(with full score)

Mov.I: Ouverture 00:11
Mov.II: Tarantella 04:44
Mov.III: Nocturne 06:33
Mov.IV: Toccata 09:45
Pf. Julius Katchen
Rorem was born in Richmond, Indiana, the son of C. Rufus Rorem, whose ideas and 1930 study were the basis for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance plans. He received his early education in Chicago at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the American Conservatory of Music and then Northwestern University. Later, Rorem moved on to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and finally the Juilliard School in New York City. Rorem was raised as a Quaker and makes reference to this in interviews in relation to his piece based on Quaker texts, A Quaker Reader.
In 1966 he published The Paris Diary of Ned Rorem, which - with his later diaries - has brought him some notoriety, as he is honest about his and others' sexuality, describing his relationships with Leonard Bernstein, Noël Coward, Samuel Barber, and Virgil Thomson, and outing several others (Aldrich and Wotherspoon, eds., 2001). Rorem has written extensively about music as well. These essays are collected in the anthologies Setting the Tone, Music from the Inside Out, and Music and People. His prose is much admired, not least for its barbed observations about such prominent musicians as Pierre Boulez. Rorem has composed in a chromatic tonal idiom throughout his career, and he is not hesitant to attack the orthodoxies of the avant-garde.
His notable students include Jonathan Bailey Holland, Daron Hagen and David Horne.
(wiki)

[@PRohFullscoremusic]

sorry, ive had a mistake while making this on 1st movement

[@robkeeleycomposer]

This is very enjoyable and engaging, and looks a lot of fun to play. Thank you for posting.

[@sang-minryu965]

'Play like playing Ned Rorem' 보고 왔습니다!

[@hajinsung8481]

와! 노형식 아시는구나!

[@brynbstn]

Thanks for making this video and adding a biographical sketch. This is a high quality composition by a talented composer - not as endearing as the first sonata but worth entering the modern repertoire of piano solo.

[@jb1980ist]

It's charming, Rorem by way of Poulenc.

[@DeflatingAtheism]

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[@djmotise]

Completely unoriginal.

[@pjimenez08]

But it sounds good.

[@Beyondabsence]

If so, its based on what other works?

[@NickCarlozzi]

I wouldn’t say completely…

[@NickCarlozzi]

@@pjimenez08 agreed

[@NickCarlozzi]

@@Beyondabsence to start: the texture is unoriginal, it’s just like thousands that came before it. But is that a problem? The melody gives big French vibes, sounds like Poulenc. Darren may have more to say.