The Nantucket Diary of Ned Rorem, 1973-1985

Selections from the diaries of the American composer share his thoughts on music, current events, literature, friends, and fellow composers

The latest installment of the diary kept by the preeminent song composer since 1945when he began, Rorem says, "as a release from shyness, to investigate on paper what I could not say aloud"is the most remarkable yet. This is partly because it comprises much of our time and place, and the melancholy tolling of the deaths of artists that echoes through its pages is for ones we have known, too. And Rorem has mellowedno longer the roaring, drunken Ned of the early Paris Diaries, he is now an often sad, more deeply meditative writer on the vagaries of art and the passions. Suffering constantly with his health, he goes through the anguish of the near-breakdown and infidelities of his lover J.H., enjoys endless lunches, teas and dinners in which the dessert is always the thing, is shrewd, waspish and sometimes kind about a host of contemporaries, and never for a moment ceases to work at his music, think about it and travel wherever he must to see and hear it played."I'm a composer who writes, not a writer who composes," he says, and his dedication is heroic; but one can only be glad that he took enough time from his music to write so much. Future generations will not read the diaries for significant revelations about our epoch but for the pleasure of meeting a singularly engaging, playful and thoughtful personality. Index (much needed) and photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This latest installment of the candid musings of the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer are less offensive and more melancholy in tone than the previous Paris & New York Diaries (North Point Pr., 1983). Rorem has never been shy about baring his soul, and one senses an increasing angst as he chronicles his physical ailments and the passing of friends and acquaintances. His world is populated by the literati of our timeartists, writers, musicians, criticswho all seem to enjoy fine food, French puns, and ponderous conversation. Rorem is the intellectual's Hedda Hopper, but here the gossip is mitigated by occasional perceptive truths and revelatory observations. An amusing read, not to everyone's taste, that still illuminates the contemporary social/cultural scene.Larry Lipkis, Music Dept., Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.