Rorem, Ned – “Water Music – Ideas For Orchestra – Trio” – [Desto]

Cousin Mary   4/22/2009   12-inch, A Library

Ned Rorem is a native of Indiana who celebrated his 85th birthday in 2008. Still actively composing (such as “Our Town”, an opera that premiered in 2006), his work has been hard to categorize but can safely be called iconoclastic.

Water Music is a theme and variations that was composed in 1966 for the Oakland Youth Orchestra — made up of city high school students – as was Ideas for Orchestra. This old LP is a recording from that original ensemble. The New York Camerata performs the very lovely Trio.

PGM: Rorem wrote the liner notes, worth reading. Sound is so-so with quite a bit of hiss on side 2.