Ned Rorem - Exam
Ned Rorem
  • 1. When was Ned Rorem born?
A) 1945
B) 1973
C) 1923
D) 1960
  • 2. Ned Rorem is best known for being a:
A) Athlete
B) Architect
C) Composer
D) Painter
  • 3. In which city was Ned Rorem born?
A) New York City, New York
B) Detroit, Michigan
C) Richmond, Indiana
D) San Francisco, California
  • 4. Ned Rorem received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in which country?
A) Japan
B) Russia
C) Brazil
D) France
  • 5. In addition to English, Ned Rorem is fluent in which language?
A) French
B) Italian
C) German
D) Spanish
  • 6. Ned Rorem is known for his collaborations with which type of artists?
A) Architects
B) Chefs
C) Sculptors
D) Poets
  • 7. One of Ned Rorem's well-known books is titled:
A) The Paris Diary
B) The London Chronicles
C) The Tokyo Journal
D) The New York Cookbook
  • 8. Which institution bestowed an honorary doctorate upon Ned Rorem?
A) Yale University
B) Juilliard School
C) Sorbonne University
D) Oxford University
  • 9. Which famous conductor championed Ned Rorem's music?
A) Leonard Bernstein
B) Arturo Toscanini
C) Herbert von Karajan
D) Gustavo Dudamel
  • 10. What is Ned Rorem best known for?
A) His operas, which are widely performed.
B) His symphonies, which have won numerous awards.
C) His film scores, which are critically acclaimed.
D) His art songs, which number over 500.
  • 11. Which musical movement is Ned Rorem frequently described as a part of?
A) Neoromantic.
B) Modernist.
C) Expressionist.
D) Minimalist.
  • 12. Who were some of Ned Rorem's early music teachers?
A) Nuta Rothschild and Belle Tannenbaum.
B) Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud.
C) Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson.
D) Margaret Bonds and Leo Sowerby.
  • 13. Which composer's work inspired the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association?
A) Margaret Bonds.
B) Clarence Rufus Rorem.
C) Leo Sowerby.
D) Ned Rorem.
  • 14. What was Ned Rorem's lifelong partner's name?
A) Paul Goodman.
B) Rosemary.
C) Marie-Laure de Noailles.
D) James Holmes.
  • 15. Where did Ned Rorem teach from 1980 onwards?
A) The Paris Conservatory.
B) The American Conservatory of Music.
C) The Curtis Institute.
D) The University of Chicago.
  • 16. What is considered Ned Rorem's magnum opus?
A) Seven different commissions for the American Bicentennial.
B) Our Town.
C) Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra.
D) Evidence of Things Not Seen.
  • 17. Which award did Ned Rorem win for Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra?
A) The Academy Award for Best Original Score.
B) The Tony Award for Best Original Score.
C) The Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976.
D) The Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition.
  • 18. What was the last major work of Ned Rorem?
A) The opera Our Town.
B) Evidence of Things Not Seen.
C) Seven different commissions for the American Bicentennial.
D) Air Music: Ten Etudes for Orchestra.
  • 19. Which French composers influenced Ned Rorem's enthusiasm for French music?
A) Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud.
B) Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
C) Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky.
D) Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel.
  • 20. What was the cultural background of Ned Rorem's family?
A) Working-class with a strong Jewish emphasis.
B) Upper middle-class, semi-bohemian with a strong Quaker emphasis.
C) Upper-class with a strong Catholic emphasis.
D) Middle-class with a strong Protestant emphasis.
  • 21. What did Ned Rorem's father Clarence Rufus Rorem inspire?
A) The Curtis Institute.
B) The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
C) The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
D) The American Conservatory of Music.
  • 22. Who was Ned Rorem's first piano teacher who made a lasting impression?
A) Leo Sowerby.
B) Margaret Bonds.
C) Belle Tannenbaum.
D) Nuta Rothschild.
  • 23. Which composer's piano concerto did Ned Rorem perform as a youth?
A) Maurice Ravel.
B) Edvard Grieg.
C) Claude Debussy.
D) Igor Stravinsky.
  • 24. What was the name of the arts patron who hosted Ned Rorem in Paris?
A) Belle Tannenbaum.
B) Margaret Bonds.
C) Nuta Rothschild.
D) Marie-Laure de Noailles.
  • 25. Which group influenced Ned Rorem in Paris?
A) The Impressionists.
B) The Quakers.
C) Les Six.
D) The American Bicentennial.
  • 26. How many texts by how many writers did the song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen include?
A) 30 texts by 50 writers.
B) 50 texts by 30 writers.
C) 24 texts by 36 writers.
D) 36 texts by 24 writers.
  • 27. What was Ned Rorem's self-described religious identity?
A) Catholic.
B) Quaker atheist.
C) Jewish.
D) Protestant.
  • 28. What was the name of the school Ned Rorem attended in Chicago?
A) The American Conservatory of Music.
B) The Paris Conservatory.
C) The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
D) The Curtis Institute.
  • 29. Which future writer did Ned Rorem become friends with in his youth?
A) Paul Goodman.
B) Margaret Bonds.
C) Nuta Rothschild.
D) Leo Sowerby.
  • 30. What did Ned Rorem's mother Gladys Miller Rorem actively participate in?
A) The modernist aesthetic.
B) The Impressionist movement.
C) Antiwar movements and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
D) The American Bicentennial.
  • 31. Who were Ned Rorem's composition teachers at Northwestern University?
A) Alfred Nolte
B) Bernard Wagenaar
C) Gian Carlo Menotti
D) Rosario Scalero
  • 32. Under whom did Ned Rorem study piano at Northwestern University?
A) Harold Van Horne
B) Bernard Wagenaar
C) Alfred Nolte
D) Gian Carlo Menotti
  • 33. Which composer did Ned Rorem study orchestration with in New York?
A) Aaron Copland
B) Mishel Piastro
C) Virgil Thomson
D) Leonard Bernstein
  • 34. In what year did Ned Rorem transfer to the Curtis Institute of Music?
A) 1942
B) 1940
C) 1946
D) 1943
  • 35. Who did Ned Rorem study counterpoint under at Curtis Institute of Music?
A) Rosario Scalero
B) Bernard Wagenaar
C) Alfred Nolte
D) Gian Carlo Menotti
  • 36. What was the title of one of Ned Rorem's compositions premiered in 1943?
A) The Lordly Hudson
B) Piano Sonata for Four Hands
C) Overture in C
D) The 70th Psalm
  • 37. Why did Ned Rorem leave the Curtis Institute of Music?
A) He considered Rosario Scalero unprogressive
B) He wanted to study at Juilliard
C) He lost his allowance
D) He moved to New York
  • 38. Who was Ned Rorem's composition teacher at Juilliard School?
A) Alfred Nolte
B) Bernard Wagenaar
C) Gian Carlo Menotti
D) Rosario Scalero
  • 39. Which famous dancer did Ned Rorem work as a piano accompanist for?
A) Éva Gauthier
B) Isadora Duncan
C) Anna Pavlova
D) Martha Graham
  • 40. Which orchestra premiered Ned Rorem's 'Overture in C' in May 1948?
A) Boston Symphony Orchestra
B) Philadelphia Orchestra
C) Cleveland Orchestra
D) New York Philharmonic
  • 41. Who conducted the premiere of 'Overture in C'?
A) Mishel Piastro
B) Leonard Bernstein
C) Aaron Copland
D) Virgil Thomson
  • 42. In which year did Ned Rorem leave for France?
A) 1951
B) 1950
C) 1949
D) 1952
  • 43. Where did Ned Rorem spend much of his time after leaving for France in early 1949?
A) Morocco
B) Germany
C) Italy
D) Spain
  • 44. What did Ned Rorem say was the best influence for a composer?
A) Four walls
B) City life
C) Nature
D) Travel
  • 45. Which ballet by Ned Rorem won the Prix de Biarritz in 1951?
A) A Childhood Miracle
B) Ballet for Jerry
C) Melos
D) Dorian Gray
  • 46. Who premiered Ned Rorem's Symphony No. 1 in Vienna?
A) Jonathan Sternberg
B) Nadia Boulanger
C) Arthur Honegger
D) Julius Katchen
  • 47. In what year was Ned Rorem's first opera, A Childhood Miracle, premiered?
A) 1951
B) 1953
C) 1955
D) 1954
  • 48. Which award did Ned Rorem receive in 1950?
A) Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award
B) Fulbright Scholarship
C) Pulitzer Prize
D) Grammy Award
  • 49. Who did Ned Rorem study with in Paris?
A) Nadia Boulanger
B) Elliott Stein
C) Marie-Laure de Noailles
D) Arthur Honegger
  • 50. Which song cycle by Ned Rorem was dedicated to medieval French poems?
A) Poémes pour la paix
B) Cycle of Holy Songs
C) Flight for Heaven
D) To a Young Girl
  • 51. What year did a Paris concert feature solely Ned Rorem's compositions?
A) 1953
B) 1955
C) 1950
D) 1951
  • 52. Which of Ned Rorem's compositions premiered in 1954?
A) Symphony No. 1
B) Poémes pour la paix
C) A Childhood Miracle
D) Piano Concerto No. 2
  • 53. Who premiered Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto No. 2?
A) Jonathan Sternberg
B) Arthur Honegger
C) Nadia Boulanger
D) Julius Katchen
  • 54. Which composer from Les Six did Ned Rorem meet through Marie-Laure de Noailles?
A) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
B) Ludwig van Beethoven
C) Francis Poulenc
D) Johann Sebastian Bach
  • 55. What was the source of the text for Ned Rorem's song cycle 'To a Young Girl'?
A) Nathaniel Hawthorne
B) W. B. Yeats
C) Robert Herrick
D) George Darley
  • 56. Which of the following was not a composition by Ned Rorem during his time in Paris?
A) The Poet's Requiem
B) Ballet for Jerry
C) Piano Sonata No. 2
D) Symphony No. 3
  • 57. In which year did Rorem return to the US to further pursue composition?
A) 1955
B) 1965
C) 1960
D) 1957 or 1958
  • 58. Which orchestra premiered Rorem's 'Eagles' in 1959?
A) New York Philharmonic
B) Philadelphia Orchestra
C) Chicago Symphony Orchestra
D) Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • 59. Which opera by Rorem was not well received at its premiere in 1965?
A) Miss Julie
B) Eagles
C) Symphony No. 3
D) Poems of Love and Rain
  • 60. Which foundation did NOT commission Rorem?
A) Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation
B) Ford Foundation
C) Koussevitzky Foundation
D) Guggenheim Foundation
  • 61. How long did Rorem teach at the University of Buffalo?
A) 1960 to 1962
B) 1959 to 1960
C) 1965 to 1967
D) 1957 to 1958
  • 62. What did Rorem believe about teaching assignments lasting more than two years?
A) They lead to sterility
B) They are essential for growth
C) They enhance creativity
D) They are unnecessary
  • 63. When was 'Poems of Love and Rain' premiered?
A) April 12, 1965
B) April 12, 1964
C) April 12, 1963
D) April 12, 1966
  • 64. What was Rorem's struggle throughout the 1950s and 60s?
A) Depression
B) Addiction to drugs
C) Financial difficulties
D) Alcoholism
  • 65. What did Rorem say happened when a drop of wine touched his lips?
A) An infantile regression takes place
B) He felt a sense of peace
C) He felt a sense of guilt
D) He became more creative
  • 66. Which organization did Rorem attend meetings for?
A) Overeaters Anonymous
B) Gamblers Anonymous
C) Narcotics Anonymous
D) Alcoholics Anonymous
  • 67. What medication did Rorem use to help with his alcoholism?
A) Antabuse
B) Naltrexone
C) Acamprosate
D) Disulfiram
  • 68. What did Rorem's relationship with Holmes provide him?
A) Inspiration for new compositions
B) Stability to abandon alcohol
C) Financial support
D) A teaching position
  • 69. Where did Ned Rorem and Holmes buy a summer house in 1974?
A) Provincetown, Massachusetts
B) Boston, Massachusetts
C) Nantucket, Massachusetts
D) Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
  • 70. Which work by Wallace Stevens inspired Ned Rorem's 1977 orchestral suite?
A) Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
B) The Emperor of Ice-Cream
C) The Idea of Order at Key West
D) Sunday Morning
  • 71. In which year did Ned Rorem start teaching at the Curtis Institute?
A) 1993
B) 1980
C) 1974
D) 1985
  • 72. Who was one of Ned Rorem's students at the Curtis Institute?
A) Steve Reich
B) John Adams
C) Daron Hagen
D) Philip Glass
  • 73. For whom did Ned Rorem write the Piano Concerto No. 4 for Left Hand and Orchestra?
A) Yo-Yo Ma
B) Leonard Bernstein
C) Gary Graffman
D) Mstislav Rostropovich
  • 74. Which section of 'Evidence of Things Not Seen' concerns death?
A) Beginnings
B) Transitions
C) Ends
D) Middles
  • 75. Which section of 'Evidence of Things Not Seen' explores coming of age?
A) Transitions
B) Beginnings
C) Ends
D) Middles
  • 76. In which year did Ned Rorem become president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters?
A) 1990
B) 2003
C) 1995
D) 2000
  • 77. Which event inspired Ned Rorem's ten-part song cycle 'Aftermath'?
A) The September 11 attacks
B) The fall of the Berlin Wall
C) The end of World War II
D) The Vietnam War
  • 78. To whom were the 2002 concertos dedicated?
A) Aaron Copland
B) Thomas Schippers
C) Gustav Mahler
D) Leonard Bernstein
  • 79. What was the title of Ned Rorem's final work?
A) The Last Waltz
B) End of an Era
C) Final Symphony
D) Recalling Nadia
  • 80. At what age did Ned Rorem pass away?
A) 99
B) 75
C) 110
D) 85
  • 81. What did Rorem generally reject in his compositions?
A) Strict modernist aesthetics
B) Piano accompaniments
C) Song cycles
D) Tonal music
  • 82. To which poet did Rorem dedicate three song cycles?
A) Paul Goodman
B) Walt Whitman
C) Theodore Roethke
D) John Ashbery
  • 83. What language did Rorem criticize American colleagues for prioritizing over English in song settings?
A) German
B) Other languages
C) Italian
D) French
  • 84. Which of the following is NOT a poet whose works Rorem set to music?
A) Emily Dickinson
B) Sylvia Plath
C) Wallace Stevens
D) Witter Bynner
  • 85. What technique does Rorem sometimes use in his piano accompaniments?
A) Minimalism
B) Renaissance-derived ground bass
C) Aleatoric music
D) Serialism
  • 86. Which composer's songs did Rorem name as a particular favorite?
A) Bach
B) Stravinsky
C) Mozart
D) Schumann
  • 87. Which of the following poets is NOT mentioned as having works set by Rorem?
A) Frank O'Hara
B) Kenneth Koch
C) Robert Frost
D) Alfred, Lord Tennyson
  • 88. In what year was Ned Rorem's full-length opera 'Miss Julie' first written?
A) 2005
B) 1994
C) 1965
D) 1979
  • 89. Who wrote the libretto for 'Miss Julie'?
A) Ned Rorem
B) August Strindberg
C) Kenward Elmslie
D) Thornton Wilder
  • 90. What was unique about the opera 'The Anniversary'?
A) It was performed in 1961.
B) It was based on a Chaucer tale.
C) It was based on the serialist tone row.
D) It was written by Kenneth Koch.
  • 91. What is the title of the opera based on La Fontaine's Fables?
A) Three Sisters who are Not Sisters
B) Hearing
C) Bertha
D) Fables
  • 92. Which librettist collaborated with Rorem on 'Three Sisters who are Not Sisters'?
A) Jascha Kessler
B) Stein
C) Holmes
D) Kenneth Koch
  • 93. Which opera by Rorem was never performed?
A) Miss Julie
B) Our Town
C) The Anniversary
D) The Robbers
  • 94. What is the narrative style of 'Our Town'?
A) Elaborate
B) Condensed
C) Extended
D) Fragmented
  • 95. Which opera by Rorem was based on Chaucer's 'The Pardoner's Tale'?
A) Bertha
B) The Robbers
C) Miss Julie
D) Our Town
  • 96. Which critic noted that 'Our Town' deserves bigger stages?
A) Joshua Barone
B) Harold C. Schonberg
C) Kenneth Koch
D) Thornton Wilder
  • 97. Which opera by Rorem was written in 1968?
A) The Anniversary
B) Bertha
C) Fables
D) The Robbers
  • 98. Which opera by Rorem was based on a libretto by Holmes?
A) The Robbers
B) Fables
C) The Anniversary
D) Hearing
  • 99. During which decade were Ned Rorem's three numbered symphonies composed?
A) 1970s
B) 1950s
C) 1960s
D) 1940s
  • 100. What did David Hurwitz compare the melodies in Rorem's symphonies to?
A) Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
B) Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
C) Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë
D) Mozart's Requiem
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