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