Three Minutes With Ned for tenor and piano
Verse I - Finally Verse II - But I've heard... Verse III - The Paris weather for the occassion of Ned Rorem's 90th. birthday
Kurt Rohde Ripley Dog Face Music
I studied with Ned Rorem at Curtis from 1986-1988. To this day, I still consider his concise advice, which seemed as appropriate to my music then, as it does now: Less is more, except when more is more. Our last lesson was the best composition lesson I ever had with anyone. Many thanks to David Ludwig and Jonathan Holland for including me in this celebration. -K.R.
Verse I - Finally Finally heard Liberace. Extraordinary, his fingerwork! He plays all the right notes wrong. (from New York Diary, Spring, 1956) Verse II - But I've heard... But I've heard nightingales sing and it's not so beautiful as all that. (from Paris Diary, Marrakech, Morocco, January-February, 1952) Verse III - The Paris weather The Paris weather, pale as death, continues as in January though July is nearly here. Everyone talks of the Rosenbergs. Hot and cloudy. Yes, the Rosenbergs were electrocuted. (from Paris Diary, 1953)
Performance Notes This song is in three brief parts; each part is a verse using short excerpts from the New York and Paris Diaries of Ned Rorem. The three verses are to be played without pause; they are connected with one another in tempo by way of a metric modulation.
Verse I - Finally Startled, revealing, barely containing one's glee q = 92 - 96 very long fremata cresc. suddenly at the end non vib. vib. fpp f
Tenor Solo
U U 3 ≈bœ^ ™ ˙ &4 ‹ Fi -
non vib. fpp
f
œ bœ ‰
Œ
3 4 œ bœ œ b>˙ ™ 4
Œ
nal - ly,
3 4
Fi - nal -ly heard
Startled, revealing, barely containing one's glee q = 92 - 96 a tempo
^r nœ
^r bœ
U > 3 b˙ ™ &4
œ bœ
œœ
œnœ
>˙
œ accel. a tempo bœœ œœ œœ œœ œœ >œœ 3 4
bœbœ 44 œœœ
nœ œ
7
sub. 6 5 p lightly accent upper notes
molto f Piano
U ∑
{
? 43
‰ bœ
ff
f
4 4
j bœ
bœ
sub. pp
3 4 w ø
°
suddenly flat, mechanical, perfectly rhythmic, as if echoing vowels during warm-up
= vib. poco f molto legato
non vib. fpp
4
f T. Solo
. 3 bœ ™ bœ ™ bœ ™ œ™ &4 ‹ Li - be - ra - ce.
Œ
‰ Ex
^r œ
3 <b>˙˙ &4
œ bœ 2 bœ œ œ^ œ -œ ™ 21 4 16
bœ
œœ nœbœ bœ œnœ #œbœ œ œ 5
^r bœ œœ
6
Pno. p
tra - or - di - na - ry(ee)
-
(aa)
3
2 4
œ œ bœ œ > f
21 16 ˙
œ
{
? 43
‰ <b> ˙
œ ø
‰
bœ
j nœ ø>
2 4
21 16 ˙
vib. seductive 3
o 7
T. Solo
21 b-œ ™ -œ ™ -œ ™ -œ ™ -œ ™ -œ ™ -œ ™ 3 b-œ ™ -œ ˙ & 16 J J J J J J J 4 ‹ (ee) (ii) (oo) (uu) (aa) (ee) (ii) (oo) (uu)
˙™
^r ‰ ™ 43 #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œnœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ gently
21 & 16 ˙™
Ϫ 5
6
f sub. ppp
ppp Pno.
œ™ # œ œ # œ
œ œ
{
? 21 16 ˙™
‰ ™ 43 Œ °
Ϫ
‰™
Œ
pp
ø
= languid p
10
mp T. Solo
nœ
∑
& ‹
#œ ‰
œ œ his
œ
#˙
He
plays
‰
fin - ger - work!
^r ^r 6 5 nœ bœ 5 & #œœœœœœ#œœœœ œ œ œœ #œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œœ# œ œ œ#œœœœnœ #œœ œ œœœœn œ œ 6 5
Pno.
sub. f ppp
<#> ˙
-Ϫ
{
?
mf
œ
œ™ bœ œ #œ
œ
pp
œ™ #œ œ
≈
pp mp
ø
ø
= 13
mp gently T. Solo
& œ™ ‹ all
#œ ™
Ϫ
œ #œ ˙
the
right
notes
perfectly in time - a full whisper, not spoken at all; almost punative piu pp < h = h > f j œ
2 4
Œ
¿.
[attacca]
wrong.
“” n œœ nn# œœœ. œ 3 œ œ J 42 & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™ bœ œ bbœœ ™ œ œ
< h = h >
∑
3
Pno.
ppp mp ppp
{
2 4
? b˙™
b˙™ “‘
∑
abruptly stop playing and lift pedal [attacca] immediately before "wrong"
Verse II - But I've heard... 4
Still, hovering, haphazardly precise h = 46 - 48 16
T. Solo
∑
& ‹
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
∑
3 8
∑
n œœ. bœ 2 3 8 ‰ ‰ ™™ 4
∑
2 4
Still, hovering, haphazardly precise h = 46 - 48
“œ”.
“œ”. ‰Œ
&
ppp
. Œ œ œ ™™ nœbœœ ∑ œœ œœ ™™™™ R
‰Œ
“” # œœœ. ‰ Œ
∑
j œ pp
Pno. ppp pp
ppp
p
{
?
∑
Œ
∑
∑
bœ ˙
‰ Œ b œ. “‘
=
∑
∑
3‰ ‰ 2 œœ 4 œ-
&8
molto p nervous, miniature chirping
poco sfz
25 6
T. Solo
2 &4 ∑ ‹ “”. œ 2 &4 Œ
∑
3 8
∑
2 4 Œ “” # œœœ. 2 ‰ 4
∑
b œ^. ‰ ‰™ Œ
3 8
∑
∑
≈ œ œ œ œ œ ≈œ œ œ œ œ Œ -. . -. . -. -. . -. . v. But I, But I, But But I, But I, But
Œ
∑
“”. . . . ^. œœœœœ ∑ ? 83 Œ j & 42 ‰ 6 b œ. p sfz “‘ °
Pno.
6
ppp
{
2 &4
∑
∑
‰
Œ bb>œœœ mf °
= poco fp
longingly
31
T. Solo
& ‹
pp
∑
∑
‰ œ™ v But “œ”.
. œ ‰ Œ 83
˙
&
∑
‰ Œ
2 4
∑
I've
nœj
∑
∑
∑
∑
“” . œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ^. ™ n œ. b œ. œ 3 2 8Œ J 4≈ 7
pp Pno.
p
{
& <b><b>˙˙˙
˙˙˙
˙˙˙
˙˙˙
˙˙˙
3 8 œœœ ™™
2 4 ˙˙˙
sfz pp