Ned Rorem Quotes

Everything I do is very visual and very aural, so I don't read music, and I draw as much as I write out lyrics.

It is easy to write unthinking music.

An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture.

Music comes to me more readily than words.

Songs seem to always spring from improvisation.

Artists can no more speak about their work, than plants can speak about horticulture.

Oh yes, much, because music is just something that comes to you. You don't question it.

I love originating shows and originating songs - there is nothing better than being the first one to get to do a song.

I can't legislate a song into being; it just will not happen for me.

No, no, the songs write themselves, almost.

You know, as you compose music, you're just off in your own world. You have no idea where reality is, so to have an idea of what people think is pretty hard.

It's hard to know exactly what it sounds like to me. I'm in the studio and I write it. and that's it.

With music, it feels natural that, in my head, I can pull things apart and then put them back together very quickly.

I just start playing music and eventually I sing something, a line of a verse or a B section or a line of a chorus, and the line that I end up singing is related to the music I'm playing, if that makes any sense. And I go from there.

Composers shouldn't think too much - it interferes with their plagiarism.

I never think about rhythm versus melody; I've always just played to what's in my head.

Sometimes I'll come up with a lick that I really love, and I'll try to put the right words to it for years. Suddenly something comes to me that works just right.

If I try to write a song, I will completely fail to write a song. But if I'm just holding my guitar and I just start humming, then I'll have a song in an hour.

Whatever I hear in my head is what I play.

I think all art - if it's good - is a result of really trying to create something that you can't put into words. Where language ends is where good art begins.

Watching David write was inspiring to me. He was at his most content composing. Music floated from his mind and fingertips. He would strum the 11 strings on his 12-string Harptone guitar and wander to the piano and play a few bars, then off to forage for rice pudding in the kitchen.

I try to imagine what the greatest song I could ever write would sound like, and then try to do it.

Being honest and spontaneous is important when making music. But I'm also really logical when I compose.

You're always thinking about making new music.

I feel like when I get into most rooms, melodies come really easily to me, and they sound good in my head. I never really know until I hear the song back and it's finished if it actually is good.