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Article: Setting the tone: essays and a diary.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- July 13, 1984
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1984 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Passages like these have been exasperating readers ever since the Rorem diaries began to appear in print back in 1966. Nor has Mr. Rorem changed all that much with the passing of time, judging by the evidence of his new collection, Setting the Tone: Essays and a Diary. Having reached the improbably ripe old age of sixty, he still feels called upon to share with us those famous, self-serving little vignettes:
Thirty-two years ago . . . I approached John Latouche with the words: "I'm [Virgil Thomson's] copyist, and I just made the parts for his Second String Quartet which is dedicated to you."
"Really?" said John. "I didn't know people who looked like ...