Time magazine called Ned Rorem (b. 1923) “the world’s best composer of art songs.” Jim Holmes, Rorem’s partner of thirty-two years, was the inspiration for the majority of the pieces in Piano Album I, composed between 1978 and 2001. Each piece professes love or devotion. Rorem ensured that each piece fit onto a single page so that he could brightly decorate it and frame it, before presenting it to Jim or another dedicatee. He incorporated many of these pieces into other works. Six Friends is similar set (2006-2007). All of these miniatures are gentle. The overall feeling is serene calm, the perfect antidote to a stressful day. Rorem uses delicate chromatic dissonance, but his music has a sumptuous, elegant feel. Pianist Carolyn Enger plays in a manner highly sympathetic to the delicate phrasing these pieces require.