Claus Ogerman Symphonic Dances and Some Times Ballet
Claus Ogerman was one of the most prolific and in-demand arrangers/orchestrators for some of the most iconic artists of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s he mostly devoted himself to serious composition. Two of his major achievements during that time included Symphonic Dances (1971) and his ballet score Some Times (1972), and they remain two of his greatest works. Symphonic Dances is a beautiful, textured, and haunting work that does exactly what Ogerman intended – stirs the emotions. Its moods and orchestral colors are hypnotic and mesmerizing. It’s like a film score to whatever film plays across your mind as you listen. Some Times, a ballet score for large orchestra and jazz group, was commissioned by the American Ballet Theatre. The world premiere took place on July 14, 1972 at the New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center. The combining of symphonic music, jazz, and even a bit of rock, was fairly unique in the ballet world of 1972 and Ogerman did a masterful job of it. In 1977 he reworked Some Times and in so doing came up with a hit album, an instant classic, Gate of Dreams. In its pre-Gate of Dreams form, it’s a little leaner but just as evocative and beautiful. As with Symphonic Dreams, you can imagine this being a soundtrack to some movie of your own imagining. These performances were first issued on CD back in 1992 on Bay Cities. Over the years that CD has become quite the collector’s item, so we thought it was high time to reissue it again and give it a fresh and wonderful mastering, to celebrate the brilliance that was Claus Ogerman, who passed away in 2016 at the age of eighty-five.
Claus Ogerman  (Artist, Composer, Conductor),     The New York Studio Symphony Orchestra  (Orchestra)    Format: Audio CD
{"Manufacturer": "Kritzerland", "Date First Available": "October 6, 2017", "Label": "Kritzerland"}