Dennis Ruff
L.A. Frames of Mind
© 2004 Dot's Eye (634479050862)
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To the composer, the music on this CD reflects the better nature of Southern California. It is contemporary classical in style, somewhat jazz inflected, cool and urbane.
tracks
- 1 Variations for Piano & Percussion, Spring - 1st mv.
- 2 Variations for Piano & Percussion, Spring - 2nd mv.
- 3 Variations for Piano & Percussion, Spring - 3rd mv.
- 4 Trio for Flute, Guitar & Celesta - Descanso Gardens
- 5 Trio for Flute, Guitar & Celesta - Griffith Park
- 6 Trio for Flute, Guitar & Celesta - Echo Park
- 7 Sonata for Harp & Percussion - Metropolis
- 8 Sonata for Harp & Percussion - Elysian Heights
- 9 Sonata for Harp & Percussion - Silverlake
- 10 Child's Play Suite for Oboe & Piano - On the Beach
- 11 Child's Play Suite for Oboe & Piano - Little Funeral for Spats t
- 12 Child's Play Suite for Oboe & Piano - Running with the Dogs
- 13 Summer Night for Flute, Oboe, Harp & Piano
- 14 Black Water Flashing for Two Harps
- 15 Three Women Suite for Chamber Ensemble - Arrival of Queen Cleo
- 16 Three Women Suite for Chamber Ensemble - Enter Ophelia
- 17 Three Women Suite for Chamber Ensemble - Dance of Salome
- 18 Variations on Themes of Myaskovksy for Harp & Piano
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albums you will love
- DENNIS RUFF: Concerto for Two Pianos, etc.
- DENNIS RUFF: Entrances and Exits
- DENNIS RUFF: Before the Law, etc.
- DENNIS RUFF: In Winter
- DENNIS RUFF: Baroque Redux
- DENNIS RUFF: 24 Preludes for Piano, etc.
- DENNIS RUFF: At Play
- DENNIS RUFF: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-4
- DENNIS RUFF: Works for Two Pianos
genres you will love
By Location
Recommended if you like ...
notes
All of the music on this CD was composed in Los Angeles in the last five years; and I have collected these works together because they are all, to one degree or another, site-specific. All of the music on this CD has something else in common: It is upbeat and unusually easy on the ear for contemporary classically-oriented compositions.
The TRIO FOR FLUTE, GUITAR & CELESTA, the SONATA FOR HARP & PERCUSSION, and BLACK WATER FLASHING are intended as portraits (and celebrations) of parks and residential areas within a few miles northeast for downtown Los Angeles. The VARIATIONS FOR PIANO & PERCUSSION, "SPRING," the CHILD'S PLAY SUITE FOR OBOE & PIANO, and SUMMER NIGHT FOR FLUTE, OBOE, HARP & PIANO do not carry geographical titles. Still, to my mind, this music is quintessentially Southern Californian. But if these works remind you of Waterloo, Iowa and Vero Beach, Florida (for example) that's perfectly OK with me.
I confess that when I composed the THREE WOMEN SUITE in 1999, I had in mind three legenday women -- Cleopatra, Ophelia and Salome. But when I revisited the scores five years later in putting together this CD, the sometime jazz inflected nature of the music led me to think of them in terms of now. You will find in the NOTES ON THE MUSIC included in the CD elaborations of who these women might be in terms of contemporary L.A.
Finally, the themes in VARIATIONS ON THEMES OF MYASKOVSKY are from Myaskovsky's Twenty-First Symphony from l940, a work for which I have a particular fondness. Having composed my VARIATIONS for solo piano in 1999, I rewrote it for harp & piano on receiving the news in March, 2004, of the death in L.A. of a friend -- Paul Winfield, the actor. The revised work is dedicated to his memory, and provides a fitting conclusion, I believe, to this CD of L.A. portraits.
reviews
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- author: Irena Raulinaitis
A new CD by Dennis Ruff is a welcome addition to any collection. The works, for different combinations of instruments, all share a fascination for inventive rhythms, a reference to the greater Los Angeles area as well as revealing the inner life of the composer. To the listener this music is easily approachable, painterly, impressionistic. Interestingly, on careful listening, the music is extremely complicated. It works both ways. The choice of instruments for each piece underscores the theme or subject of the work. The harps in "Black Water Flashing" paint a picture of water ripples flickering by lamp-light. The oboe solo in "Summer Night" is a perfect depiction of a moonrise in a cloudless sky, and the flute, of a slinky Ophelia in the "Three Women Suite". The piano and harp, both percussive instruments intertwining in the "Variations on Themes by Myaskowsky", convey the memories and the sadness at the loss of a friend.