This page contains a brief overview on the album DENNIS RUFF: In Winter. Learn more about the artist and explore the track lists and website. If you find any information that needs to be corrected, please let us know.

 
IN Winter may be seen as a companion CD to my L.A. FRAMES OF MIND CD from 2004 in that it continues, and extends, the earlier CD's preoccupation with suggesting musically what it feels like to me to live and compose in Southern California.

When I say that IN WINTER "extends" this preoccupation, I mean that the focus, or point of view, has shifted: Whereas L.A. FRAMES contains pieces that, on the one hand, are specific to small geographical areas in the L.A. Basin, it also contains pieces that are not site specific, but carry, instead, a sense of psychological environment.

IN WINTER takes a much more expansive look at Southern California: With the exception of the final piece, the "New Year's Eve Postlude," the two Concerti and the Suite that comprise the three major works on the CD suggest a hot air ballon view -- from the Pacific Coast to the mountains inland, as well as the wide L.A. Basin in between.

As anybody is aware who has watched on TV the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena on New Year's Day, winter in Southern California is, to understate, rather more pleasant than winter in most of the rest of the U.S.

What may not be apparent to those whose knowledge of the region is limited to what they see on TV on January 1st is that one may -- (and some residents do every New Year's Day) -- travel from the Pacific Coast by car across the L.A. Basin and into the snow covered mountains to the east in a few hours: Breakfast and a walk on the beach in the morning; lunch and skiing in the afternoon.

In short, then, IN WINTER is this composer's musical travelog of Southern California -- starting from the coast, traversing the L.A. Basin, arriving at the ski slopes, and concluding with a happy, if somewhat drowsy, New Year's Eve.

Check out the artist's website:
http://www.geocities.com/~ruffrafter

Track List:
1. Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Piano & Strings -- Winter Sea Mvt. I
2. Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Piano & Strings -- Winter Sea Mvt. II
3. Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Piano & Strings -- Winter Sea Mvt. II
4. Concerto for Guitar, Strings & Percussion Mvt. I
5. Concerto for Guitar, Strings & Percussion Mvt. II
6. Concerto for Guitar, Strings & Percussion Mvt. III
7. Concerto for Guitar, Strings & Percussion Mvt. IV
8. Suite for Harp, Bassoon,Trumpet, etc.--Winter Mountains Mvt. I
9. Suite for Harp, Bassoon,Trumpet, etc.--Winter Mountains Mvt. II
10. Suite for Harp, Bassoon,Trumpet, etc.--Winter Mountains Mvt. III
11. Postlude for Saxophone, Piano, Strings, etc. -- New Year's Eve

Other Genres:

• ELECTRONIC: Virtual Orchestra
• CLASSICAL: Contemporary
• TYPE: INSTRUMENTAL