Claus Ogerman, 16 yrs. old
(passport photo)
Claus Ogerman, 16 yrs. old
(passport photo)
Born: April 29, 1930 - Ratibor,
Prussia
Claus Ogerman is known for being a composer,
conductor, and arranger today. But he began his career with the
piano. After composing for a number of German films, he relocated to
New York in 1959. In the early 1960s, he became musical director for
the Verve record label, arranging albums by Antonio
Carlos Jobim, Kai
Winding, and others. Later on he
and Creed Taylor (Verve Producer) joined the A&M label where
Claus continued to work with Tom Jobim and others. The list of
artists that Claus Ogerman has arranged and conducted for has grown
steadily since that time to include Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra, Astrud
Gilberto, João Gilberto, Bobby
Rosengarden, and many more.
=======================================
German arranger/conductor/composer Claus Ogerman (born 1930 in Ratibor, Prussia - which was then a German state - now is part of Poland) has been widely-admired for five decades for his large orchestra arrangements of often brooding unison strings. His many strings often blossom into a sumptuous harmony highlighted by soloing flutes. He is best known for his brilliant and unparalleled arrangements of Brazillian music on a series of Antonio Carlos Jobim albums nearly the polar opposite of his traditional European classical music training. Ogerman also arranged Jobim's compositions on the acclaimed 1967 album "Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim". Many lament that Sinatra failed to use Ogerman again (while searching for arrangers for the rest of his career) when one hears his outstanding arrangements behind Sinatra singing the American popular song classics "I Concentrate on You" and "Baubles, Bangles and Beads".
In the 1950's, Ogerman worked in Germany as an arranger-pianist with Kurt Edelhagen and with Max Greger. In 1959, he moved to New York City to begin an arranging career as light classical music interest started to rapidly decline. Despite being immediately saddled with lesser arranging assignments in a fast-changing American music business, he firmly established himself in the recording studios with his versatile skills such that his work is still heard in commercials, elevators and recordings of all types. In 1963 he joined Creed Taylor's Verve/MGM Records, working on recordings by Jobim, Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, Kai Winding and Cal Tjader. Taylor sold Verve Records and brought Ogerman over to arrange Jobim's Wave on his new CTI label. Ogerman later worked on albums by Oscar Peterson, Nelson Riddle (his favorite orchestrator) and others at the German MPS label. His other collaborations include work with Benny Goodman, Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Joao Donato, Betty Carter, Leslie Gore and Michael Franks. Ogerman arranged best selling albums for Connie Francis and The Drifters. He has written jazz charts for Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, and Stanley Turrentine, among others. He has composed for many German films as well. He greatly regrets missing Glenn Gould's request to play on the arrangements he did for Barbara Streisand's "Classical Barbra" album.
In 1976, Jobim gave Ogerman the back side of his "Urubu" LP to exclusively feature his strings while Bill Evans similarly allowed Ogerman great latitude on his albums. Ogerman's piano-playing, which included early work with Chet Baker, can be heard to great affect on Jobim's best album "Terra Brasilis" (1980), featuring his masterful reworking of his arrangements from Jobim's 1960's American albums, highlighted by "Double Rainbow".
After many Grammy nominations over the years, Ogerman won the 1979 Grammy for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental Recording - George Benson's "Soulful Strut" Living Inside Your Love. He also solidified the jazz guitarist's pop vocal career with his arrangments on Benson's hugely selling album "Breezin'". George Benson's producer Tommy LiPuma the then helped him take highlights from his ballet 'Some Times' to create his song-suite album 'Gate Of Dreams' featuring his own orchestra, George Benson, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker and others. LiPuma later also produced Ogerman's excellent album "Cityscape". After producing the Benson and Ogerman albums for Warner Brothers, LiPuma took Ogerman to Dave Grusin's GRP label to produce the 1991 album "Claus Ogerman featuring Michael Brecker".
Unlike many arrangers who became better known when touring and appearing on television with big-name singers, Ogerman's intricate, large orchestra arrangements could usually only be afforded in the recording studio. Until the 1970's, Ogerman's large-scale orchestrations were almost always reduced to backing other artists of widely-varying talents and types of music at a time when only hit-composing arrangers (with more marketing-friendly names) could cost-effectively record their own albums in a country lacking subsidized light music orchestras and productions. Ogerman even hinted that the vast majority of his 1960's and 1970's work was quite unsatisfying.
Since the 1970's, Claus has devoted himself almost exclusively to serious compositions. His commissions and projects include a ballet score for the American Ballet Theatre (Some Times), a work for jazz piano and orchestra (Symbiosis) for Bill Evans, a work for saxophone and orchestra (Cityscape, which includes Symphonic Dances) for Michael Brecker, a song cycle (Tagore-Lieder) after poems by Rabindranath Tagore that was recorded by Met soprano Judith Blegen and mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender, Concerto Lirico and Sarabande-Fantasie for violin and orchestra that was recorded by Aaron Rosand, 10 Songs for Chorus A-Capella After Poems by Georg Heym that was recorded by the Cologne Radio Chorus, a work for violin and orchestra (Preludio and Chant recorded by world-renowned violinist Gideon Kremer), and many more.
Update, September 2001: After 20 years away
from jazz and popular music, Diana Krall coaxes Claus to arrange and
conduct the London Symphony Orchestra on her best-selling album "The
Look of Love". Now enjoy seeing Claus conduct on Diana's DVD "Live in
Paris". Ogerman's major influences remain Max Reger and
Alexander Scriabin. He steadfastly maintains that he is not primarily
concerned with "modernism" per se - his goal is to evoke emotional
response in the listener. Let's hope Maestro Ogerman excites us by
returning on his own terms to the light orchestral music now afforded
by today's retro music trend.
By Alan Watts
[from Robert Farnon Society (incl. Percy
Faith)]
Here is a list of the films that Claus
Ogerman is responsible for either scoring,
arranging some music for or providing individual song titles for:
(in reverse chronological
order)
[2004 movie poster]
Sideways
(2004) (USA) - Directed
by Alexander Payne; comedy; runtime: 123 min., color, made in USA,
language: English. (Starred Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church.)
Six minutes of Claus Ogerman's "Symbiosis" work (as performed by Bill
Evans) is used in this film. For legal reasons, this work was
not included in the CD soundtrack available for this film.
[Original 1964 movie poster]
Looking For
Love (1964) (USA) - Directed
by Don Weis; musical; runtime: 85 min., color, made in USA, language:
English. (Starred Connie Francis and also had Johnny Carson, George
Hamilton & Danny Thomas playing themselves.) Claus Ogerman is an
uncredited arranger for some of the music in this film.
Other artwork from "Looking For Love":
[VHS package, U.S. (year unknown)]
The Playgirls and the
Bellboy (1962) (USA) [alternate
title is The Bellboy
and the Playgirls (1962) (USA)]
-
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola & Jack Hill (Comedy); runtime:
93 min., color, made in USA, language: English.
Score by Claus Ogerman.
Bellboymovie-info.pdf
- A capsule synopsis of the film's plot [IN ENGLISH].
Ein Sommer, den man nie
vergißt (1959) (Germany)
[alternate title is
Ich Liess Mein Herz
Am Wörthersee] - Directed
by Werner Jacobs (Genre not known); 91 min., color, made in West
Germany, language: German. Film score by Willy Mattes;
title song of picture "Ein Sommer, den man nie vergißt"
written by Klaus Ogermann.
[Above left: German poster advertising the film listed below;
above right: UK/US poster advertising the same film!]
[Above: Front cover of the German movie program from the below
listed film. The man on the right is actor Sieghart Rupp (still
Tommy Rupp when he played in that movie). Kai Fischer is seen on the
left.]
The below images of this film are from a promo given to moviegoers:
Mädchen für die Mambo-Bar
(1959) (Germany) [alternate
title is Girls for
the Mambo-Bar (1959) (UK) and $100 a Night (U.S.)] -
Directed by Wolfgang Glück (Crime-thriller); 85 minutes;
black and white, mono sound, made in West Germany, language:
German. Film contains the song "Willenlos", composed by Klaus Ogermann. Special Note: this film is considered to be X-Rated and pornographic by at least one website.
[Original 1958 movie poster, Germany]
Du gehörst mir [aka "Your Body Belongs To Me" - USA title, "Ton corps m'appartient" - France title] (1959) - Directed by Wilm Ten Haaf (Psycho-thriller); 87 minutes; black and white, sound presumed to be mono, made in West Germany, language: German. Score for this film composed by Klaus Ogermann. A remake of this film was broadcast decades later for television in Germany. It is not known whether the original score was retained for the television remake.
[A promo piece given to moviegoers of the film]
Alle Sünden dieser Erde (also known as All The Sins of the Earth) (1958)
- Directed by Fritz Umgeiter (Drama); 108 minutes (99 minutes France);
black and white, mono sound, made in West Germany, language:
German. Score for this film composed by Klaus Ogermann.
Mit Eva fing die Sünde
an (1958) (Germany) [alternate
title is Sin Begins
with Eve (1958)
(International)] - Directed by Fritz Umgelter (Genre not known);
runtime: 85 min., black and white, made in West Germany, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
[Original 1958 movie poster for "Bimbo the Great", Germany]
Rivalen der
Manege (1958) (Germany)
[alternate title is
Bimbo the Great
(1961) (USA)] - Directed by Harald
Philipp (Drama, circus story); runtime: 96 min., color, mono sound,
made in West Germany, language: German. Score by Klaus
Ogermann and Theo Mackeben. Video cover above only credits
Mackeben; the film itself credits both composers.
Seine Hoheit war ein
Mädchen (1958)
(Germany) - Directed by Rudolf Schundler (Genre not known)
runtime not known; made in Austria, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Liebe, Mädchen und Soldaten
(1958) (Germany) - Directed by Franz Antel (Genre not known) runtime
106 min., color, mono sound; made in Austria, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Die Prinzessin von St.
Wolfgang (1957) (Germany) -
Directed by Harald Reinl (Drama)
runtime 90 min., color, mono sound, made in West Germany, language:
German. Filmed in Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France;
Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France; St. Wolfgang, Upper Austria, Austria. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Die-prinzessin.pdf
- a review of the above film [IN
GERMAN].
[VHS package, Germany (year unknown)]
Die Unschuld vom
Lande (1957) (Germany) - Directed
by Rudolf Schundler (Comedy); runtime 86 minutes, released on VHS
(PAL system) in July 1991, made in West Germany, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Eine Verrückte Familie (1957) (Germany) [alternate title is Heute blau und morgen blau (Germany)] - Directed by Harald
Philipp (Comedy); runtime 88 minutes, color (with mono sound track) made in West Germany,
language: German. Score by Klaus Ogermann and Walter
Brandin.
Ich war ihm
hörig (1957) (Germany)
[alternate title is
I Was All
His (USA)] - Directed by
Wolfgang Becker (Genre not known); runtime not known; black and
white, mono sound, made in West Germany, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Liebe, wie die Frau sie
wünscht (1957) (Germany) -
Directed by Wolfgang Becker (Genre not known); runtime not known;
black and white, made in West Germany, language:
German. Score by Klaus Ogermann.
Weißer
Holunder (1957) (Germany)
[alternate title is
White
Elder (1957)] - Directed by
Paul May (Comedy); runtime 85 minutes; color, mono sound, made in
West Germany, language: German. Score by Klaus
Ogermann.
[German VHS package, released July 30, 1991]
Siebenmal in der Woche (1957)
(Germany) - Directed by Harald Philipp (musical/romance); runtime is 91
min; color film with mono sound. Made in West
Germany, language: German. Contains three songs sung by
film star Vico Torriani and arranged/conducted by Klaus Ogermann:
"Siebenmal in der
Woche", "Ananas aus Caracas" and "Heute lacht der Sonnenschein".
This movie had three working titles while in production: Heimat; In dich ist alle Welt verliebt; Jedes Herz sehnt sich nach Liebe.
Das alte
Försterhaus (1956) (Germany) [translated title is
The Old House of the
Forester ] - Directed by Harald Philipp (musical/romance); runtime is 92 min. color film with mono sound. Made in West
Germany, language: German.
According
to the information found at the following [former] link, Klaus Ogermann composed
the entire score for this film and not just one song for it (which was
what was previously thought): http://people.freenet.de/joachim.h.hinz/foersterhaus.html
This
link is now dead and not working during the last link check made by
this Webmaster; it is only included here for historical research
purposes.
FILMOGRAPHY:
Claus Ogerman 
