 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: MJSmith
Date: 2007-12-16 00:07
Raga Music for Solo Clarinet by John Mayer is another piece I am trying to find. I will be performing "Vibhasa" (aka. Sunrise) which is the 3rd movement in his book of Ragas. I've got the notes down, but I want to try to figure out what direction I should take it (i.e. bending pitches--making the clarinet emulate a sitar, etc...etc...)... With this type of work, I guess he leaves it up to the performer, but a recording will at least help spark an interest and steer me in some directions.
Any help you can give will be appreciated!
California State University, Fresno
B.A., Music Education - (c/o 2008)
Post Edited (2007-12-16 00:10)
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Author: Larry
Date: 2007-12-16 06:15
As far as recordings go, while I'm not familiar with John Mayer's composition, I would recommend checking out recordings by Indian master wind players like the legendary Bismillah Khan (double reed shenai) , North Indian bansuri flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia, or Kadri Gopalnath who has adapted the saxophone to magical effect in South Indian classical music. Perhaps you may find some inspiration there. As far as sitar goes, I have to say that I was fortunate enough to have seen Ravi Shankar (with daughter Anoushka) in San Francisco in early November of this year. At age 87 Ravi was sounding as amazing as ever.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2007-12-16 16:37
John Mayer gave us world music lectures whilst I was at the Birmingham Connservatoire. He was a very interesting fellow and I asked him once about the pieces. He told me to be as free as you like, that's what Jack Brymer did when he played them and that is what a raga is really, improvisation. Also to play them as clarinet music and let it speak for itself. I understood from that that you don't need really understanding of Indian Music. All you need to know is what it says, Morning Raga, Afternoon Raga and Evening Raga. I don't know if he is still at the Birmingham Conservatoire but I know he wouldn't mind you getting in touch with him.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: James Langdell
Date: 2007-12-16 17:23
Sadly, I see an obituary for John Mayer, who died in 2004:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,12723,1168517,00.html
As to advice on working on the pieces... For each movement, extract the scale of the raga that is the basis of that movement. That set of notes is stated very directly at some point in most of the movements. For example, in "Vibhasa (Sunrise)", look at the last line. Get comfortable playing and improvising within that set of notes to appreciate what is expressed in Mayer's specific "improvisation" within that musical material.
Also, look up further information related to the raga that is the title of each movement. Try to hear other performances based on the same raga.
--James Langdell
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Author: kilo
Date: 2007-12-16 17:37
Is the published music available in the USA? Did a cursory search (raga music solo clarinet john mayer) and got a lot of hits but didn't see sheet music for sale anywhere. It sounds interesting.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2007-12-16 17:47
Ah, didn't know he had died. What a shame. I have the part, i'll look it up to see who the publisher is, i have a funny feeling it's Lengick (sp).
Peter Cigleris
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Author: James Langdell
Date: 2007-12-16 18:06
The sheet music is published by Alfred Lengnick. I found this web site for the current proprietors of that catalog:
http://www.alfredlengnick.co.uk/
The online catalog here lists this work by John Mayer.
The sheet music is distributed by Faber Music in the UK.
I don't know who they work through in the US.
--James Langdell
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2007-12-17 14:12
SheetMusicPlus.com (link on this page) lists the music as available ($6.50) but they have a two to three-week shipment lead time on it so they probably have to order it. Eble Music also lists in at their site (http://www.eble.com).
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2007-12-17 23:45
I had a brief exchange of letters with Mr. Mayer about 30 years ago and he told me that he was writing a concerto for clarinet and strings. ¿Has anyone heard or played this piece or know if it is available?
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