The Music of Clair Omar Musser

Clair Omar Musser, composer Greg Giannascoli, performer Clair Omar Musser is one of the most important marimba artists in history. His influence is pervasive, being a virtuoso performer, a composer, a teacher and overseeing the manufacturing of marimbas at two major companies. Here I talk about Musser's life, music and career and perform 6 of his published etudes and preludes. These pieces will be staples in our repertoire as long as people play, study and teach the marimba. I feel this beautiful music should be performed as if it were Chopin or another great composer from the Romantic period. The one exception is the Whole Tone Etude, which should be treated more like an impressionist work, possibly in the style of Debussy or late Liszt. I feel that some spots in Op. 11, No. 4 should sound like the harp cadenza toward the beginning of Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers. Works performed and mallets used (all on rattan): Etude in B Major; Op. 6, No. 9 - 0:29 - IP 300 and IP 275 in the bass Prelude in G Major; Op. 11, No. 3 - 2:40 - Malletech CN 8 Whole Tone Etude; Op. 6, No. 8 - 5:22 - IP ENS 260 (2 pieces of moleskin on all and about 80 wraps of yarn on bass mallet) Etude in C Major; Op. 11, No. 4 - 9:42 - Malletech Emotion Medium Vibe Etude in C Major; Op. 6, No. 10 - 12:45 - Firth M154R with 153R in the bass (2 pieces of moleskin on all) Etude in Ab Major: Op. 6, No. 2 - 14:59 - Firth 153R (2 pieces of moleskin) Performed on my Yamaha 6000 marimba. I assign Musser's 4 mallet Etudes after the student has at least performed Yellow After the Rain then Rain Dance (or similar) and spent time in Method of Movement. After Musser's 4 mallet pieces a piece like Keiko Abe's Frogs is an excellent next step. The 2 mallet pieces are usually assigned after the student has spent time in Goldenberg (including some of the 39 Etudes), Instruction Course for Xylophone, performed a sonata by Handel and maybe a ragtime solo by GH Green. After Musser's 2 mallet pieces a substantial 2 mallet solo work is approachable. As with any typical etude, Musser's deal with specific technical issues through a piece of music. Some of the technical issues covered in these etudes are arpeggios, scales, contrary motion, reaching for a single note that is far away (sometimes without being able to look), weighing a chord so certain voices are more prominent (including between two mallets in one hand), playing accents when moving too fast to pick the stick up high (use stroke velocity in this case). The piece of art in this video is a print that my mother bought for my grandfather years ago. This is the "drummer" piece from the larger "Jazz Musician Series" by New Jersey artist John A. Pellerano (1928-1990). These were released in the 1960's. I love this print because it looks like my grandfather. He was the drummer for the Benny Goodman band right after Gene Krupa went to jail. At the audition they told my grandfather that he had to be able to read music. He couldn't read a note of music but won the audition. They thought he could read but he just knew how all the songs went. Lastly, thank you for watching and here is a link to the Celestaphone Musser built:    • Celestaphone: Music Made from Meteorites