John Mayer & Jonathan Mayer: Orchestral Works Sasha Rozhdestvensky, Jonathan Mayer, Shahbaz Hussain, The BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Debashish Chaudhuri

• John Mayer (1929 - 2004): Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit":
• 1 Mayer: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit": I. Alap 11:17
• 2 Mayer: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit": II. Ragatal. Tal 02:10
• 3 Mayer: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit": III. Raga. Cadenza senza misura 05:55
• 4 Mayer: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit": IV. Prashna - Uttar 05:42
• 5 Mayer: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Sarangi ka sangit": V. Gat 01:43
• Jonathan Mayer (b. 1975): Sitar Concerto No. 2:
• 6 Mayer: Sitar Concerto No. 2: I. — 11:19
• 7 Mayer: Sitar Concerto No. 2: II. — 07:40
• 8 Mayer: Sitar Concerto No. 2: III. — 05:54
• John Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra:
• 9 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: Ia. — 05:03
• 10 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: Ib. — 02:43
• 11 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: Ic. — 02:41
• 12 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: Id. Scherzo 00:59
• 13 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: II. — 04:42
• 14 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: IIIa. Scherzo 01:13
• 15 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: IIIb. Trio 01:04
• 16 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: IVa. — 02:09
• 17 Mayer: Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra: IVb. Coda. Jhala 01:52
• Jonathan Mayer:
• 18 Mayer: Pranam 10:24
• Total Runtime 01:24:30

Info for John Mayer & Jonathan Mayer: Orchestral Works

The first true cross-cultural fusion of Indian and western music was back in 1957 with John Mayer’s Raga Music for Solo Clarinet and through the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties his musical output reflected his Indian roots.

This album release celebrates John Mayer’s orchestral work and sees the further development from his son Jonathan Mayer, including three premiere recordings and one first commercial release. Included in this CD is John Mayer’s Second Violin Concerto, originally commissioned for the late Erich Gruenberg in 1978; it is played by Sasha Rozhdestvensky, who has a long standing relationship with First Hand Records.

Mayer’s Concerto for the Instruments of an Orchestra had its premiere performance in 1976 by The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Bernard Haitink.

Jonathan Mayer’s Pranam for sitar, tabla and orchestra is inspired by the Indian dance form Kathak and was premiered in the Czech Republic in 2017; it features the composer on sitar and Shahbaz Hussain on tabla.

His Second Sitar Concerto was again premiered in the Czech Republic in 2019 and all works are under the baton of the Indian conductor Debashish Chaudhuri.

"The exceedingly fine Violin Concerto No.2 is an excellent example of the success of his approach. Both Eastern and Western idioms appear, undiluted, yet the concerto sounds as a cohesive whole… gorgeous central slow movement [Sitar Concerto No. 2], heavy with intoxicating perfumes” (Records International)

Sasha Rozhdestvensky, violin
Jonathan Mayer, sitar
Shahbaz Hussain, tabla
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Debashish Chaudhuri, conductor

Jonathan Mayer
Son of the late Kolkata composer John Mayer, Jonathan began his musical training at the early age of 5 with violin from his grandfather Albert Hepton, piano from James Methuen-Campbell and composition from his father. At the age of 16 he started his sitar training under the western sitarist Clem Alford who was a disciple of Sachindra Nath Saha from the Senia gharana. In 1993 Jonathan began studying composition from Andrew Downes as well as sitar at the Birmingham Conservatoire where he gained a B.Mus (Hons). After graduating he studied Imdadkhani gharana technical proficiency under Ustad Wajahat Khan and finally settled in to the Senia veen-kar Gharana under the extremely knowledgeable maestro the late Pandit Subroto Roy Chowdhury.

Because of his ability to read western notation he has performed in a variety of genres and so far his career has seen him play with artists such as Anup Jalota, Kathryn Tickell, Kumar Bose, Kuljit Bhamra, Erich Gruenburg, Rohan De Sarem, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, Kenny Wheeler, The Orlando Consort, John Wilson, Bombay Dub Orchestra, Future Sounds of London, Karlovy Vary Philharmonia and BBC Concert Orchestra.

Jonathan has composed extensively for many genres including jazz, Indian & symphonic writing. His works have been performed and commissioned by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, Docklands Sinfonia, Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Gruenburg, Joji Hattori, and his father’s band Indo-Jazz Fusions. Jonathan works closely with ZerOclassiKal and has had 2 Arts Council England commissions with the projects Perseverance and Altered Boudaries. In 2021 his Sitar Concerto No.2 and Pranam will be released on First Hand Records, this was recorded with The BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2020 and will include works by his father John Mayer. Jonathan can be heard on many soundtracks & films including Sarah Brightmans’ Eden, Kevin Spaceys’ Beyond the sea, Indian Summer (Channel 4), Victoria & Abdul (where he can be seen on film) and Salty. Jonathan is also co-founder of First Hand Records Ltd which was formed in 2007 to promote is father’s works, since then FHR has established itself as a label releasing exceptional music across many genres.

Jonathan has performed all over the world including, France, Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates, USA, Australia, America, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and two very successful tours in India which includes a performance at The Dover Lane Music Conference as well as a number of performances for the BBC in the UK.

Booklet for John Mayer & Jonathan Mayer: Orchestral Works