John Harbison: The Nine Rasas

For clarinet, viola, piano. Commissioned, premiered, and recorded by Radius Ensemble. From John Harbison's note:
 
"Ibrahim was a poet, lute player-singer, scholar, chess master, and patron of the arts. He invited many artists and craftsmen to join his court, where he led them in a quest to develop a theory of aesthetics which would reconcile ancient Greek theories of the humors of the body with the Sanskrit concept of the Nine Rasas. (Ibrahim wished to cross the Muslim divide between Shia and Sunni in exploring his own religious ideas, and became devoted to Hinduism, adopting for himself the Sanskrit title Jagatguru — World Teacher.)
 
"The Nine Rasas and their application to the arts, especially music, became the theme of Ibrahim's reign. I discerned from further reading that the music performed in that court (often danced as well) was received very physically, often aided by trance, drugs, hallucination. It interested me especially that the Rasas were conceived as flavors, essences; and seem not to have been described, as in their inevitable appearance within our modern self-help movements, as moods, and emotions."
 

Radius Ensemble