Relly Raffman

Relly Raffman (1921–1988) was a composer and professor of music at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

At Dartmouth, he was pianist, arranger, leader, singer, and saxophonist of the Barbary Coast Orchestra.

in 1947, he formed the Relly Raffman Trio and was active in the lively jazz scene of the southeastern Massachusetts area.

His jazz activities expanded to New York City while he was at Columbia University earning his Master's Degree.

When, in 1950, Raffman arrived at Indiana University to begin work on a Ph.D. in theory and composition with Bernard Heiden, he was doing a complete flip-flop, as he later described it, from jazz to "serious" music.

In teaching theory, he placed particular emphasis on the concept of scalar control, as exemplified in the music of 20th-century classical and jazz composers.

During his 34 years at Clark, in addition to teaching history and theory, he was, at various times, conductor of the Chorus and the Madrigal Group, and he conducted several opera performances.

Fisk made a number of suggestions "that turned it into a true guitar piece," as he explained.