April 16 - Truth, Justice, and the Indian Way

More Philip Glass for dictation, this time from Satyagraha (re Mahatma Gandhi, above -- recent partial NYT review of Met production of which can be found at 21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com), specifically the opening scene -- the marvelous, simple cycle of

F: I bVII bVI V, which (for class) we harmonize traditionally in contrary motion, since no common tones are found between triads a second apart (completely counter to PG's quite lovely parallelisms).

After this, performance of Cecilia's beautiful fourth composition, in D minor emphasizing IV such that one can hear it in G dorian at times, with poignant appoggiaturas and striking stacked chords of 9ths and beyond.


Also beyond, a fair amount of time in the lab, first recording the beginning of Triple Fugato of Vengeance from Act V, Scene 1, Mice and Men.



All of 37 seconds, with footsteps and running and general commotion and two words from Curley ("Jesus Christ!"), as he finds his wife's lifeless body.



Further beyond, begin a concerted effort to produced CD's of last April's Halfway Mark, dealing with Douglas Mandel's fine Peak Pro recording, which we convert to iTunes, transfer to Sound Forge, and beginning editing. By late afternoon, there are 12 files thus far

Op 1 Psalm 6: 1-6
Op 3 Ecclesiastes: 5-6 There Is Evil
Op 21 Missa "The a deux": 1 Kyrie
Op 24 Orpheus Cycle: 6 Lyre's Melody
Op 27 Aerial Requiem: 10 Agnus Dei
Op 41 Mice Suite No. 1: 1 Worksong
Op 53 Mice Suite No. 2: 6 Deathsong 2
Op 77 Henry Miller in Brooklyn: 11a June's Song
Op 107 Out on the Porch: 10 Creole Banjo Player 2
Op 110 Camino Real: Block 12
Op 116 The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Overture ("Rats!")



[after Robert Browning]
Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the
Cats and bit the babies in the cradle and ate the
Cheeses out of the vats.
And licked the soup from the cook's own ladle
Split open the kegs of salted sprats.
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats and
Even spoiled the women's chats
By drowning there
Speaking with
Shrieking and
Squeaking in
Fifty different sharps and flats.

Op 142 The Ring of Harriet: Cats, Dogs, and Divas: 23 Brunnhilde

Back to the land of residence briefly to pick up CD's at local library (Leroy Anderson, Edward Elgar, Paul Hindemith, James Macmillan, Arvo Part, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Dmitri Shostakovich, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Antonio Vivaldi), plus scores at home.


Then off to San Francisco for San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra Board Meeting -- just Michael Cooke, Mark Alburger, Erling Wold, and David Graves -- and we seem to accomplish quite a bit.


Home late, via Golden Gate Bridge and Marin.

April 13 - Lost in the Sun and Star Treks

Hop over these hills and a bit north, and it's the weekly Berkeley Red Horse (show next Saturday night at St. Gregory's in San Francisco - info at markalburgerevents.blogspot.com) rehearsal at Chamber Arts with Kat, Allen, Kristen, Janet, Eliza, Harriet.



Then a walk south of here on the suburban edge of the Castro Valley Hills,



followed by dress rehearsal of Steven Clark's Amok Time at Boxcar Theatre, 505 Natoma Street San Francisco (show is tomorrow! 8pm with info as above -- shot above is back at Bill's two Wednesdays ago -- by now we're all off book again, of course, but William / Bill! is seemingly still dead by the middle of Act IV, with Carl, Suzanna, Cynthia, and Susan in attendance -- hm, Cynthia and Susan....).


Home via Marin, and cannot resist a drive through the Headlands, so here's a portrait in fog from Photo Booth in the MacBook,



and sun,


with the stratus temporarily bypassing Kirby Cove in this view west,


but pouring over the highlands of adjacent Hawk Hill nonetheless,


making a beeline behind the parking lot toward the Golden Gate Bridge (eye, sir!).



Driving up to the viewpoint,


the scene east causes one to see doubles,


whether the panorama including the north tower (!) and stretching toward Mt. Diablo,


or the, shall we say, Two Towers (but neither JRRT nor NYC)



nirvanaingly framing the City.



Home again at leisure, watching a French mystery with Harriet and preparing the sixth page of the Triple Fugato section of Mice and Men Act V Scene 1.