December 22 - Varied Trio

[Contemporary spin on the Artemis mother-goddess iconography; possible image for Micah's Idol in Judges, chapters 17-18; and what results from googling "Woman with Three Breasts"]

Three [!] more pages of Samson and Delilah: XI. Dan orchestrated in the a.m., before traipsing to DVC in the early afternoon, where Doug has inadvertently deleted all the files on my default computer station, alas (nothing totally essential, but still...). He gives me some tips, however, about running checks on the laptop and burning CDs on the lab equipment (it's been awhile), and I make 7 copies of the Henry Purcell Dioclesian for Harriet,



while recording the rest of short version (9-10 minutes, or is that c. 3 x 3?) of my Diocletian:

III. Happy Funeral Music (Part 3)
IV. What Shall I Do?
Va. Speak, Flame
Vb. Great Diocletian
VI. Country Dance



[Mice Suites in rehearsal, 8/24/08, Berkeley, CA --
Suzanna Mizell, Alexandre Jerenic,
Maria Mikheyenko, Adam Broner, Wayne Wong]

A Marin loop is next, picking up the October 2008 21st-Century Music from the printer ('bout time), then return, buying 40 more file boxes (obviously very serious about this project), and mixing Mice Suites recordings from this past August and beyond, including

I. Dreamsong I
II. Worksong
III. Threatsong
IV. Tartsong I
XIII. Dreamsong II

Oh yes, and two more orchestrated pages of S&D: XI. D late (the Igor Stravinsky Song of the Nightingale trope, after pages of Camille Saint-Saens), so perhaps this day is as much about quintets as trios...

September 19 - Together Rangers

Harriet and I are home all day -- fairly unusual -- and we both get a lot of work done, including catching up with email (where Maria Mikheyenko has a wonderful album of Mice and Men shots on Picassa, showcasing her amazing performances with Wayne Wong, as Lennie and George, above -- will have to put all at markalburgerevents.blogspot.com and markalburgerworks.blogspot.com) and 21st-Century Music (September 2008 issue finally done at 21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com and soon on 21st-centurymusic.com and in print),



and doing orchestration of XI. The Sacrifice from Abraham and Isaac through page 40 (but instead of more A&I, how about the mercy-killing from Mice?).

September 14 - I Just Like To Pet Soft Things

LENNIE: I just like to pet soft things.

CURLEY'S WIFE: Well, who don't? Ever'body like that....

Final performance of our triumphant Mice and Men mini-run (above tag was the cast's incantation before going on stage), and a good time was had by all, with our largest audience, biggest box office, most champagne drunk and cake eaten, etc., and how nice to see Erin Lahm and Maria Mikheyenko return to their lovely femininity after pants-role turns as Slim/Whit and Lennie respectively -- looking forward to their being guards (but let's make them female this time!) in November's Antigone!



Brief stop at Doug and Miriam's while Harriet checks with M re costume designs for A, Orphelia Forever, and The Quantum Mechanic -- while I continue to attempt to organize photos from last August's southern California walking trip, on the floor with the computer in a position that Miriam finds amusing.... (O.K., guess it is...)...



Home at last, and the four pages of orchestration that are Abraham and Isaac: IX. The Deception (an easy feat, since the instrumentation and music -- but not the tempo and words -- are identical to the second strain of II. The Separation). Also post half the recordings...

IV. Fly Away
VI. You Shouldn't Work for Nothing
VII. How to Depart
VIII. On His Way
IX. One Day Dinah

...of Israel in Trouble at markalburgerworks.blogspot.com.

September 12 - Vaseline? What the Hell For?

Another successful Mice and Men tonight (above with Wayne Wong [George], Maria Mikheyenko [Lennie], and Alix Jerenic [Candy]), with the biggest turnout yet -- the cast has developed a tradition before going into the house that involves standing in a circle, with outstretched arms to the center, shouting a favorite line. Tonight it was "Vaseline? What the hell for?"



[Suzanna Mizell (Curley's Wife), Alex Katsman (Piano), Wong, Mikheynko, Jerenic]

As in...

CANDY: You see that glove on Curley's left hand? Well that glove is full of vaseline.

GEORGE: Vaseline? What the hell for?



Slip-sliding our way through the evening (here's many of the cast in the Act II Prelude Worksong -- Erin Lahm [Slim/Whit), Megan Cullen [Boss/Carlson], Alix, Adam Broner [Crooks], Suzanna),



it's Megan Cullen's 25th birthday (above with Wayne and Maria), so there's cake and ice cream, along with the requisite champagne reception.



Earlier, finish orchestrating the twisted ragtimic Abraham and Isaac: II. The Separation (four final pages for a total of 21) and begin conceiving the orchestration of III. The Rescue.

September 8 - Day of Wraiths

Dies Irae today for dictation, harmonized with a dominant drone, introducing intervals larger than the fifth,


also a sight-sing of the Hymn to St. Magnus and impressive student compositions, some going far beyond the required 4 measures of monophony.



Lab work, so to speak, turns out to be fairly extensive, finally finishing off a vocal recording (Act V, Scene 2 B through E, the F conclusion having been previously recorded -- above are Wayne Wong [George] and Maria Mikheyenko [Lennie] delivering the ending September 5's dress rehearsal) of Mice and Men, a project begun at the beginning of last year, plus VIII. On His Way from Israel in Trouble.



Home, and the Trouble continues with 5 more pages of orchestration (on beyond mostly piano, for a total of 11 for this penultimate movement (IX. One Day Dinah -- Peter Paul Rubens's Rape of the Sabine Women will have to serve as a stand-in, as D is virtually un-iconographed) thus far. Jacob and sons and women seem to get the orchestrated sections, while the Canaanites seem to get theirs with piano, whateve that means. Also about 4 hours of work for the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, planning for the November performance.

September 7 - Blow That Horn

Another amazing performance from the cast of Mice and Men (including Maria Mikheyenko [Lennie] and Suzanna Mizell [Curley's Wife], above), as well as impressive opera arias in the first half of the show, offered by the likes of Mike (at right -- very much looking forward to his participation as Haemon and The Messenger in Antigone this Novemeber),



taken in by an enthusiastic audience, featuring Diablo Valley College Theory students Desiree Abad, Daniel Ciurlizza, and Megan Mui, and a couple of their friends who are/will be attending the University of California at San Diego this semester (plus that old guy in the middle).



Leaving San Francisc Community Music Center, the fog is coming in to the south towards Bernal Heights and


north,



with the houses directly across the street cooling in the last light.



Home, beginning orchestration of IX. One Day Dinah from Israel in Trouble -- 6 pages, but since all piano, not much of a feat -- being based on the instrumental forces in Act III, Scene 3 (in the bar, with the out-of-tune-piano) in Alban Berg's Wozzeck.

September 6 - It Is Finished, and Begun

Opera Arias and Duets and Mark Alburger's Mice Suites opens at San Francisco Community Music Center tonight, and a good time, apparently, is had by all, with fabulous singing in both halves of the show and many familiar faces from Diablo Valley College.



Before, record all the rest of Wayne Wong (George) and Erin Lahm (Slim/Whit, with Maria Mikheyenko as Lennie, above) in this short version of Mice and Men, up in the same classroom at SFCMC, with the weather not quite as hot (for SF) as yesterday.



Before this and after all, climb up the sunshine mountains of orchestration, finishing VIII. On His Way, from Israel in Trouble, Op. 54, with a cliffhanger, clawhammer conclusion, and beginning to conceive the instrumentation of the comedic/parody-rape/mass-murder penultimate movement of same (i.e. talk about objectionable settings and stories -- the defoliation of Jacob's only daughter Dinah, in the sexual kitchen with uncircumcised Canaanites, who are revenge-vendetta x'd by her brothers while recovering from ritual surgery...): musically based on Act III, Scene 3 (the out-of-tune piano bar scene) of Alban Berg's Wozzeck, via a consciousness including The Piano Lesson from Meredith Willson's The Music Man, J.S. Bach's Fugue in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, and a hint of the American folk song I've Been Workin' on the Railroad.

September 5 - Dressed, Rehearsed

So we're dressed (pretty much) and rehearsed (definitely) for tomorrow's opening of Opera Scenes and Mice and Men excerpts at San Francisco Community Music Center (Capp Street, 8pm), so will put the night's pics at markalburgerevents.blogspot.com.



Warm evening everywhere, and back home, it's two more pages of orchestration of Israel in Trouble: VIII On His Way (five pages of this movement thus far).


Oh, yes, how can we forget? Also record with Maria Mikheyenko (pictured above with Wayne Wong [George] and Alix Jerenic [Candy]) on the second floor of Community Music Center (thanks to Laura Bruckman -- of Brian Holmes's Fashion God and other fame) all the rest of Lennie's parts for this short version of M&M.

August 31 - Dressed for Success

Mice and Men rehearsal with costumes (Wayne Wong, as George, dreaming of "Getting the jack together") at Chamber Arts today,



and pianist Alex Katsman (with Erin Lahm, as Slim, in Worksong).



Record Worksong with Marilyn Pratt,


and Tartsong I adding Alix Jerinic and Wayne (the latter and former [Candy] above, with Suzanna Mizell [Curley's Wife] and Maria Mikheyenko [Lennie] behind).


Rehearsal of arias and duets (including Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata: Act I, Sempre Libre, with Ross Halper and Eliza O'Malley), quicky meeting with Eliza and Lars thereafter,


followed by local pub with Harriet and home for 19 more pages of Israel in Trouble (VII. How to Depart from You) orchestration -- with aspects of Camille Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals: Finale, Alban Berg's Wozzeck: Act III conclusion, and Michael Nyman's The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

August 28 - Let There Be Hot, Heavy Music

Quiz 2 in Theory (Treble and Bass Clef -- F Modes), still more students signing up, learned how to get add codes online (thanks to Owen), heard Chris's new piece (quite impressive), record vocals for Mice and Men: Act V, Scene 2 A "Lennie, what you shoutin' for?", plus instrumental versions of Abraham and Isaac: I. The Call, and Op. 98 The Creation: I-III. One hour and forty minutes of the Biblical tome recorded thus far....



At home, Harriet still working away at donor letter mailing, while I finish orchestration (18 pages total for the movement) of Israel in Trouble: III. Eyes Dim (musically inspired by the Igor Stravinsky Abraham and Isaac, despite the different later story line) -- Rebekah turns out to be quite the conniver; with a willing, youthful, somewhat callous Jacob; Isaac blindly clueless, extensively singing away in an atonal/middle-eastern manner; Esau not far behind him. Additionally, good to receive word from the state government today -- evidently tax submission was OK. As well, second day of a heat wave (supposedly temps over one hundred last two days, though porch thermom never registers more than 92 in our experience over the interval...however, we've suspected the little gauge may be past its prime...predict, nonetheless 75 degrees at 2 in the morning), so no complaints.

August 27 - 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Column Operations

Three Greek melodies in Theory today (Mesomenes melody finally posted at markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com), plus the Ludwig van Beethoven "Ode to Joy" (simplified version in C) for dictation.



Subsequent recordings in the lab are vocals and effects for Mice and Men: Act V, Scene 2 "I didn't forget" (above are Wayne Wong [George] and Maria Mikheynko [Lennie] from last Sunday's rehearsal -- upcoming performance info at markalburgerevents.blogspot.com and goathall.org), plus instrumental versions of Israel in Trouble: I. If It Is Thus and II. Cunning Hunter. Additionally, post Wicked Prelude from Noah's Flood at myspace.com/markalburger.



On the homefront, orchestration completed for Abraham and Isaac: I. The Call; and Harriet and I do mailings for SF Cabaret Grand Opera show and 21st-Century Music, delivered in the dead of night,


after which it's time to orchestrate yet again, this time the first page of III. Isaac was old from Israel in Trouble, indebted to the Igor Stravinsky A and I.

August 21 - A Lied of Human Babbling Wind

First Fall 2008 Quiz for the Theoreticians and subsequently in the lab recording Babel: III And the Lord Scattered Them (with BBC sound files from 22 different countries, to wit

Algeria
Bolivia
Central African Republic
China
Columbia
Czech Republic
Ethiopia
France
Greece
Hungary
India
Kenya
Morocco
Nepal
Niger
Paraguay
Peru
Slovakia
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom
Zaire [now back to Congo, of course]),



Iliad: II. Odysseus,




and Mice and Men: Act V, Scene 2 A, B, all in instrumental versions (Wayne and Maria last Sunday again, Scene 2 F "And I can tend the rabbits").



Zip past home and off to Davis to get scores for the last movement of the below, in its orchestral version --

Opus 62: Six Romances on Verses by English Poets for bass and piano (1942)
Poems by Walter Raleigh, Robert Burns, and William Shakespeare;
translation by Boris Pasternak and Samuil Marshak.

1. To a Son: Largo
2. In the Fields: Moderato
3. Macpherson's Farewell: Allegretto
4. Jenny: Moderato
5. Tired with All These: Lento
6. The King's Campaign: Allegretto

Dedicated to Lev Atovmian (no. 1), Shostakovich's wife Nina (2), Izaak Glikman (3), Yuri Sviridov (4), Ivan Sollertinsky (5) and Vissarion Shebalin (6).

First performance: June 6, 1943, Moscow Conservatory by E. Flaks (baritone) and the composer-pianist.

Opus 62A: Six Romances on Verses by English Poets for bass and orchestra (1943)
Orchestration of opus 62.
Unpublished; later version opus 140.

Opus 140: Six Romances on Verses by English Poets for bass and chamber-orchestra (1971)
Chamber-orchestral version of opus 62 (1942).



-- and the Hosanna sections of the Benjamin Britten War Requiem Sanctus,



the former as an orchestrational guide to The Wind God: XIII. We Almost Mutaneed and the latter as a check to orchestration of Iliad Songs: III Achilles.



Finally returning home, do and corroborate orchestrations as above.

August 20 - Chariots on Fire

Finish up the orchestration of Op. 46 Iliad Songs: III Achilles before and after teaching,



then charioteering off (no one in tow) to Diablo Valley College for third day with new batch of brilliant students -- presenting daily from markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com, which has / will have plenty of material for Theory Class as well as Lit -- followed by lab (of course), recording instrumental versions of Mice and Men: Act V, Scene 2 part D, E, and F (Here are Wayne Wong [George] and Maria Mikheyenko [Lennie] in the latter at August 17's rehearsal).



Also post instrumental of Op. 90 Diocletian: I. First Paragraph Music ("Abject and Absurd") over at myspace.com/markalburger before heading home to put up excerpts of sheet music



of Orpheus Cycle, Op. 24, for Chloe at markalburgerworks.blogspot.com (dated July 7, 1982).