May 9 - The Black Horse Touched by Life

It's Death Stallion night at St. Gregory's (Horsewomen of the Apocalype: The Black Horse with a Touch of Gray), and, in preparation, mix the Eliza O'Malley / Kristen Jones / Elizabeth Henry recording of


San Rafael News, Op. 51: IX. The Reproductive Organs (found text)



The reproductive organs
(Which from a biologist's perspective
Are the only reason for existence)

Control and contribute to
Everything from mood
To how cholesterol is used
In the body

In preparation for the evening's concert, but first we have to get there,



via David Chavez and our wonderful resident pianist rehearsing music of


Francis Poulenc.



Next, it's Theory, with Joel bringing back a little class act (older selection, admittedly), with the Nocturne in E Minor of Frederic Chopin (this after yesterday's The Internet Is for Porn from Avenue Q, and the previous excerpt from South Park triple-entendric Bigger, Longer, and Uncut -- of course, I should talk given for visual of SRN:TRO) for dictation, featuring a nice rising m6 Sol Me (dovetailing with previous analogous Sol Mi of AQ: TIIFP). Harmonization is a free adaptation (first chord would have probably been conceived as a simple E Minor with an upper neighbor C, here as Emadd6),



realized by Sarah, Cristina,



Chris, Joel, Nick M., Robert, Mike, Cecilia, Deborah, and Nick T.



In the lab subsequently, finishing off recording Mice and Men: Act V, Scene 1 (The Barn),



specifically section D ("Hide in the Brush").



LENNIE:

I done bad thing! I done another bad thing!
Hide in the brush... [Runs off]

[Enter GEORGE and CANDY]

GEORGE:

Oh, Jesus Christ!

I think I knew it all the time
I think I knew we'd never make it
Usta tell'im so much
I got to thinkin'...

So I'll take my fifty bucks and blow it all like
Ev'ryone else

[Exit GEORGE]

CANDY: [Shouts]

Hey!



Finally, it's off to San Francisco for The Black Horse, view above from the front sidewalk of


the venue, St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church.



Amazingly, am able to record Eliza, Janet Lohr, and Elizabeth in Life Span, before and between rehearsals for show,


which is a big success, all brilliantly empressario'd over by the divine Harriet March Page.


[San Rafael News: Harriet March Page, Janet Lohr, Elizabeth Henry, Kristen Jones, Eliza O'Malley]

Details of the program (including music of Jacques Brel, Kurt Weill, Mary Watkins, Felix Mendelssohn, John Partridge, Sheli Nan, Peter Josheff, and Mark Alburger; performed by Janet Lohr, Harriet March Page, Eliza O'Malley, Elizabeth Henry, Kristin Jones, Marilyn Pratt, Kelly Vomacka, Jo Vincent Parks, Cynthia Weyuker, Sarah Hutchison, John Partridge, Matthew Edwards, Shei Nan, Peter Josheff, and Mark Alburger), photos etc., will follow soon on markalburgerevents.blogspot.com (dated May 9, 2008), with complete recordings of the Henry / Jones / Lohr / O'Malley / Page versions of the Ten Deathsongs that are San Rafael News at markalburgerworks.blogspot.com (dated February, 1995).

May 4 - Catch Your Death Horsing Around

Cold day today -- sunny in the hinterlands and clearing in Berkeley -- for a warm last rehearsal of Horsewomen of the Apocalypse: The Black Horse with a Touch of Gray (this Friday at 8pm, St. Gregory of Nyssa Church, San Francisco - goathall.org / markalburgerevents.blogspot.com). It's the San Rafael News Deathsongs, again, and all's well.



It's another day of recording, too.


Eliza records Death Catch, Immortality, The Reproductive Organs, and Rain-Death Fugato; and


Janet checks in with the former and latter, as well as Pontoon Tattoo (In Memoriam Sonny Bono).


Then it's off to what turns out to be the final walk, south of Castro Valley, on Fairview Road (and as schedule will change next week, this seems appropriate), where the looming views are pastel hazy



and geometrical, as the chill fog attempts to clear, bookended by equines


west


and east.




Arrive at the upper Hayward boarder, with a Great Wall of Suburbia now sunsetward,



and peekaboo views inland, which one hopes will continue to experience a dearth of housing. Eventually head back north, arriving home to mix versions of Death Catch, including below, of Eliza, Kristen, Elizabeth, and Janet.