November 14 - Concerted Efforts

Third page of Psalm 39b edited, heading out the door with Harriet



Sonomawise, for a brief walk on



Petaluma Hill Road, from



Roberts Ranch to



Railroad Avenue, via



Bud's,



with



views



all



around.



Back in the car, we dine at Fernando's and review



Marin Symphony with



Avram Dorman (write up at 21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com tomorrow, plus eventually at 21st-centurymusic.com and in print).



After that, do the video for Mice Suite No. 1: Worksong.

November 6 - Four Point, Oh!

Second rehearsal at Chamber Arts for the revival of Job: A Masque, with Kate Bautch (Job's Wife / Servant III),


Marilyn Pratt (Job),



Harriet March Page (God / Bildad the Shuhite),



and



Suzanna Mizell (Eliphaz the Temanite / Servant II), lingering with



Meghan Dibble for sandwiches and a Goat Hall / San Francisco Cabaret Opera meeting (re the evolving Weill/Brecht Project), then back through the



Berkeley Hills (pictured in the beautiful temperate weather on the way in), to more labors framing each side of the outing: Edits for Psalm 37 "O Rest in the Lord" (after Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah) completed (five sheets total), 21st-Century Music work, and the editing of Psalm 38 "Domine, ne in furore" (again a pentagon of pages, the superimposition of previous, adding a minor modal 7/8 spin on Josquin des Pres's analgous effort).



On the way home, thinking about the balky internet connection at Chamber Arts (we again rehearsed pretty much off of the YouTube videos of last June, but this time to less certain effect, as the files went into buffering mode not infrequently), reflect with Harriet over the possibilities of the Swarthmore Student and Alumni Composers Concert that occurred while we Board Meeting'ed and returned:

1. Video could have not played correctly, and people could have not liked the piece
2. Video could have not played correctly, and people could have liked the piece anyway
3. Video could have played correctly, and people could have not liked the piece
4. Video could have played correctly, and people could have liked the piece

And of course, only "4" is what anyone would want.

Substitute "Bad performance / Good peformance" for the video component, and you have the situation in virtually all the performing arts... or rather -- life, the universe, and everything.

Mercifully, the report from the good folks in residence suggests that all went quite well and that "4" ruled the night, not only for the piece in question, the entire concert. Great news, indeed! In fact, give that notice a "4", too....

October 29 - Armchair Travailer

Harriet out on an all-day job and more, while the labours at home include fininishing the edits for Psalm 35 "Strive with Them" (through page 8), plus videos for Embedded Inventions: XIII. Stravinsky and



XIV. Cha-Cha. Also work on the November and December 2010 issues of 21st-Century Music, embedding video and providing author links (the latter for the first time), and begin editing Psalm 36.

October 11 - Sunset, Sunset

Begin editing Psalm 32 -- a minimalist, rock-latin take on Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 2, orchestration inspired by Claude Debussy's on 3, which he called 1... got it? With this in mind, proceed to DVC for dictation / board-harmony / keyboard-solfege on Scott Joplin's The Entertainer, record



Psalm 31



in the lab (with Doug updating "permissions" on the laptop), and proceed to the Walnut Creek



Apple Store, where it seems like enough tests are run and software updates installed such that maybe -- just maybe -- the computer won't spontaneously shutdown further...



Return in the fading light to produce videos for



Deploration Passacaglias: III. Susato and



IV. Schutz, plus embed classical videos on the markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com site.

September 20 - Ups

Edit Psalm 27 (12 pages total) before a Theory dictation/board-harmony of Claudio Monteverdi's L'Ofeo: Tu se' morta, thereafter playing three Youtube videos -- Psalm 6: 1-5; The Twelve Fingers: VIII. Sonata; and Ecclesiastes: III. For Everything -- latter two by request, all quite well received.




Tritone-Orchestra record Psalm 26 in the lab then



blitz out



across the Bay



and through



town to second



Animal, Vegetable, Mineral



San Francisco



Composers Chamber Orchestra



rehearsal.



Home for more Twelve Preludes and Fugues ("Topical") videos... VIa. The Examined Life and



Vb. Empedocles Was Wrong.

September 19 - Wonderland

Off to San Francisco for a Goat Hall / SF Cabaret Opera board meeting and Theatre of Yugen's production of Alice -- a stunning yet fairly faithful update of Lewis Carroll, including music from Philip Glass's Company. Before this, finish editing Psalm 26 ("Judica Me") (through page 14) and a video for



Twelve Preludes and Fugues ("Topical"): VIb. The Examined Life.



Making the jump


southwest,



reunions are welcome, though


lines less so. But when the end result is impressive



drama and music,



one leaves satisfied to return for a second



TPF video, as Xa. Rock His World.

September 15 - Going Up

Do video for For My Brother For My Brother: 7. Baby's Head, plus page 6 of Psalm 26, as prerequisites to proceeding to Theory for Josquin El Grillo (which Xavier Travis has sung) and Costanzo Festa Quando Ritrovna as Dictation and Board Harmony, followed by lunch at China Garden catchng up with grades, and back to the lab, recording




Psalm 25 ("Unto Thee, O Lord, I Lift My Soul"). Next, off to San Francisco, first to rendezvous with Erling, who (horrors!) has had an unfortunate encounter (as pedestrian) with a VW bus -- broken leg, scraped up physique. He is nevertheless up and about enough on crutches to receive well-wishers, including Michael Cooke and Loren Jones, and, after leaving "Articles of Incorporation" with the recovering Dr. Wold, the rest of us proceed apace to Lisa's for SFCCO Board meeting. Hopefully all is in place re Friday's first rehearsal etc., so we break early, one of us heading back through Marin to produce the day's second YouTube opus -- FMBFMB:



10. Heaven Help.

September 8 - For a Brief Instant

Third page of Psalm 25 edited, plus 21st-Century Music work,



then Conrad Paumann's Mit Ganczem Willen for Theory dictation and harmony, and more engaging student compositions before a


coffee and lunch run for Doug and company.




Tritone Orchestra record Psalm 22b "Why Art Thou So Far From Me,"




22c "He Trusted in God," and




24 "Earth's the Lord's / Lift Your Heads."



Homeward towards the



Poverty Hills, past



Lagoon Mountains South,



Central,



and



North, for dinner with Harriet and videos for



Duo Sonata No. 1 ("Hyphenated"): IV. Dance-Syncops and



II. Dirge-Riffs.

September 7 - Stepping Out

Another edited page of Psalm 25 and 21st-Century Music work, before Music Theory Week 4 Dies Irae dictation / keyboard-solfege / drone harmony and intriguing student works. Brief financial jaunt around town thereafter, and



lunch with paper grading at China Garden, returning for the evening class with music from Muhammed (c. 570) to the beginnings of Hindustani Music (c. 1100),



looking ahead to next week's Quiz 4 (N.B. fourth scale above is G Minor). Outing with Owen and our favorite waitress follows, with our esteemed Theory guy making the announcement that he is engaged -- congrats Dr. Lee! Heading home to Harriet, the day has been long, so how is it possible to do two more videos --



Duo Sonata No. 1 ("Hyphenated"): I. Promenade-Blues and



III. Serenade-Rag, the latter for our friends from afar.