August 31 - Seeing and Hearing

Week 3 for the Music Historians, making our way from Balinese gamelan through early Islamic music, via Gregorian chant, listening and looking ahead as above.

Before this a roving afternoon of paper grading (Xavier's alphabetization and pre-grading really helping) from Yan's Garden (Music Theory) to

Elephant Bar (Music History), the day starting with the usual 21st-Century work and Theory (the Orkney Islands Hymn to St. Magnus, lots of great student questions re modes, and History Phases: I Turkey / Asia Minor) and

ending with the impossible...

Pdf for Orpheus Cycle: III (first three pages)
Pdf's of The Passion According to St. Matthew: XVII-XVIII
5th page composed for Psalm 70
100th orchestrated page of The Countess Cathleen
200 pages total for edit of Symphony No. 3 
17th clip incorporated for Camino Real: Block 9 

August 30 - That Sense

Every day extraordinary, the commonalities and differences, the 21st-Century Music work, the fog the

same but different, the

Diablo Valley

College lesson plans... well, yes, today with the Musica Enchiriadis Rex Coeli, a second day of student compositions, and History Phases: III. America - Amazing Grace and IV. Gregorian Chant - Kyrie VI.

Return to

produce the rest of the piano-vocal parts for Regime Change, Op. 196, plus

Pdf for Orpheus Cycle: II
Pdf's of The Passion According to St. Matthew: XV-XVI
4th page composed for Psalm 70
99th orchestrated page of The Countess Cathleen
190 pages total for edit of Symphony No. 3 
16th clip incorporated for Camino Real: Block 9 

December 29 - Light on the Subject

Glorious day, for being out on a job as Harriet is, or home to spend catching up, including finishing Psalm 44 ("Exsurge, Domine") (4 pages total) and a video for



History Phases: XXVII. Pierre Boulez (Le Marteau sans Maitre).

Listen to a lot of Pandora radio stations, mostly the Anton Webern, Edgar Varese, Alban Berg, Harry Partch, Olivier Messiaen, Alan Hovhaness, Conlon Nancarrow, and George Crumb ones....

December 28 - Warm by the Fire

Rains all day, and glad to be home writing the third page of Psalm 44 ("Exsurge, Domine") and doing a video for



History Phases: XXI. G.F. Handel (Messiah: Hallelujah).

December 19 - Shedding Light

Finish page 7 of Psalm 43 and grading for the Music History class (posting both on DVC website, which is finally up again, after being down yesterday, and will be down again Monday after 4pm through Wednesday -- nice timing...) while Harriet is out for more rehearsals, on another day of limited sunshine -- the rain abating and rays making a game effort towards setting -- plus a video for



 History Phases: XXV. Anton Webern - Works.

Also delighted to hear from old Appalachian Trail thru-hiker-friend Jan Skadberg (who's doing well in West Virginia and working towards her doctorate) and SF/NY composer-crony Andrew Shapiro (who, with his assistant, are keen to begin bio assistance for the New Grove article and an interview for 21st-Century Music).

Somewhere in here learn how to picture-resize to keep file sizes down when posting, thereby hoping to keep this new blog going over the course of 2011, without having to start 2012 early....

2012...

December 15 - Dividing Lines

Page 3 of Psalm 43 ("Judge Me") and

down

a

striking

corridor

to

the

Fall 2010

Theory Exam, with our 25 heroic survivors,

followed by a three-part bout of paper grading for the evening class,

first

over a

shrimp lunch,

then

to

Elephant

Bar,

and

finally to the DVC coffee shop

and

back to the classroom.

Final lecture and presentations in Rock History,

and it's been a good semester together --

then home for  



History Phases: XIII. Thomas of Celano (Dies Irae).

December 14 - A Farewell to Charms

Page 2 of Psalm 43 ("Judge Me") and a lot of Music History grading and preparation for tomorrow's classes as well, while Harriet is mostly out and about.  Final Tuesday evening session from Brian Wilson, via John Adams and moi and lots of others, to Lady Gaga -- has been a very fine class -- then home to mastermind the next History Phases video...



... XII. French Polyphony (Ductia).

December 13 - Snows of Yesteryear

Well, there are blizzards in the Midwest, so I guess we can't complain too much.  Although Southern California's sunny 80's yesterday and 70's today makes us a little envious (calling John Browning to say as much), finishing page 2 of Psalm 43 ("Judge Me"), beginning the February 2011 issue of 21st-Century Music, and

zooming

out

to

Novato for standard maintenance, during a second day of relentless -- and even more widespread, affecting seemingly all of the Bay Area and Central Valley and perhaps beyond -- tule fog.

After grading Theory Compositions 4 at Chevy's, the

return includes a provisional recording of

Psalm 42 ("As the Hart Pants") -- hm, the weather looks a lot better there... -- and another  



History Phases video... VI. Cantus Firmus (Hec Dies).

December 12 - Cold Enough To...

Chill, tule-foggy day, with the sun breaking through near the stand-in for the horizon towards evening. Harriet out and about, relating over dinner that at least the residents in the Bay were getting sunshine -- while earlier on the homefront Psalm 42 ("As the Hart Pants") is finished (16 pages total) and the next of the History Phases is videoized -- i.e.



XV. Giles Binchois (Files a Marier).  Begin the composition of Psalm 43 ("Judge Me") later.

December 11 - Tunnel at the End of the Light

Lucky 13th page of Psalm 42 ("As the Hart Pants") composed before another outing,

now down 680

all the

way to

a reduction of

100,

then west over the

San

Mateo to drop off

Michael Cooke's marvelous GAC score, followed

by

north

to

Erling

Wold's to meet about things SFCCO and Wikipedian,

completing

a

grand

circle

in

the

alternately

and

simultaneously

foggy /

fiery

halflight,

murking

along

37's

panoramas

and

amusements

towards

another



History Phases video -- as XXIV. Charles Ives (Columbia the Gem of the Ocean).

Oh, and happy 102nd birthday, Elliott Carter!