March 31 - Cold and Warm Comfort

Finish the orchestration of King David: XVI. Before the Arc, during the morning and the last minute before the evening class. Afternoon is The Sound of Music: Do Re Mi (Part I) for dictation, complicated banking problems at Westamerica and Fry's, and al fresco lunch and paper grading at La Pinata.



Music History class habaneras along from Bizet to a grim Sibelius; followed by Left Bank libations, lingering, and liberty.

March 30 - Making the Grade

Morning class finishing up Handel (including three sing-throughs of Messiah: Hallelujah to recordings early, Mozartean, and Proutish), afternoon with dictation from Duke Ellington's Concerto for Cootie, lunch at China Garden finally catching up with grading, and another saunter on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail -- this time on the old railroad grade semicircling the last northern vestige of Las Trampas Ridge.



Home again, beyond Mt. Diablo, finishing the orchestration of The Death of Ishbosheth section of King David: XVI Before the Arc and beginning that of The Ark Dance.

March 29 - Transfigurations and Transformations

Back at Chamber Arts with Harriet, continuing the casting for Fresh Voices IX,



which has continued, like many endeavors, to be a work-in-progress seemingly since early in the year.


Before and after this, finish orchestrating the Abner portion of King David: XVI. Before the Arc, and begin the Death of Ishbosheth section.

March 28 - Quarterstaves for Your Thoughts

Another day of




music drama at Chamber Arts,



Dioclesian and Diocletian shaping up, communally and



individually (Annemarie here, with the amazing Alex Katsman marvelously sight-reading his way through both operas at the keyboard).



Folks seem pleased with the postcard, and with Durand leading the fight rehearsal,



Harriet and I set off through a phalanx of quarterstaves



to Wood Tavern, and afterwards another walk on Pleasant Hill Road, while touching base with John Browning via phone.



Homeward bound, there are further pages of orchestration for King David: XVI. Before the Arc (The Death of Abner) awaiting.

March 27 - Lotta Day and Night Music

Finish the orchestration of King David: XV. Feat Song and begin that of



XVI. Before the Arc (The Death of Abner) before careening



beyond the Blue Ridge of the Vaca Mountains, past the



greening, almost ominous



Sulfur Springs and



amusement structures,



back towards Mt. Tamalpais in Marin, picking up the car, dealing with complicated banking problems (perhaps in homage to




Richard Brautigan),



meeting up with sarodist



Lisa Moscow (she's at last.fm) and friend serendipidously (it always pays to be incredibly polite),



flying over the Richmond Bridge past



Red Rock Island and a distant



San Francisco,



the palmy environs of Claremont Hotel and



recovering



Berkeley-Oakland,



Sibley and



Shakespeare Hills,



back to Pleasant Hill Boulevard in Lafayette, for another stroll below fan palms



and stone pines on a route between St. Mary's and Diablo Valley, whereupon it's time to provisionally record the just-orchestrated music above.

March 26 - Es Is Genug

VLADIMIR:

This is becoming really insignificant.

ESTRAGON:

Not enough.



Finish the orchestration of King David: XIII. The Lamentations of Gilboa, and record that plus



XII. March of David and the Philistines after class.



But first, have to get there, so off we go again to Diablo Valley College Music Theory, for Quiz 10, with excerpts from George Gershwin, Sergei Prokofiev, Anton Webern, and Louis Armstrong. Tutorial with a few students after, including Scott, set up with his reader adjacent to lab computer, which makes for an efficient use of time. Somehow there's also a sufficient interval to take in the sunshine from adjacent to Las Trampas Ridge and



Creek,



before blasting back to Marin, between San Rafael Hill and



San Pedro



Ridge,



over the Pacheco Grade for car maintenance, then home to gather instrumental forces for beginning of KD: XV. Feat Song.

March 25 - Mountain Hallelujah Lamentations

Past Eden flowers to St. Mary's Historians, with music from Telemann to Handel, then Saul! Saul!: IX. Hide and Seek Ye passacagla and original student compositions for the DVC Theoreticians.



The weekly Marin trip yields Celia's paper grading and an auto-check-up-appointment for tomorrow, so, back via the Fairfield Pyramids,



Lagoon



and North Lagoon Mountains, where Harriet and more pages of orchestration for KD:



XIII. The Lamentations of Gilboa await.

March 24 - Any Artistic Animal

Four pages of King David: XIV. The Lamentations of Gilboa orchestrated (7 total thus far) before heading off to a dictation of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera: Ballad of Mac the Knife,



an almost free lunch at Elephant Bar, evening class from Giuseppe Verdi to Camille Saint-Saens, and the Owen-Doug-Left-Bank show.