November 16 - Farewell to the Future

8:30am and the tow truck arrives an hour early. It's time to donate the 2002 Echo -- faithful but ailing, in all of its 313,000 miles -- to Capital Public Radio, specifically to support their classical programming.


Adieu to a fine car,



then (after incorporating Salome's Dance from John and Salome into The Gospel According to St. Matthew) off to DVC in the new vehicle for a double dictation on Philip Glass's Satyagraha (4 bars of the opening -- all contrary-motion chords for the purpose of this exercise) and Akhnaten (6 bars of the Love Duet -- all common-tone harmony).



Home thereafter, past the Chinese Wall, more incorporation with Ah Marvellous becoming XXX. Herod's Response in Gospel Matthew, then the gym with Harriet and yet a third melding with John Salome's "Bring Me the Head" as XXXI. The Head of John the Baptist).

May 31 - Consuming Passions

After the second theory exam, in the lab on 5/21, when working on recordings -- Michael referred to the "Eaten by Bears" Elisha story, so here it is: orchestrated, a dead-ringer (so to speak) for Animal Farm, Op. 76: Bears, based on three Bela Bartokian beasties.



Elijah Rock, Op. 71: XVIII. As (Bowls and Bears)




Also begin the orchestration of



XIX. Moab (Jehoshaphat and Jorem) before making moves towards Moraga --



down 80 towards a beam-up-or-down Sulfur Springs Sentinel smoketrail near Cordelia and



an exceedingly even-windier-than-normal 680 corridor --



against the prow of Long Barn and



sentient stelae.



By the time the Pleasant Hill Road exit is reached, there's fog ahead in Orinda, coursing across to Las Trampas Ridge, just beyond



St. Mary's. But it's time for a chilly walk, anyway, on the Lafayette-Moraga Trail



(parking at Del Monte and Del Rio)



from St. Mary's Garden with views to the clouds



northwest and



southeast (over the Gudde Ridge), to the crossing of



Moraga Road,



returning past street-wise Seussian allusions



and illusions of Southern California



construction,



and vision,



A retreat is made over Rheem Hill to DVC to finish the orchestration of XIX. Moab and record it, plus



XVII. You (Elijah and Elisha). Home late, nothing to be done, as the day has been devoured, swept up.

May 20 - Our Examination Round

Exam day for Theory, so up pretty early, around Long Barn, the



Chinese Wall,



Horse Farm,



Suburbs access road, and we are



hard-working



scholars, in excerpts of music derived from Nirvana, Elton John, Mark Alburger, Howard Shore, and Radiohead.



Then to St. Mary's,



for final meeting of Music and the Enlightenment,



and we are so, particularly theory and composition-wise, creating fugue subjects, etc.



Heading out



thereafter,



it's back to east side of Acalanes Ridge (with views of the South Summit),



briefly on the Briones-to-Mt-Diablo Trail from Quail View to Ramsey Circles; Enlightenment paper-grading at China Garden; recording the first part of Elijah Rock: IX. Roar (The People and Elijah);



and returning past the last light on the southerly slopes of the Sulfur Springs Mountains,



Stonewind, and



North Lagoons. A bit more orchestration of Elijah: IX. upon return.

May 7 - Earth and Sky

Journal and more work on orchestration of Elijah Rock: III. Rehoboam (Chronology and Call), crusing past the usual suspicious characters of Long Barn and


the Chinese Wall before another day of student presentations in Theory, with Julian Lessin at the helm for an ostinatic FM7 dictation, Glendan Lawler for an evocative Greek song in, shall we say Phrygian Major Harmonic-Ascent Minor (Do Ra Mi Fa Sol Le Ti Do Te Le So Fa Mi Ra Do), William Smith's Hard-Rock-Chopinesque Composition 4 for board harmony, finishing up with Thomas Magleby in the second dictation of the day with Fly Me to the Moon, eminently appropriate as the day wanes.



Scott's need for test tutorial is a good enough excuse to hang out in the lab, finishing the instrumentalizing of Rehoboam, which is mostly sung by the character Elijah. A typical hall coffee break with Doug and a detailed score result in late leave-taking as the evening orb graces our local Diabolus.



By return, the globe is lost among terrestrial others at the local petrol stop, and the glowing visions continue while orchestrating the beginning of the somewhat jivey recitative that is Elijah: IV. Arise (Elijah and the Widow).

April 10 - Good News Rain Sun Friday

It's all excellent, of course, except when it's not. But for today, after finishing the orchestration of Solomon: I. Let's Find a Young Woman, the scattered rain only heightens the intensity of the views, southwest from the Cherry Glen Range,



making a beeline for Buckhorn Peak,



past the absurd greenery of the Sulfur Springs and Chinese Wall,



to pick up recompense and hie to the Briones-to-Las-Trampas-Trail (proceeding from latter to former), beginning at Foye Park,



crossing Lafayette Creek to views of the




Ridge north



and spiky-smooth highlands south,



passing under the dangers of Bart and east-and-



westbound 24,



the returning to Mt. Diablo Boulevard and beyond by



the cars on today's fairly-calm-and-misnomered Moraga B.



Can't help but return to the lab, which is going full strong after most classes aren't (it's the frontier of Spring Break), to record Solomon I, heading home past Suisun Marshes and a distant cloud-threatened Cement Hill via



Green Valley Road's views of Buckhorn and



Twin Sisters,



eventually foregrounded by Suisun Valley Crossroad Knoll, adjacent to its



ranch views of the Vaca Mountains and



faithful foothill cows,



the light vibrant above Lagoon Valley and the



shadowy ravines north. Upon return, orchestrate Solomon: II. Have You Heard (The Coronation) and begin same late for III. You Know What to Do (The Death of David).