December 17 - Celestial Mechanics

Last day of Theory -- finishing up exam, plus performances of final compositions -- but first we have to get there, with the fog creeping into



Lagoon Valley,



over the



South



Lagoon



Mountains, then



south on 680



past Long



Barn,



the slopes



of



Eden,



Hovel Hills,



and Horse Farm, to



the Mothball Fleet,



Benicia Bridge and



Mt.



Diablo.



Eveyone does and sounds great, with a finale live performance by Amanda and Joe watched over by



Logan, Lisa, Oren, Ryan,



Tim, Alex, Jeff, Ross, Taylor, Brian, Pamela, Spencer, Dan,



Chase, Sammy, Matt, Stuart, Charlie, Ian, Max, Curt, and



Bernie (Will having to leave a little early for work and Ben out of the camera's range). Home eventually with a couple more orchestrated pages (3 and 4) of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: LXI. Concerto for Confusion and Contention.

December 8 - Winter Express with Palms

Orchestrate the first system of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XXXIX. The Cross (Qui Vult Venire) towards the second day snows of Diablo and the Concord Range for more delightful student teaching, now from



Lisa and Amanda (here with Joe) on



Albert Hague's



You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch, for dictation/sight-singing --

C (melodic minor):

Me Fa Sol Do Me Sol Fa
Me Fa Sol Do La La Ti
Sol So Do Te Le Sol Le Fa
Fa Fa Te Le Sol Fa Sol
Me Re Do Do

-- and harmony, with nice passiing basses, two Gsus7's (one with a non-traditional resolution) and an evocation of a deceptive cadence temporarily to bVI.



Dan's also up with another nice piece (here with Stuart), then off,



on a continuing chilly day, to pick up a new memory card for the Fuji, and a return home to collect quizzes past the



Mothball Fleet,



Quarry,



Wooded Peak,



Chinese Wall, Dinosaur Ridge,



Twin Sisters, Rockville Hills,



Vaca Mountains,



Fairfield Pyramids,



Poverty Hills,



and Lagoon



Mountains.



Evening class (before which, a chat with David Chavez and Lo re composition in general and Gospel Matthew: Get Thee Behind Me, Satan in particular) backtracks a bit to Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, then fast forwards through John Adams, The Police, Mark Alburger, Tan Dun, Erling Wold,



to Ryan Ross of Panic at the Disco. Out late with Doug and Owen, then an even later lights out home.

December 3 - Pole Walter

Another rapturous day bookended by orchestrated staves of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XXXVII. The Rock (Tu Es Petrus),



en plein air near



Eden,



Horse Farm, and



Stone Wind Canyon, for intriguing student teaching thanks to Tim (a fine original guitar compostion with compound intervals), Ben (adventurous harmonic dictation from John Lennon's Imagine), and Brian (impressive drum notation and performance), plus more boffo comps, then home past



The Quarry, advancing to



Chinese Wall, Dinosaur Ridge,



Twin Sisters,



the Vaca Mountains,



Suisun Marsh,



and the Lagoon Valley



Santa.