December 24 - Silent Day

With family afar, Harriet and I set our sleigh for the Sierra, specifically the Merced River Canyon and Yosemite, for serenity and snow, over the Foothills, to



Cathey's Valley, up



Guadalupe



Ridge, under the



skies of Mariposa,



down towards



the Canyon, beyond



the Landslide



Bridges, past



Savage's



Trading Post to



El Portal and Cedar Lodge (the latter with Mt. Trumbull looming) for Christmas Eve dinner and gifts and visions.

December 23 - Temple of the World

Finish orchestration through page 9 of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XLIV. The Temple, proof reconstructed October 2005 issue of 21st-Century Music, print that and current January 2010 issue, then head out to deliver Sex and the Bible score and CD to Beth, and drop off the two issues at Copy World -- so, a great pseudo-circle, initially through Jameson Canyon, past


the Wine


Guy,



Napa Eucalyptus



Row,



then up beyond suspicious smoke of Stags Leap,



the Yountville Hills,



towards the Mayacamas Mountains.



There's time for a brief walk on Dry Creek



Road, from the namesake



Bridge,



uphill with



views across the interior valley to the



highlands,



part of a series of strolls as close to the unfinished Bay Area Ridge Trail as possible (the terminous today above), beyond which it's




Trinity Road into



Sonoma Valley and lights out near



Sugarloaf Ridge and



Hood Mountain -- with Windsor and Berkeley and all the rest in darkness.



So, attempt to provide a little light with album covers through Op. 60 upon return.

December 22 - Book of Entries and Exits

Finish the orchestration of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: LXIII. The Triumphal Entry, proof the January 2010 issue of 21st-Century Music, and head out past the English Hills,



Vaca Mountains,



over the Sears Point lowlands, stretching towards



Tamalpais and


San Francisco



Bay, for first standard maintenance on the new vehicle, biding time at local Chevy's while doing a cover for



The Passion According to St. Matthew. Check the post box and make the jump to the DVC Lab to catch up with Tritone Orchestra recordings of



The Gospel According to St. Matthew

XXXIX. The Cross (Qui Vult Venire)

XL. The Transfiguration

XLI. Concerto for Confusion and Contention

XLII. The Rich Young Man

XLIII. The Triumphal Entry

plus

The Nativity According to St. Matthew

IX. An Angel of the Lord



Return and begin orchestrating Gospel Matt: LXIV. The Temple.

December 21 - The Long Walk

A lot of work on the shortest-day-of-the-year solstice (even though, above, some are experiencing the longest), finishing up all the Music Lit and Theory grading, completing the orchestration of The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Op. 85: XLII. The Rich Young Man and beginning same for



XLIII. The Triumphal Entry (both informed by Arnold Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra: I), recording The Nativity, Op. 72: IX. And an Angel of the Lord, and creating album covers for Business As Usual (Op. 49), L.A. Stories (Op. 50), and Death Songs (51-54).

December 20 - The Dance

Harriet off to meet with Meghan while videos are reorganized on the homefront, and more than half of the grades are calculated for the semester. We rendezvous at local Bistro for more Sex and the Bible plans, then home to begin the orchestration of


The Gospel According to St. Matthew: XLII. The Rich Young Man (first 8 pages).