It's not really an urban commute if one passes one of these puppies from time to time. And it is indeed time for a little country music -- that is, music from our country, but first we have to get there
as the fog exposes one of the Buckhorn nipples
and sends a chill blanket careening down towards Long Barn
and a crisp line at Horse Farm
where the world is reduced to an unknown banner of blue, white, and green,
the simpler the better,
with perhaps a running fence,
and the land looks elemental -- be it Stonewind (from the north)
Summit (from the south)
or the Rill,
near a first glimpse of Trash Valley (true to form, arguably trashy),
though Eden remains, well, Eden -- untouched.
Theory dictation is Charles Ives's
Variations on America (the Spanish variation [well, as it was also originally an English tune, guess this is not quite so American after all, yet as a heterogenous blend, maybe still so] with other excerpts below):
Melodically, F harmonic minor: Do Do Re Ti Do Re Me Me Fa Me Re Do Re Do Ti Do
Harmonically, i iio6 V7 i6 V7 i iio6 i64 V7 i iio6 i6 V7 i to M6 downbeat
then in the lab to record Antigone: I-V (V. Where Is Your Pain above and below) and
The Bald Soprano: XVIII. The Fire.
Next, leaping over to Marin,
the ascent of the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge, with Mt. Tam beckoning,
sheltering San Quentin in its bosom (and what happened to the sunshine?).
Dropping the March 21st-Century Music Journal (21st-centurymusic.com and 21st-centurymusic.blogspot.com) off at the printers, with an interview re Frederic Rzewski's
The Fall of the Empire, then
time to head home for episodes 6-9 of I, Claudius, with Caligula (in this case, a young John Hurt in his first major role) threatening.
