February 12 - Botticelli Rain in the Sunshine

Music History: Baroque / Classical / Romantic printing in the morning (some of it is online at markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com).

Costanzo Festa's Quando Ritrovna (When I Find My Shepherdess) for Theory Dictation -- interior passage which can be interpreted in D minor or F major.


Home, briefly, past a semi-pastoral scene, shall we call it Martinez Refinery Hill?


Evening class is going for Baroque, including more arguably agrarian music from Claudio Monteverdi. Doug says he doesn't recognize this portrait (neither did I until several days ago), so, OK, here's the more famous one.


He was evidently a sick man by this point (1640 for this pic, 1597 for the earlier), but you wouldn't particularly know it, although another depiction from the same year shows the situation perhaps more honestly.

What Doug does know, and I don't until the very minute, is the MacBook's ability to zoom, by depressing Option/Apple simultaneously with left fingers, while controlling minus/plus with right. This will be a minor revolution in displaying visuals in class, perhaps also helping generally vis a vis my apparent growning blindness, or at least, more reasonably, increasingly fuzzy vision. Not that I'm complaining....


Home late, and late for a little recording of 12 Preludes and Fugues ("Topical"): 4a. Death Is the Rain (Prelude).

February 10 - Berkeley Bounce

To Berkeley for Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse: The White Horse rehearsal (show is 8pm, February 16, St. Gregory of Nyssa, 500 De Haro, SF, more info at markalburgerevents.blogspot.com and goathall.org), beginning with Harriet and Sarah for Flying Out the Mouth, concluding with a run-through, with MIDI tracks and keyboard.


Next up, Suzanna, with Mice Suite No. 2 and a White Horse Suite of June's Song from Henry Miler in Brooklyn, Block 12 from Camino Real, and Brunnhilde from Cats, Dogs, and Divas, a combination of known material and coming-along-nicely.


Lunch, and probably the last time, at Celia's Berkeley at its near-the-waterfront local, since they're closing this Thursday, then we're back home in merry glissading abandonment, putting up material on the blogs.


Including recordings just made of Op 60 12 Preludes and Fugues: IIa Basic Position on the Triads (Prelude)



(with its alarming pseudo-G.F. Handel-Water-Music distortions) and

XIa. Turn On, Boot Up (Prelude)



(a rhythmic regularizing of The Bald Soprano: Goodness Someone Is Knocking [Part II], with thrashy guitars) both here and at markalburgerworks.blogspot.com, plus writing up Claudio Monteverdi and posting pictures and three versions of the Toccata from L'Orfeo up at markalburgermusichistory.blogspot.com.