March 9 - Chop Wood Carry Water

Day after the SFCCO concert, so what do we do? Rehearse of course, but this time with Goat Hall / SF Cabaret Opera back at Chamber Arts in Berkeley with


Allen Crossman,


Eliza O'Malley and Kristen Jones,


Janet Lohr,


Harriet March Page,


and Kat Cornelius (basking catlike in the sun), in San Rafael News, three excerpts from Antigone, and Fire from The Bald Soprano (with recordings at markalburgerworks.blogspot.com), as well as music of Kurt Weill.


Coffee break up at Peet's overlooked by the Claremont Hotel


and the Berkeley Hills beyond.


Lunch, logistics-Board Meeting al fresco thereafter with Harriet and Janet,


followed by a drive south beside the Oakland Hills and


another hike in the Castro Valley area, continuing a string of walks south from the East Bay's Skyline Trail (considerably west of this declivity in Dublin [CA] Canyon, above),


with views of Mt. Diablo from 680 near San Ramon,


oak-and-flower-bestrewn foothills east of Danville,


the plain and hill of Cordelia,


and cows clusterd by an oak in the North Lagoon Mountains on the way home.

March 2 - Berkeley SF Double-Header Seconds

Off and on again through the Contra Costa Hills to a


rendezvous with Harriet and


other San Francisco Cabaret Opera folks (Janet Lohr, Beth Henry, and Kat Cornelius) at Chamber Arts in Berkeley for second rehearsal of


San Rafael News,


Antigone: III-V, and


The Fire from The Bald Soprano as part of the final two


Horsewomen of the Apocalypse shows at St. Gregory's in San Francisco (markalburgerevents.blogspot.com): The Red Horse and


Black Horse / Gray Horse


Lunch with Harriet and Vicky at Pasand in Berkeley, then blitzing over the Bay Bridge for


San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra March Madness concert (8pm, 3/8, Old First Church, SF, info and pictures at above) second rehearsal, with, among others, Clare Twohy, Katrina Wreede,


and Victor Flaviani (with Tom Prosek looking on).

February 29 - Leaping Lizards

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.