During yesterday’s practice, the Saint-Saëns organ pieces I am learning began coming together. The musical logic of the Prelude in B Major had pretty much eluded me until yesterday. I found the meter confusing. It’s in 6/8, but each 16th note is divided up into triplets. Thus the meter is very compound feeling.
I found it difficult to hear the complete measure as a unit. Yesterday I began counting each measure in two groups of nine. That did the trick. Cool.
I made page turn copies of both pieces and began rehearsing from them. I also worked a bit more on Buxtehude.
At home for some inexplicable reason I played through a couple of Tchaikovsky piano pieces. It was very odd. I quite enjoyed them. What is happening to me? Heh.
I called my Mom and invited her over to have lunch with Eileen and me. She begged off. Then changed her mind and called back within an hour to accept. Went and got her. The three of us had a pleasant lunch in back yard. Eileen walked back to work. I drove Mom to wait in the library parking lot while I went in and got her more Christian romance novels to read. She must be reading 6 or 7 of these a week if not more.
This morning I need to make viola scores of the hymns for tomorrow. At least the ones I envision my violist playing along on.
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With Science, New Portrait of the Cave Artist – NYTimes.com
Amazing that a cave is described in this article that “appeared to have been revisited and painted many times over a span of 20,000 years.” It’s like science fiction.
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Sioux Group Asks Officials to Reopen ’70s Cases – NYTimes.com
This is a convoluted story. What in the world is going on? The reporter dryly reports official “suicides” that were found with knife wounds. Weird.
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Does Wine from New Jersey Taste the Same as Wine from France? : The New Yorke
Objective tests continue to mortify experts. Satisfying.
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Chronic Fatigue Researcher Won’t Face Theft Charges – NYTimes.com
Intellectual dishonesty never fails to amaze me.
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Bahrain Compounds the Injustice With Doctors’ Convictions – NYTimes.com
So these doctors treated patients and then were arrested and tortured. Now most of them have been sent to jail.
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What Republicans Think – NYTimes.com
I love the author’s use of a “debauched musician” as an example of an over paid rich person.
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We Don’t Need No Education – NYTimes.com
In the comments section to Krugman’s article, “palnicki” from Columbus, Ohio penned this observation:
Remembering history is not a common human activity. After WWI Germany had austerity imposed on it. When the depression came along and greatly increased the pain, the matter was temporarily resolved when a megalomaniac stimulated the economy reneged on national debts and attacked those who imposed the auterity and stole as many of their national assets as he could. Will we repeat this horrid solution?
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How Greece Squandered Its Freedom – NYTimes.com
So many of this author’s historical comments reminded me of America right now. Not good.
Example:
We lost the self-discipline, moderation and inventiveness that once helped the Greeks achieve great things, and we succumbed to political expediency, delusions of grandeur and a fatal sense of entitlement.
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