I usually do my Greek over my first cup of coffee. This morning I changed my routine. I skipped Greek and went right to composing.  This seemed to work. I have managed to get several hours  of composing in today. I need to move from sketching new ideas to spinning out the ideas I have into more complete versions. I did do a bit of this today.

I am surprised by the number of ideas I am having. So far I have ideas for eight or nine dances. I guess it’s good to keep getting ideas but I need to have more first drafts done, not just sketches.

I did the usual dishes and even made bread today. I didn’t go jump on the treadmill at Evergreen and I’m not planning to skip my evening martini. But you can’t do everything.

Eileen and I rearranged the  house a bit so that it’s easier for both of us to work simultaneously. She needed to work on the computer which is right by the piano. So we moved the computer desk out of the room and put the synthesizer where the desk used to be.

We managed to free up all kinds of space and Eileen’s working on her computer on the table in the dining room.

We set it up so that the printer is handy when we need to print something.

My theory is that we don’t really a desk area these days not with the increase in very light and portable devices. Anyway, we can always put it back if we decide we want to.

I have been working despite a sort of persisting gloomy mood. I think this comes from several things. There was a spectacularly low turnout for yesterday’s recital. Twelve people. I appreciate the people who did come out (Hi Scott!), however it was a bit embarrassing to be the host and have such a fine program and not have more listeners for them. The performers were gracious and gave it 100 per cent despite the small crowd.

Another part of my gloominess has a  been a dawning on me about how out of the loop I sometimes can get.  There seems to have been concerts going this weekend that I had no idea were happening. A parishioner debuted a composition conducted by her husband on Saturday night. I figured this out from comments on Facebook. I have no idea what concert it was. Sheesh. Am I out of it.

But I am somewhat consoled because I think some of my disconnectedness is anchored in my own weird point of view of which I am firmly convinced no matter how different it is from other musicians whom I respect and admire.

So, time off seems to be working.

Time off is as much an attitude as it is a strategy. I’m planning on taking four days off next week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I’m hoping to spend some serious time composing. This means I can’t really hole up in a  hotel somewhere. I need my piano. Eileen would like to go to eat and maybe go to Meijer Garden. I’m going to make bread tomorrow morning.

This morning’s service went well. The prelude was the most challenging moment for me since my piano trio performed the first movement of Clara Schuman’s lovely piano trio. I was very happy with the performance. My cellist was disappointed in her performance but she set her bar very high. I am sure that our understanding and love of this piece came through clearly in what we did. I quietly asked the other players before we played, “You know what I want from you today?” They weren’t sure where I was going with it. I said, “I want you to have fun, to enjoy yourself.” My violinist said if I had given her a moment more she would have realized that what I was going to say.

The choir sang a Bach four part setting of “Out of the depths.” You may recall that Schumann uses a motif that is note for note the beginning of this chorale. I wrote a note to go in the bulletin about this. Unfortunately, we noticed this morning that the last line or two of my note was missing. it just stopped mid sentence. Oh well.

We leave in about a half hour to go back for this afternoon’s recital. I will be curious to see if there are more people from our parish in the audience. Rev Jen has been plugging it and is, herself, very enthusiastic about Nick’s piece. On the back of the program I have written up descriptions of four upcoming events. There is a recital at five PM in Zeeland today. I plugged that. Then Monday the AGO is hosting the retired chair of the dance department to talk about dance and church music. The other two events are our May and June recitals that we will give.

Writing up all of this is what took up my time yesterday. Otherwise, just doing Nick’s program would have been much quicker.

This was our postlude today.

I was thinking this morning about what is important to me in music. I talked about this a bit with my cellist yesterday while we were waiting for the violinist to show up. She had looked up the Clara Schumann movement we are performing Sunday and was talking about the interpretation of the players. I said that what’s important to me regardless of the style of music is that it “lives” and has rhythmic life.

I was thinking of that later after she (the cellist) said that she had an acquaintance that disapproved of professional musicians. He felt that they were depriving him of his own connection to music by insisting on learning the craft of music when it should be available for everyone and not require special knowledge or study. The violinist chimed in that she knew a young singer who had talent that would benefit from training. When my friend suggested lessons, the young singer demurred. She prefer to offer her voice as it was to God when she sang in her church.

We had come to this point in the discussion, when I explained what I say to people who think that doing 11 minutes of Clara Schumann (for example) at church turns prayer into a concert: music is a constituent element of being human and that art can lead us into being more connected to life including the life of prayer.

In response to the person who didn’t approve of professional musicians, I said that this was an act of disrespect of what music is… it trivializes it in a way that does it a disservice. Ultimately it is this lack of respect which troubles me, not lack of respect for me or my music in particular but that beauty deserves a place of honor in our lives and it takes a bit of an effort to meet it half way.

At the same time I was thinking of the fact that the new music embedded below is seen as trivial by many trained professional musicians. I’m happy to be categorized by some of them (not necessarily my piano trio players or other locals) as a bit of a hack or superficial order diazepam 10mg musician. I remember what my teacher Ray Ferguson said about listeners who told him they thought that French Classical music was trivial (“that dumm de dumm de dumm de music). He said something like he didn’t mind and still planned on learning and performing it.

There are at least two local composers to whom I have shown my compositions who have failed to respond to them. Literally. I dropped off or emailed them music and received no response. Both of these people are fine composers in their own right and are not even all that narrow. I do wonder about it but not too much. Fuck em.

I have to suspect that they have reservations about my work and not comfortable talking to me about it. Or maybe I just fall in between the cracks of their lives. I mildly regret this since I do like having colleagues. But one of the lessons life has taught me is that I am a difficult companion and colleague and that with Eileen’s love I can continue to thrive as a human who likes to make up music, music that others from both extremes might think unapproachable on the one hand and trivial on the other.

Toujours gai Archy!

Wednesday evening I was feeling depleted after disappointing myself with my rehearsal techniques at the Wednesday choir rehearsal. I flicked on this video on my YouTube stream and was immediately attracted to the groove and the sound.

Thursday night I ran across this. I quite like it. I can remember when rap began I wasn’t impressed with much of it. It didn’t seem to have a lot of music. Now you have a hip hop group like this which is entirely live and making some very cool music. I know it’s long for an embed but I like the live performance very much.

Before listening to this I played through the first six of seven two part inventions of Bach. It doesn’t seem contradictory to me to like Bach and Leikeli47. Incidentally the band is wearing TSA uniforms and Leikeli47 refers to them as the TSA band. Cool.

Eileen and I may go out of town. I want to get some serious work done on the composition for the silly AGO USB Stick. Yesterday I spent about an hour dumping my hand written sketches into Finale.  I only managed to get a small portion in, but I was pleasantly surprised that I have done so much since I have been worrying about it.

I can remember as a young man working  on a piece all alone in a resort cabin. I believe I was working on an oboe sonatina for my brother and his wife. It was both dedicated to them and written for them to perform together (which they did). I recall it was a small cottage of basically one room. I taped manuscript sketches on the walls. It helped me hold the piece in my mind as I developed it.

I would like to get in that sort of a mental space next week, except I would like Eileen to be with me.

I was very unhappy with my performance as choir director last evening.

I put a lot of thought into the rehearsal. In the last year or so, I have rehearsed pieces in the order they will be performed. But it is better to think carefully about the order of rehearsal and the objectives and then develop an order for the rehearsal.  This is what I did yesterday.

The choir did fine. But in retrospect I think I shouldn’t have spent so much time at the piano during the rehearsal. Usually I rehearse from the organ bench. It turns out that when I sit at the piano in our present set up it puts too much distance between me and the choir. So that even though I took time to help everyone put their music in order for the rehearsal I still had to work hard to keep people with me.

And a good deal of the new music is challenging for the group. Plus I had several people absent due to illness and one person had to leave because she didn’t feel well.

I should go walk on the treadmill and skip my martini this evening. But I’m not doing to do either.

The piano trio is playing Sunday. We rehearsed today and it was very satisfying. It is a  delight to meet with this people and make music.Sunday should be fun. This is part of my problem. Everything I do i enjoy. I just find myself in need of better perspective.

I felt off balance much of yesterday including a staff luncheon/meeting. When I talked privately to Jen about it, she said that it was not apparent. But I was working at being appropriate in my comments and behavior. It did take work.

When I’m this tired and distracted it’s harder to do the reading and thinking I like to do. Instead I have been playing more crossword puzzles.

This evening I am planning on my 5 PM martini. Scott Anderson (Hi Scott!) shared the following video with me and I’m planning to sip and view it.

Earlier today I decided to use that Masa Tamal flour I took out of the freezer yesterday.

After poking around, I decided I could basically use it like cornmeal. This recipe looks like the one I like to use from Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin.

I cut up a chicken breast and sauteed it in oil and fresh garlic and made a carnivore tamale pie and a veggie one using that masa tamal flour measured exactly as Lemlin calls for in her recipe.

We were chatting with Sarah in England when it came out of the oven and I “shared” theses pictures with her.

This is the veggie version.

And this is the carnivore version.

The white is the chicken. Mine tasted excellent and Eileen said hers was good.

Then I made myself a fruit salad which turned out very good.

I think the fresh mint works very well with the citrus and fresh grapes. My life is good.

Eileen and I chatted with Sarah for over two hours today. Lucy was rambunctious and kept demanding Sarah’s attention. Eileen and I were both reminded of having little kids and trying to have a phone conversation. You know. Last century.

After chatting Eileen and I walked to the Evergreen commons and walked on the treadmill. Now we are both tired and I’m going to have my martin. Stay tuned.

I haven’t skipped my evening martini in quite some time. My blood pressure is still not that low (135/94 today) and my weight is still too high (226.2). My theory is that when I skip the drink, it’s easier for me to not snack in the evenings. It’s the snacks that keep my weight high, I’m pretty sure. The rest of the day, I tend to eat pretty healthy (unless we go to eat).

If I can make up my mind to do this more often, maybe I can bring my weight down and thus my blood pressure. I’m still minus one drug since having the reaction to a blood pressure medicine last year. I was on two BP meds, but one of them was the culprit that caused my rash (which I still have slight vestiges of).  My doctor dropped the bad drug but didn’t want to add a new one in the middle of  a reaction. When I emailed her my list of high blood pressure readings as per her instructions she didn’t prescribe a new drug.  I will see her in May. I would like it if I could have brought down my blood pressure before then so I don’t have to add another drug to get it back to snuff.

Anyway, no martini or wine tonight. I usually snack instead of have supper, so the up side of this will be that I can have an actual light meal in the evenings. I rummaged through our downstairs freezer today. We want to get rid of the silly thing but it still has food in it. Eileen has been trying to make our carbon footprint smaller.  Part of that is downsizing us to the freezer in our fridge.We have found that having a smaller, more efficient refrigerator/freezer helps us. We tend to keep a bit less stuff on hand and use up more of what we have.

Today I pulled out bags of oat flour, masa harina, spelt flour, and couscous from the downstairs freezer. I cooked up the couscous for our lunch and we had shrimp, veggies, and couscous. Yum.  I will be trying out the old flours to see if they are usable. I think they are.

I walked over and did the treadmill at Evergreen today. I am now exhausted but feeling slightly smug about trying to work on my health a little bit.

I had a brilliant brain storm today. I know of at least one Anthony Burgess novel I  have not read and do not own,  The Worm and  The Ring.

Shortly after it was published, it was withdrawn from sales due to libel concerns. Consequently, it is rare and when you can find a used copy. it’s expensive ($273 on AbeBooks).

My brain storm was to interlibrary loan a copy. I don’t need to own it. I want to read it. It turns out that MelCat (the online catalog of the interlibrary loan services of the Michigan eLibrary ) owns two copies and one of them is on it’s way to me. Yay!

My guess is that this book will eventually be published by the Irwell people who are in the process of doing updated editions. The libel concerns are probably too old at this time to hold it up.

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)

Since the Burgess novel I am rereading, A Vision of Battlements, draws loosely on Virgil’s Aeneid for inspiration I picked up my copies of The Aeneid to look at. I own at least two translations.

My copy of Humphries verse translation looks like this.

And W. F. Jackson Knight’s prose translation looks like the above. I read his entire introduction and found it charming. He ends it with this story.

After pointing out that it is “hard to avoid a certain awe in” Virgil’s presence. He writes: “There is a good story of a sightseer in one of our famous galleries, who remarked to the attendant, ‘I don’t know why people make such a fuss about these pictures. I can’t see anything in them.’ To which the attendant made the sublime reply, ‘Excuse me, Sir, the pictures aren’t on trial.”

I like that.

Church went well today. I confessed to Eileen on the walk home that I looked forward to the day when i won’t have to go to church. My gig is a good one. I definitely enjoy it. But I look forward  to more relaxing times when I won’t have to hustle my aging aching bones.  It’s odd to think that my present gig is lasting longer than any other one I have ever had. It will be fourteen years this August. I think that I worked at Our Lady of the Lake for thirteen years.

Like so much of my life, a circuitous route was necessary to get where I am now. If I hadn’t worked at other church I wouldn’t have been here to take the job at Grace.

This video uses the melody from today’s sequence hymn. I was looking for a nice choral or congregation recording of it and was expressing frustration that this one didn’t have any vocals but had the words scrolling by. Eileen pointed out that it was the karaoke version. I like that so much I embedded it anyway.

I like that my congregation knows this melody. Apparently Erik Routley, the author, wrote his words for this tune by Peter Cutts.

Erik Routley (1917-1982)

I did two improvisations on it today. The first one was after the reading of the gospel. I used silences in it and had the music start and stop with nice little holes between bits of a rhythmic motive. I thought I might use some of the same improvised material in the postlude since I wanted to do a kind of mellower postlude today. But then I thought about the fact that people would be talking and there wouldn’t be any of that lovely silence in the pauses. So i came up with another treatment of it.

For the prelude, I improvised on the new Kyrie. I can’t find an online recording of it. It’s number S 94 in the The Hymnal 1982 and is from Mass XIV, mode 4, adapted by Mason Martens.

The choral anthem was a bit unusual for Lent because it was kind of triumphant sounding.  “Hosanna! Blessed is He” by Ralph E. Marryott is its name. The recordings I could find online are pretty bad. We sounded a lot better than anything I could find to share. At least, I think we did. I put the following note in the bulletin.

Music Note With the addition of Mason Martens’ adaptation of 11th century Kyrie (Lord, have mercy) we complete our service music set for Lent. All of these (Lord have mercy; Holy, holy; and Lamb of God) draw on the ancient style of sung prayer known as plainsong or plainchant. In their essay, “Contemporary Use of Chant,” [Found in The Hymnal Companion 1982 Volume One, 253-265], Richard Proulx and Raymond F. Glover have this to say about the appropriateness of chant for the contemporary church: “Its basic simplicity allows and promotes the centering of prayer within a person… Plainsong’s origins in antiquity provide the contemporary worshipper with a link to the simple worship of early Christians. When beautifully sung in an acoustically favorable environment and an appropriate liturgical context, plainchant can provide for the worshipper a sense of the numinous, of the immanent presence of God.”

Today’s anthem uses the words of the Sanctus and echoes the last line of today’s gospel, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” “The Sanctus is the song of the seraphim in Isaiah’s account of his vision of the Lord ‘in the year that King Uzziah died’ (Is. 6: 1-3, cf. Rev. 4:8). The Jewish synagogue liturgy used the Sanctus, and [in the Christian church] it became an acclamation of the people at least as early as the fourth century.” Specifically the phrase, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” associated with Christ’s entry into Jerusalem first occurs liturgically in the Apostolic Constitution (C. 380). (This information is from Commentary on the American Prayer Book by Marian Hatchett, p. 363) submitted by Steve Jenkins, Music Director

I had another Saturday funeral today. The deceased was an elderly grandmother. For some reason or other, Rev Jen had not met the deceased. One couple introduced themselves as the “members” (Presumably of Grace). It was small. People seemed in a pretty good space. That’s the sort of thing I try to gauge since music can be powerful when people are trying to grieve.

Several of the mourners were very interested in the organ so I gave them the cooks tour, opened up the guts so they could see the trackers. I don’t remember doing that at a funeral before but it seemed appropriate.

I played Mozart on the piano. Since they requested “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” instrumentally at communion, I added a little Doris Akers (author of “It’s a Sweet, Sweet Spirit”).

I had a weird moment today. The family has requested “Here I Am, Lord” for the post-communion hymn. I admit I have been scheduling these hokey Roman Catholic hymns less and less for my community. I think they are very dated but they still have meaning for some people (obviously since they were requested). But in the context of a small funeral it’s important to provide enough sound to support anyone trying to sing. I have played these Catholic hymns on the organ and for large groups of people. Very few (none?) of this genre was designed for a large groups of people to sing.

I had a disagreement with the publisher of G.I.A. about these hymns. I know I mention it here occasionally. He asked me if I had ever heard these songs done by some of the original writers. (I had) He said I overplayed them when I attempted to lead them forcefully with a large congregation.

I even made a rousing brass arrangement of “Here I am” today’s example.

But today, I switch over and played them more like an Anglican, taking the dang accompaniment more seriously. it worked fine.

I know many if not most people in my field (church music) would probably be horrified by the way I do church.

But nevertheless I think it’s the way to go. Rhythm is an important part of contemporary listener’s understanding of music. I play piano at funerals to give people a sound that is less foreign to them than pipe organ. Of course, I always try to do some cool stuff on the organ (I think I did today). That way, it is possible I might expand people’s musical vocabulary a bit to include the organ sounds.

I take solace in the comments Martin Pasi made about the way I do church music. He is part of the whole more snobby world of church music, but he still said that he appreciated that what I played was rhythmical and not boring.  I’m glad he said something to me. I like what I do usually and many parishioners and listeners over the years seem to get it. Not so many other musicians, but that’s okay.

Speaking of weird taste, I was excited to find this recording of a group whose music I adore. Not conventional sounds, but very, very cool.

It’s kind of a dreary day in Holland, Michigan, but I don’t think that’s why I have the blahs. I met with my colleagues, Nick Palmer and Rhonda Edgington, for some food and chat. I managed to talk less than usual. I like Nick and Rhonda a great deal. I don’t think our conversation gave me the blahs. But I did feel more disconnected than usual.

I went to the library and dropped off some books. I finished reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s posthumous collection of poetry, So Far So Good.

This is a poem in it I had marked because I liked it.

Wednesdays are proving to be the day of my heaviest work load. Some of this is I keep shoving all the tasks to that day. Yesterday, I finished picking choir music for the rest of the year and the June recital. There are some ambitious choices, but the choir seemed pumped last night. This group is as good as it ever has been under my direction and it is quite good.

We are singing a bit of an odd anthem Sunday. It’s Hosanna! Blessed is He! by Ralph E. Maryott. I found it in the extensive choral library at my church. This library extends back for generations. I have found that some of these older anthems are fun for the group and the composers know a thing or two about writing for voices.

This is a bit of a rambunctious piece for the second Sunday of Lent. However, the gospel ends with Jesus proclaiming ?And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'” And most of this anthem is the phrase,”Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” It can be done a Capella and this makes it sound a bit more Lenten.

The choir sounds great unaccompanied on this piece.

Laurie noticed that the opening hymn we rehearsed had “Alleluia” in it. Oops. I sent off a different suggestion this morning before Eileen and I went to the dermatologist.

I had an appointment for him to completely remove a spot on my back. He said today that the cancer I had was the most benign form of skin cancer.

Eileen and I had enough time to go out for breakfast before my trio rehearsal. The trio worked hard on the Clara Schumann piece we are playing at church a week from this Sunday. Despite being exhausted on Thursdays I enjoy working with these two very fine musicians, Amy and Dawn.

They have a slight tendency to let me lead which I resist. Usually I’m talkative due to fatigue, but I’m wary of stepping outside of my role as one of the trio since I’m convinced we need to meet in the music and all of us be equal in collaborating the final interp.

I fear some of the tendency is that simple fact that I am male. Anyway, the other two players are very good humored and gracious. At the same time they are fiercely good players. It’s a nice combo for all of us.

NYTimes: The Court and the Cross

Linda Greenhouse, always insightful.

I have be remiss in not posting here for a couple of days. Again, I have been attempting to take time off. I exercised both days. Finished reading Tremor of Intent by Anthony Burgess.

I was sitting down to record this fact and had decided to order copies of the new editions of his works of which I only have Puma (given to me for Christmas by my brother, Mark).

There in my inbox was an email from Mark about how he had ordered some of these and that they were on sale if purchased from the English publisher. I immediately ordered four books.

The whole lot only cost £80.00.

I started another Burgess.

My copy of A Vision of Battlements looks like this copy. I have read it before (there are notes in it), but I don’t remember much about. It is the first novel Burgess wrote but not the first he got published. It was published  belatedly 16 years after he wrote it. I am reading it in conjunction with reading his bio.

You can see I’m on sort of a kick.  After breakfast this morning I whipped up some dressing for salads for us to have on hand. Homemade Ranch Dressing and Raspberry Vinaigrette. I  have linked in the Raspberry Vinaigrette recipe I was looking at. I substituted Maple Syrup for the refined sugar there by making more Lustig’s “real food” approach.

After all that, we went out to eat for lunch so we haven’t used them today.

I managed to get the entire season of choral music chosen and Eileen helped me put them in the folder for tonight. Some cool stuff.

I know this is much of a post, but I have to stop and get some rest before this evening’s rehearsal.

Tomorrow I have to go to the dermatologist in the morning so that he attack the spot on my back. It’s biopsy as expected showed that indeed it was cancerous, but not melanoma. It still needs to be thoroughly removed. That’s what’s going to happen tomorrow.

The Top 25 Songs That Matter Right Now – The New York Times

Opinion | The Black Gun Owner Next Door – The New York Times

This author puts the NRA in a different perspective. Self-protection from racists.

Opinion | Think Like a Libel Lawyer – The New York Times

Opinion | America, Say My Name – The New York Times

Hope keeps music probe private – Holland Sentinel

The average person touches their phone 2,617 times a day. Source Michael Winnock, “Putting a finger on our phone obsession,” quoted in LikeWar The Weaponization of Social Medai by Singer and Brooking

Elizabethan actors only had access to their part in a play. It was found on a roll of paper strips, glued together, on which their part and cues for entry and exits were written.  This is where this usage of the word, “role,” for a part in a play came from. Source Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare p.294-295.

The city of Philadelphia originated both the after funeral musical procession (usually associated with New Orleans) and the character, Jim Crow,  both around the year 1830. source Charles K. Jones, Francis Johnson (1792-1844) Chronicle of a Black Musician in Early Nineteenth Century Philadelphia p. 290 f. 144 and p. 140 respectively.

I remember seeing signs like the above as a child in the south. I remember it angered me.

The Medieval Masterpiece, the Book of Kells, Is Now Digitized & Put Online | Open Culture

The 32 Most Iconic Poems in the English Language | Literary Hub

Friday afternoon and I’m feeling slightly guilty for not making myself go treadmill.

I had my bi-weekly meeting with Curtis Birky my therapist.

Even though his job is to listen to me, I still felt like a bit of a blabbermouth today.

But hey, according to him, that’s what he’s there for, a listener that I don’t have to connect with in a reciprocal way in the conversation.

Before leaving to see Birky this morning I made a half recipe of the Citrus Salad with Peanuts and Avocados recently featured in the NYT. I had some for breakfast and again for lunch after I got back. It’s not really an Eileen dish since it has cilantro in it. Also, she tends to like her citrus fruits when they are at their best. She is like that with a  lot of fruits and vegetables. I tend to be less picky.

The blend of fresh mint, fresh cilantro, and fish sauce works.

Mary Gordon – On Thomas Merton [Feature Review] | The Englewood Review of Books

This is a book review by my brother. I enjoyed reading it. I’m glad to see him getting published.

It’s time — high time — to take Fox News’s destructive role in America seriously

Robert Crumb: ‘I am no longer a slave to a raging libido

R. Crumb has been a constant presence in my life for years. Interesting to see what he says now.

NYTimes: The Top 25 Songs That Matter Right Now

I have yet to wade through much of this article. I have mixed feelings about their attempt to make it work as some sort of online interactive experience. I find people who design this stuff are designing it for people much differently oriented than this old codger. But I am interested in new music, that’s for sure.

A couple more recipes I have earmarked to try

Roman Egg Drop Soup Recipe – NYT Cooking

This video and song fit my mood this morning.

Last night’s Ash Wednesday liturgy would have been relatively easy for me if it weren’t for the fact that I scheduled two pieces by Bach for the organ prelude and postlude. I ascribe my Thursday morning fatigue to performing these pieces last night. It amuses me that when I schedule a larger postlude I have to husband my resources a bit with the idea that I need to be on my game at the end of the service, at time when I’m usually off balance with my head spinning a little.. My playing was not too bad but I, of course, wish I had played a bit better.

Before going to the service i lay in bed and read about half of T. S. Eliot’s poem, “Ash Wednesday.” Many years ago I wrote a little cantata based on this poem. This morning I finished reading it out loud. Reading out loud, I was struck by the fine inner rhymes Eliot makes in this poem. I guess I think of him as an intellectual poet, but the way this poem works has a primal feel. I also think I understand it better today than I ever did.

Working on  my Greek this morning I was listening to Crash Test Dummies,”God shuffled his feet.”

I was amused to hear the second track go by with a mention of T. S. Eliot. The song is “Afternoons and Coffeespoons” which of course is a reference to Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”

Jasper Johns, American Legend – The New York Times

I am enjoying having the Sunday New York Times on hand. Resting up for church yesterday, I read this article about Jasper Johns. Recommended.

A Simple Citrus Salad to Brighten Up the Dead of Winter – The New York Times

I think I’m going to steal some of the ideas in this recipe. I have been eating quite a bit of fruit since Eileen and I have thought about Lustig’s idea of “real food.”

‘Jean-Michel Basquiat’ at the Brant Shows His Bifurcated Life

Basquiat in the news. I do like his stuff.

Precedent, Meet Clarence Thomas. You May Not Get Along. – The New York Times

Thomas makes me crazy.

Today is Mardi Gras.

Trying to take time off before Ash Wednesday and Lent begins. Actually I am working on a pattern where I have some significant time away from the church grounds each week. I have scheduled a couple of Bach pieces for tomorrow night’s Ash Wednesday service.  Alle Menschen müssen sterben (All people must die) BWV 643 and Praeludium in C BWV 545. I know both pieces pretty well but the Praeludium has some moving pedal parts that I want to nail. So in the afternoon yesterday I traipsed over to church. Before practicing I decided on a prelude and postlude for this Sunday.

Here’s a couple cool versions of the prelude:

I looked up some interpretations online since I haven’t played that much Spanish baroque/medieval music. The first interp comes from a group directed by my hero, Jordi Saval. I was so happy to see that he had recorded this. The second seems to be a recording of a historical instrument in a Barcelona museum. I like both recordings quite a bit.

The second piece is a Passomezzo and Saltarello from the Tabualtur Buch of Bernhard Schmid the Elder. Here’s a nice recording I found online.

Both pieces come from a 1942 collection called Spielbuch für Kleinorgel oder andere tasteninstrumente edited by WolfGang Auler volume I which I believe I purchased used from Craig Cramer.

Lovely stuff. Schools are closed in Holland and the surrounding area today due to weather. I’ll probably give in again and go practice Bach later. Yesterday I spent three hours on the bench mostly reading through pieces of Bach many of which I have performed. I love the trios and preludes and fugues, but most of the ones I like take a lot of prep time, something I am keeping an eye on so that I don’t spend too much time doing my job. But it is fun to sit and play carefully through old Bach trios and Preludes and Fugues.

Also, I am composing and that is taking energy. I think I will manage to get my piece done in time. It is a collection of dances. I deliberately chose something that if I don’t quite get done for the deadline I can submit what I have and finish it at my leisure.

Dawn agreed on Sunday to learn the G major Bach Cello suite first movement. I worked on the D Minor prelude and fugue of Bach yesterday and plan to schedule it at the May recital. I am still pondering the rest of the recitals I have scheduled for May and June. I want them to be rewarding and fun for everybody involved. I think I can pull that off.

I’m back into my dermatologist to have a significantly less lethal spot removed from my back next Thursday. I had a call today from the pathology nurse and we scheduled this appointment. It’s a basal cancer which is more routine than a melanoma.

One of the nice things about the pieces I have chosen for this Sunday is that I can effectively  rehearse them on the piano and don’t have to go into church to practice them.

My Sunday New York Times arrived for the second week in a row yesterday. Maybe that will be the routine. I certainly hope so.

I’m baking bread right now. We have been living on homemade bread for a while. But we also have been using up some of our store bought bread by keeping it in the freezer and only pull out a couple slices at a time. Waste not, want not.

I was looking at the words to the hymn “Praise to the Lord” recently. The hymn tune paired with these words is called Lobe den Herren and that is the melody of the organ piece I am working on for the regional AGO USB of local composers.

I start with Watson’s Annotated Anthology of Hymns that I have been slowly working my way through.

Watson is pretty stuffy. His info is top notch but he doesn’t seem to ever mention the American Episcopalian Hymnal 1982 even though his book was published in 2002. His book is like a collection of hymn texts with a few paragraphs of commentary on each hymn.

The translation he cites for “Praise to the Lord” is Catherine Winkworth’s classic translation of Neader’s 17th century German text.

Joachim Neander (1650-1680)

I think Watson has made a mistake not to use the translation from the Hymnal 1982 which alters Winkworth’s excellent translation just a bit to make it more like the original German. For example, in her first stanza she has “All ye who hear, Now to his temple draw near.” The Hymnal 1982 actually is much closer to the original German, “join the great throng, psaltery, organ, and song.” The original is “Kommet zuhauf, Psalter und Harfe, wacht auf.”

The German seems to mention the psaltery and harp but no organ or song.

But both Winkworth and the editors of the Hymnal 1982 seem to miss the German of the next line which is “lasset die Musicam  hören!”  I take this to mean something like “Let us hear the music.” Winkworth wrote: “Join me in glad adoration.” The Hymnal 1982: “sounding in glad adoration.”

Anyway, you get the idea.

Watson’s anthology is grouped by region and chronology. I was looking at this info yesterday morning before church and was just about to put the books back when I noticed that he follows “Praise to the Lord” with “All my hope on God is founded.” This was to be our opening hymn.

I was intrigued to discover that it too was written by Neander. The translator in this case was Robert Bridges.

Robert Seymour Bridges (1844 – 1930)

Watson writes that Bridges was an “expert on prosody,” and uses “elaborate Miltonice syntax, with inversion and suspension everywhere.”

I had never though much about that but think it’s an excellent text. I was startled that the original was from the 17th century. But then I figured out that my impression of the hymn is highly colored by Herbert Howell’s wonderful 20th century tune named after a deceased child of his, MICHEAL.

Herbert Howells  (1892 – 1983)

In the Hymnal 1982 companion, Ray Glover’s commentary quotes Percy Dearmer who points out that Bridges often “does not really translate” the “German originals, but uses them merely for suggestions, not only paraphrasing freely, and omitting many verses, but also adding new verses of his own.”

Once again I found the editors of the 1982 Hymnal subtle and adroit in their changes to Bridges’ translation.

They cleverly keep some of the male language when it refers to God, but “Pride of man” (St. 2) is changed to “Mortal pride.” In the same stanza “Sword and crown betray his trust,” becomes “Sword and crown betray our trust.” I think this is clarifying because I might have missed that the “his” in the original doesn’t refer to God but to humans.

At least that’s how it seems to me. There’s more but I think that’s enough for here.

The fact that the tune is by a 20th century dude colored my prelude improv yesterday so that I used the musical language of the late 20th century in making it up.

I like this.

Opinion | Our Culture of Contempt – The New York Times

I have been having fun thinking about the May recital. I would love to compose a piece for the five of us to play, but I think that I need to concentrate on the organ piece I am writing. But I’ve already a sense of what I would like this recital to be like.

First of all, I want it to be playful. I have been toying with a name for it. “Not Your Usual Recital?” Eileen suggested “Stone Soup.” She said I was the Stone. She said that in the story the stone brings everything together. I said that the stone doesn’t contribute anything of substance to the soup. Ahem.

Or maybe something with the word “play” in it. “Musicians at Play.”

I know I want my piano trio to perform Oblivion by Piazolla.

I have embedded this video before.

I also know I want to do some arrangements of my own stuff. If I do that I can include music that rarely gets heard without having to hunker down and write a completely new piece. The organ piece I am working on might adapt well to being done by some of the players who have agreed to play.

Also, I  am considering reviving some of my earlier coffee house compositions like Drek or instrumental versions of pieces like “Moneyland.” Some Zappa would be nice.

Peaches En Regalia is easier the more people you have to play with. Jordan has done it with me when I did it in the coffee shop. It’s definitely one of my favorites but I do like Mister Green Jeans.

I want Jordan to use both his classical sax sound and his jazz sound. I love them both. I also know I would like to play harpsichord, marimba, and banjo on this recital.

I plan to ask my cellist to learn an unaccompanied Bach cello suite. I am thinking of the first movement of the G major.

I’m hoping that she will not only agree to do so but that learning it won’t be a hardship for her. In the spirit of doing a playful recital I am thinking of coming up with stuff that wouldn’t be too hard for us to prepare but loads of fun to pull together.

I have a book of jigs and reels for violin and keyboard I plan to look at and maybe suggest to Amy.

I wrote a silly organ piece for Rhonda on the hymn tune CWM RHONDDA (Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah). I could ask her to play it or play it myself or arrange it.

Starting the recital with the Toccata and Fugue in D minor of Bach might be the ticket.

I sort of feel like I owe this to my parishioners, having had several people mention it to me. I have been  learning it and looking for a place to play it. It doesn’t seem to work as a prelude or postlude. Jen and I talked about inviting parishioners back after coffee hour some Sunday to listen to it.

Anyway, it’s fun to kick around different possibilities with such a talented crew.

These four people: Rhonda Edgington, Amy Hertel, Dawn Van Ark, and Jordan Van Hemert, represent the local musicians that I feel like I can connect with and appreciate.

It will be a gas to come up with something for us to do.

I’m also kicking around ideas for the final June recital with the choir. I definitely want us to learn “Come Sunday” by Ellington to use both  in a Eucharist setting and in the recital.

This not only means I will have scheduled Ellington for the first and last Grace Notes Recital, but I will have added a piece to the choral library. I purchased 25 copies of an arrangement sight unseen. It came in the mail yesterday and I was disappointed. I didn’t think it was as good as I wanted it to be.

Eileen reminded me that Our Lady of the Lake might still have copies of the version I did there. I couldn’t find my single copy of this version to order from. So I emailed the choir director at my old church and she instantly said we could have 18 copies and that she would mail them to me. How nice is that? I plan to have the choir sign a thank you card after we get it. I’m hoping that arrangement is as good as I remember it being.

In addition I have asked Laure Van Ark to learn a solo aria by Handel. On Wednesday night I was talking to Kris Pierce our new soprano. Kris has a good solo voice and misses cantoring the way she used to in the Roman Catholic church (she was actually in the choir at Our Lady of the Lake when I worked there if I remember correctly).

I told her I would try to come up with something for her for the June 9 recital. I also mentioned that I’m not really a voice teacher and would love it if she could get one to help her with anything I come up with. She has a teacher she likes so that looks like a possibility.

Then I got to thinking how much fun it would be to do a two soprano movement from a Bach cantata. So I’m thinking that I will have two solos and one duet at the June 9 recital in addition to “greatest hits” sung by the choir.

I am finding that staying away from church on days off helps me get my perspective back. I am planning on staying away from the building today. Tomorrow I will put in some prep for Sunday and pick upcoming organ preludes and postludes for Ash Wednesday and Lent I.

I don’t have much planned for today. My cellist is in the middle of having her cello refurbished so she has no instrument, so no trio. My violinist didn’t say anything about wanting to get together with just the two of us. Maybe she’s feeling a bit fatigued like I am. She doesn’t own a car so getting around in this weather can be challenging. So far she hasn’t accepted any of my offered rides. I think she likes not being addicted to having a car.  Anyway, so I don’t have anything scheduled today.

I am doing some composing. As a result of this I went back and looked at some compositions I did for a little study group back in 2009. My friend, Nick Palmer, invited a bunch of people to get together on a monthly basis and work on some compositional tasks in order to hone our skills and give each other feed back. It was a group of working Roman Catholic musicians (besides me).

Anyway, I was looking back over these pieces because I remember some techniques I was considering using again. The funny thing is I was surprised how much I liked these old compositions. They’ve never been performed and tend to be specifically designed to fit in the Catholic mass, but I was surprised how my present aesthetic was not offended by these old pieces. My tastes are so weird these days. I can clearly tell when music attracts me. It’s a tangible reaction I have with little desire to convince others of my own predilections. My experience is that the music I make up whether improvised or composed seems to be attractive to some listeners, so what the heck. I’m not the only one who likes them.

I was examining some music that came in the mail recently. I haven’t learned anything by the composer Scheidemann. He was a student of Sweelinck. What’s notable about him is that he wrote a ton of organ music at a time when other composers were not specializing in it the way he did.  Rhonda loaned me her copies of music. Unfortunately, the editions that I ended up purchasing were significantly different from Rhonda’s. Since she studied with Vogel who is a bit of expert on this kind of thing I’m guessing that her version is a better one. I’m going to return the editions I purchased and get the ones she has.

Having a couple of days off earlier in the week seems to have energized my Wednesday. I’m thinking another couple of days off might be just the ticket for me starting with today.

Are Robots Competing for Your Job? | The New Yorker

Andrew McCabe’s Countdown to the Mueller Report | The New Yorker

From the same issue as the Lepore article. I thought it was an interesting short synopsis of McCabe’s book.

White Supremacism in the U.S. Military, Explained – The New York Times

This is a frightening little article in today’s paper.

NYTimes: Why R.B.G. Matters

I have had a very productive day so far. Eileen and I had breakfast together and boggled. Then I went to church and worked on planning until the noon Staff luncheon. We have several new staff members and it was fun to see them so relaxed and chatty.

Then Jen and I met. We picked out Lenten service music. Jen okayed three more Sundays off in July and the first Sunday in August of this year as paid leave. I have already contacted my sub, Linda Fulton, and she can do this. This means that I’m up to eight weeks off this Summer. Excellent.

On Wednesday afternoons, I like to spend some time lying down and reading the latest New Yorker. I am planning on adding the leftover sections of the previous Sunday’s New York Times (assuming I continue to receive it).

Jen also okayed May 19 as a recital date for me. I have emailed my friends, Jordan VanHemert, Rhonda Edgington, Amy Hertel, and Dawn Van Ark to ask them to join me on this recital. I’m even considering reviving Dead Man’s Pants with this crew. I think that would be fun. Ronda could play the part that I wrote for Jennifer Wolfe and I could play banjo and sing. We’ll see.

Now to rest up for this evening.