February 28 - Wild Times

A productive last day of the month, finishing up the video of Geoge Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and continuing with items considerably earlier (taking cues from contemporary animal behavior as well as the fossil records),

with Harriet and

Megan (this latter her request for an email to a friend) -- probably being influenced by all -- while composing

Abducted by Aliens:

VI. 1948 Thomas Mantell / Gorman Dogfight
(inspired by the fourths of
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 4: I
Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra: I
Alexander Courage - Star Trek: Main Title)

VII. 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter
(another triple trope, now ghoulishly on
Camille Saint-Saens - Danse Macabre and Carnival of the Animals: Fossils
George Crumb - Black Angels: Danse Macabre -- all as a passacaglia over i-bVI-iv-v)

VIII. 1957 Gordon Cooper / Antonio Villas-Boas / 1961 Betty and Barney Hill Abduction
(yet a third...
Igor Stravinsky - Requiem Canticles: Postlude
George Gershwin - Porgy and Bess: Act II, Scene 3
George Crumb: Ancient Voices of Children: V)

Ah, yes, and the temperature / rainfall month (and precipitation year -- from July 1 -- thus far...), recapitulation and augmenting...

September 21 - 0.22
September 25 - 0.01
September 26 - 0.01
November 19 - 0.41
November 20 - 0.23
December 6 - 0.60
January 29 - 0.02
January 30 - 0.12
February 2 - 0.11
February 5 - 0.10
February 6 - 0.42
February 7 - 0.71
February 8 - 2.23
February 9 - 0.96
February 15 - 0.01
February 26 - 1.04
February 27 - 0.07
February 28 - 1.28

for a total of 8.55 to date (more rainy days this month than the rest of the rainfall year combined) -- if this were the yearly,

certainly such to qualify as a desert....

February 27 - The Day After

No

exterior

photos

in

a

rainy

interval,

and,

by

Taoist

contrast,

plenty the next following,

down stratus-torn

scenic trails,

for Quiz 7 with the Theoreticians (the examples drawn from J.S. and C.P.E. Bach, W.A. Mozart, and Frederic Chopin), following up with

Owen's class,

where the topic is iio6 ("le down your sol").

Homeward

under

more

dramatically,

tragically,

traumatically

violent

beauty,

finishing Abducted by Aliens: IV. 1891 Aurora, TX, UFO Incident (13 pages total),

starting to take in an excellent production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1935 / 1992) with

Harriet and Megan, on a day featuring just a bit more rain -- .07 -- for a total rainfall year thus far of an aerially dynamic 7.27...

Late, compose more Aliens, now V. 1944 Foo Fighters / 1947  Kenneth Arnold UFO Sighting / Roswell UFO Crash -- minimalistically derived / troped on music from the group eponymously named for the World War II fighter phenomena.

February 26 - Continuum

With no pictures of the commute, it must have poured each way, and it did, for another 1.04 inches, attempting to ease California in general and the local area specifically away from a total drought disaster (Clintonially, depends what "total" means)...  Rainful thus far this rainfal year (beginning July 1) being

September 21 - 0.22
September 25 - 0.01
September 26 - 0.01
November 19 - 0.41
November 20 - 0.23
December 6 - 0.60
January 29 - 0.02
January 30 - 0.12
February 2 - 0.11
February 5 - 0.10
February 6 - 0.42
February 7 - 0.71
February 8 - 2.23
February 9 - 0.96
February 15 - 0.01
February 26 - 1.04

For a total of 7.2 thus far (n.b. both today's rain and February 8's constitute more precip in one day than in any of the days re 2013).  So it's definitely a fine day to compose page 10 of Abducted by Aliens: IV. 1891 Aurora, TX, UFO Incident,

in

conjunction

with various videos

in the company of Harriet and Megan,

and the run to DVC, of course, for review of Week 7 material with the Theoreticians + Owen's class and inverted Dominant Sevenths....

February 25 - How Could We Forget?

C Melodic Minor 

(Key Signature of 3 Flats - Bb, Eb, Ab
Ascending: C D Eb F G A-natural B-natural C
Descending: C Bb Ab G F Eb D C


Four Typical Movements in a Symphony - Forms and subsections

Sonata-Allegro: A B A' (Exposition / Development / Recapitulation)
                          a b    a' b'

Theme and Variations:  A A' A'' ...

Minuet and Trio:          A                             B                  A
                         a (repeat) b (repeat) c (repeat) d (repeat) ab

Rondo: ABACA or ABACABA


Periods for Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1825) - and characterizations

Early - Classical
Middle - Typical
Late - Romantic


Listening

[8732] F.J. Haydn - Symphony No. 94 ("Surprise"): II.
[8756] W.A. Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 5 ("Turkish"): III
[8770] Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5: I
[8803] Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique: V. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath
[8810] Frederic Chopin - Piano Prelude in E Minor
[8815] Richard Wagner - Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods): Finale

***

Another

eventful

Tuesday,

commuting

down

the

corridor

to

cogent,

plangent

undertakings

at Diablo Valley College,

including W.A. Mozart's Sonata in C Major, K. 545, as Dictation / Keyboard-Solfege / Board Harmony for the Theoreticians, plus Owen's class.

Return

briefly

for

paper-grading and composition re Abducted by Aliens: IV. 1891 Aurora, TX, UFO Incident -- specifically, page 9.

Back down for evening class's festivities,

out with Owen and Tim for late-night libations, and homeward.

One more day squeezed out with a high temperature of 70, probably finishing this 6-day semi-symmetrical run for now (70, 70, 72, 72, 72, 70), for the 17th such of summerlike weather for the year....