June 15, 2009
Ag report
It's time for pictures from Black Water Farm! This is the cleanest garden I've ever had, if not necessarily the most productive. Cold weather crops are doing fine; the tomatoes and peppers, OTOH... Ignore the time stamps on the pictures; the setting was off and I couldn't figure out how to change it.
Here's the same thing from the back:
Closeup of those cole crops:
Here's the potatoes and sweet corn in back (not so pretty):
"I got some Golden Comets real cheap at the auction!" Uh, because they're boys? 'sawright...they're just waiting to be meat:
And here's a tragedy: the hen duck was murdered. Hubby has been hanging put near the chickens, just for companionship. So sad...
Last, I was going to bring you a photo of my favorite farm hand, but she vetoed it because it makes her nose look big. And she wonders why I never take pictures of her...
March 12, 2009
Super flumina Babylonis
Here's my somewhat madrigalian setting of Psalm 137 (Vulgate), sung by Cantores Cleveland (Lisa Rainsong, Barbara Margolis, Evan Bescan, Greg Heislman)
February 06, 2009
Candlemas at St. James
Some folks may be interested in my new gig, and how that's going. I meant to record the Evensong for Charles I, but I forgot to charge the Minidisc, and it was totally dead. But I had it ready for Monday. Blend isn't all it could be here either, and the first high note in Adorna is wildly sharp. But all in all, it's pretty decent for an 8-person choir.
Adorna
Gabriel Faure: Messe basse. Kyrie
C. V. Stanford: Nunc dimittis in Bb
August 25, 2008
My shawm band, Burgundy
OK, it's not Piffaro, by a long shot. But here's a little taste of what Paul, David and I do.
Mein morken gaf, (3 part version) on shawms and sackbut.
Fortuna desperata (shawms and sackbut)
Laultro jour (anon., Bologna Q16), on recorders
Ile fantazies de Joskin, by (who else) Josquin des Pres. Recorders.
June 10, 2008
Trio for Violin, Alto Saxophone and Piano
Written for and played by the Cleveland Duo & James Umble
I. Closer than they appear
II. The answered question
III. Battlefield dance
II and III are segue, but separate tracks on my CD, so imagine the break isn't here.
May 30, 2008
Global warming Hot air at La Scala
Italy's premiere opera house has just commissioned on opera based on OwlGore's "Inconvenient Truth" from Giorgio Battistelli, currently artistic director of the Arena in Verona. It's not mentioned which librettist will have the duty of producing a drama from an alleged book of nonfiction, though Battistelli has done his own libretti, including that for Cenci (after Artaud), but not for the recent The Fashion (by Bob Goody) or Richard III (Ian Burton)
I've not heard a note of his music, which has been described as "post-modern atonality" and "a colourless gouache of synthetic sub-Birtwistle". George Loomis of the International Herald Tribune wasn't easy on his skills in the one non-negotiable of opera:
The chief fault of "Richard III" lies in its text setting. Proponents of opera in English — "Richard III" was written in English and performed with Flemish supertitles — argue that if only singers enunciate clearly and conductors keep the orchestra under control, words will come through. But Battistelli stacks the deck against them with heavy, though interesting orchestration, and angular vocal writing with long note values doesn't help.
...though given that this is An Inconvenient Truth, the inept text-setting might help the project.
But the real issue here is plot. This being opera, we need a concrete love interest. Perhaps Battistelli could cast the prima donna as the goddess Gaia, and the lead tenor (or countertenor!) could sacrifice himself to her by being buried alive in a huge compost pile.
May 23, 2008
Symphony in D
For those who missed it last weekend, here is the Schimpfonie (as its dedicatee, Vienna-based composer David Babcock, calls it), performed by the Suburban Symphony Orchestra under Martin Kessler. It's about 26' long. Enjoy!