Gone from completing four songs to five - yes, five - songs for the rock opera in piano score. Yet what does my tutor think when I present to him the work? "Is that it?" (Presuming he was expecting a full-blown set of orchestrations) Before my face crumbled, he quickly added, "But you've done loads of work, just orchestrate it in January or something..."
The sadly ironic thing about it all is I have completed about 16 minutes of music for composition, yet this is the last thing due in over the course of the year (May 05) whereas more pressing matters (dissertation, analysis of 60 mins of symphonic music) have been somewhat neglected. Trepidation is the predictable outcome. Tomorrow I must really crack on with my analysis of the 1st mvmt. of Beethoven's Eroica symphony.
I've also started to get paid for my job - what a relief. I received one cheque in the post and a bank credit when I checked my account online, so now I can finally start paying off that pesky credit card. By my calculations I should still be able to splurge on Xmas presents, work my current shift pattern (Mon 8am-11am, 5pm - 9pm (a killer) and Sat 8am - 6pm) and have enough money to go travelling after I graduate next summer. [Assuming, of course, nothing crazy happens, e.g. I fall in love and move in with some girl, so I have to work longer to make rent. (Un?)thankfully this is still in the realm of extreme unlikelihood, so I have decided not to contemplate such propositions.]
The gig at the OAP home on Thurs night was ok. There were more volunteers than usual (five) and my set got a decent enough reception - a heady mix of U2, Muse, Queen, Einaudi and Katie Melua. I may have to limit how many times I go there, since the student union is in crippling debt, and so therefore cannot reimburse the petrol expenses incurred by me. (Yeah, yeah, before you get up on the moral high horse, scream "it's voluntary!", and thrash your handbags at me, I also give several of the volunteers lifts home in the evenings, particularly if they are girls scared to walk home alone. We do, of course, live in rough times.)
Now the exciting bit! (Which you will know already if you read my website.)
After Christmas I will be turning my attention to the documentary that my housemate Ben is filming, since I agreed to write original music for it. Ben has let me be on set while filming happens in January, and I suppose I will add the music somewhere in post-production. Apparently it will be in the region of 45 mins long, so that's quite a challenge, but I like that. He also has plans to make 3 further parts to the documentary, which may or may not happen dependant upon the success of the original, but if that happens ... that's a "lorra lorra" stuff to write. Unless I resort to the time-hallowed composer's trick of sneakily recycling material ...
January 18th also marks the deadline for the Leeds Uni Liturgical Choir call for scores. The aim is to write a piece between 2-3 mins for the 22-strong Liturgical Choir (12 female, 10 male) that shouldn't be too hard. I may have to attend some of their few remaining Semester 1 rehearsals to find out their various capabilities; pointless to write something too easy or difficult. I was toying with the idea of setting Psalm 75 (see the previous posts in my blog) to music, part of which could be in the Lydian mode, (once outlawed by the Church for demonic connotations) which could then also play on the audience expectations surrounding augmented 4ths by reverting to diatonicism from modality. It all adds up to being quite a lot to pack into 2-3 mins.
But now I am off to bed. I have been up since 6.45 this morning due to a 10-hour shift at work, and I am absolutely fucking shattered. On the other hand, I don't suppose I'd be doing anything else at 6.45 on a Saturday morning, so I might as well drag my arse to LS27 and earn some money for sitting on my posterior. Feeling a bit under the weather as well of late; I think I have caught a cold that's spreading throughout our house. And goddamnit, it's the badminton tournament tomorrow (50p entry to play a team player, pint if you win.) and so my chances don't really look that great. Sigh.
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