first time in 3 months was the inaugaration of

Sorry for not posting more often - all the usual excuses abound. My exam last week was adequate but no more - generally I'm just relieved to have finished symphonic analysis for good. Cue huge inward sigh of relief. According to the instructions left with the 72hr take-away paper, we are to destroy our copies of the score because they're copyright. I will take great pleasure in building a mini-bonfire later on.

In the 4 days leading up to now I have managed to achieve a lot in terms of compositional output. Dan's video game, Goats and Tigers, has been the main focus of this. In his game there are 7 levels, plus the title sequence, time attack mode, and end credits. This meant that there were 10 different pieces of music to be written. With the exception of the title sequence and the time attack, it is completed. The main idea I had for the game was to have stylistically contrasting pieces between levels - as it turns out, level 1 is a retro 80s sort of synth & keyboard affair, (think Yes or Human League) level 2 is a string orchestra, etc. To speed the process up slightly we spliced 2 minute sections from some of the pieces I've written before - these were Marina and Garden of Mystery. Marina should work particularly well since it is about oceanic life, and the game pieces on that level are fishes - apparently.

The work doesn't stop there, either. Tomorrow (today, in fact) is the deadline for the submission of pieces to be performed by the Leeds University Liturgical Choir. As you can imagine, this is a very important thing. The 22-strong choir comprises 12 females and 10 males, so all the entries have had to be written in SSAATB rather than the regular. Don't ask me why though ... unless they have a particularly wide range of female voices. I have been working in alternating hours on the video game music and this. It takes surprisingly long to compose a 3 minute piece for choir when there are 6 entries. Last week, I also posted off my application to study an MMus. A decision should be imminent, or by Easter at the very latest.

Just found a ticket stub lying on the floor from when I visited the HCMF - Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. There was an enormous amount of new music on display, but distance and other lectures proved to be hindrances. I managed a mere 3 visits there this year, including a fine performance by the Smith Quartet, who played some very sinister, chromaticy stuff replete with unearthly glissandi and harmonics. Another performance, possibly the most bizarre I have ever seen, was a Turkish man called Dhafer Youssef performing a variety of meditative chants with a jazz band as backing. Very contemporary.

Elsewhere, I may need to buy some new jeans as my penchant for beer, Doritos, and oatmeal and raisin cookies appears to be catching up with me. Unfortunately, any time away from my desk will mean time lost for work. My dissertation's due in when we break up for Easter (8 weeks away) and there's 5200 words still to be written. Oops.