2009-08-08 - 7:26 a.m.
Another busy few days. Tuesday: work on the horn and piano piece. The second movement was completely re-written. This was hard but worthwhile work. More work on the Cross and Keeling research paper. A greater understanding of the processes involved in improvisation has emerged from this. Wednesday: fence painting. More work on the horn and piano piece. A new title has emerged following an excursion for more fence paint from the garden centre. Mark sent the Larks' Tongues in Aspic text. Checked and returned it with appropriate revisions. Thursday: more on Cross and Keeling research paper. More on the horn and piano piece. Fence painting. Friday: painted the shed and porch. Wrote up C&K Piece No. 4. David Cross sent a Powerpoint presentation for the research event. Elizabeth, Paul and Liam arrived. Liam has put on weight. Watched a programme about a recent commission for the annual series of summer concerts. It seems the establishment is having to resort to extreme novelty to get bottoms on seats. This, of course, is of no surprise with the triumph of (mostly appalling) contemporary popular music/celebrity culture and the confusion between mass culture and popular culture. In the classical world, the reason for this is wrapped-up in the contemporary paradigm (confusion) of modernity (or postmodernity to be specific); or, to see outside something when one is firmly ensconsed within it is, for some, a sheer impossibility; or a third possibility might be that extreme intelligence is often subject to enantiadromia; or a fourth possibilty might read 'man, know thyself'. This is the hardest thing to do of all. Weather: warm and sunny.