2009-11-21 - 8:28 a.m.
November weather has continued with wind and rain. The week has been taken up with copying the new piece into fair-score. This was initially completed on Thursday, but new ideas have since arrived. The title is Beacon Hill, after a quotation I stumbled on in The Prelude by Wordsworth. Upon the Edge of Autumn, an orchestral piece I wrote in the 1990's also took its cue from the same source. Beacon Hill is scored for soprano sax, electric guitar, percussion, piano, violin, cello and double-bass. Next on the list is an arrangement. Also wrote and performed a short new flute piece called Memento Mori on Wednesday as part of Sandra's funeral. I'd known Sandra and husband David for a number of years. We were shocked and very sorry to hear about Sandra's passing. Strangely, a CDR arrived the day before from David at DGM. It includes two new versions of the Pie Jesu orchestration which was played at the father's funeral in 2001. I listened to these particularly on the day of Sandra's funeral. Thursday was an outing to Manchester to see the excellent Field Music at the Deaf Institute. They premiered new songs from their forthcoming album. Peter and David gave me a CDR of it. Great concert. Powerful, intelligent nouveau-Prog minus the usual mellotron-driven signifier.