The present up-gearing

…something in the shadows waiting to pounce…

– A listener in the UK, describing the passacaglia in Plotting (y is the new x)

Now that all the clouds of Doubt are dispersed, I am greatly excited about the King’s Chapel program.

Kurosawa’s Scarecrow and Mistaken for the Sacred are both revivals;  and thus, we expect to be able to improve even upon the highly satisfactory première performances.  In particular, I think we can count on being able to crank the fixed media – that is, that in our caution, we under-dialed the fixed media in the past.

The Boston Harbor Heave-Ho (Tea Party Dance) and Considering My Bliss Options are both ad hoc rearrangements, of 2018 compositions (allowing for the fact that the first 21 mm. of the latter were composed in early 2016).  And indeed, at Peter H. Bloom’s suggestion, I shall add the horn to the Tea Party Dance.  Why leave Pamela Marshall out of the fun? in the first place; and i’ the second, I am musically amused at the challenge of adding an optional fourth line.

Our first rehearsal as a quartet will be this Tuesday coming.  Also on Tuesday, I shall meet up at last with the new-ish Music Director at First Church, Robert Jan August.  One of the choir member’s wrote earlier to say both that Love Is the Spirit has been on a kind of sabbatical, in respect for the choir’s associating the piece strongly with previous director Paul Cienniwa;  and that they fully mean to re-establish it in their repertory (after a decent interval).  And the composer is grateful for both considerations.

Oh, and I am hoping that Peter & I can get together this Sunday to start considering my Considering My Bliss Options.

Also, Barbara Otto and I shall play the Voluntary on Schönster Herr Jesu this Sunday.

And there is a special event brewing in honor of a certain person in a certain specific Boston locale in October.  Hush-hush.