Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Daily Log: February 18, 2015

Aaaaaaaaaand I'm back!

My regiment has been... well, off.  Mainly because I've been putting all of my focus into compiling my notes for my Haydn paper, and now I'm correcting midterm essays for 302.  I'd really like to create a post about how to become a better writer about music.  I think my students need that.

Once I finish correcting 302 essays, I suspect things will start getting back to normal.  I've learned not to try and do them all in one sitting, and to double check my scoring before I make their grades official.

In the meantime, we've studied Mozart and Beethoven in 302, and we finished up Haydn's London Symphony in 604.  20th Century Counterpoint has led us through a whirlwind of sound mass pieces, including lots of Ligeti's "micropolyphonic" techniques.

I then composed a short work using those techniques.  I'll post about that some other time as well.

As far as my Oliveros research is concerned, I'm slowly working my way through von Gunden.  I should probably start some of my other books that I have checked out before they're due at the library.  And I've gotten my hands on a lot of sheet music.

LaRue... meh, I read a little bit of a chapter the other day.

I have a good idea about the kinds of points I'd like to address in my Haydn paper.  The hard part now is figuring out what order to present them in.  Do I want to discuss Haydn's background as a Freemason first, or do I want to just jump right into the music and explain his possible motivations for the choices he made later?  Hmmm...

I did make some progress on Goethe poetry the other day.  And I translated a source from German to English for my Haydn paper.  It wasn't a very helpful source, however, so it felt like a slight waste of time.

A couple of important accomplishments:
1.  Dr. Johnson wants to use portions of my Mussorgsky paper as a sample for his future students in 605.  What an honor!
2.  My piece "For Five Bodies" is probably going to be performed at the Salt Lake Library for their Concert Series called 12 Minutes Max.  This is kind of important.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Daily Log: February 5, 2015

Today I researched Haydn very deeply, reading through three books on the subject of The Creation and Haydn's history as a Freemason.

I also assisted students in preparing for the 302 midterm.

Speaking of which, we began our discussion of Beethoven as the forerunner of the Romantic Era in 302 today.


Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Daily Log: February 4, 2015

I spent more time helping other students succeed than working on my own projects.  It's midterm season, and lots of kids want reviews for the 302 materials before they take the tests.

It's annoying and fulfilling at the same time.

I did manage to read a little bit of LaRue and read a bit of material for my Haydn paper.

I also managed to lose my students' grades for my sight singing class.  It happens, right?