Frustrations and Musical Matrices

Working this weekend tired me out. I can definitely tell is is spring. I don't want to do anything and when I do something, I feel tired and like I don't want to to anything else. Maybe its just because its becoming the end of the year very quickly and I'm seeing that some of my friends are already done with school and I want to be also. I'm just having a hard time focusing on anything besides horn and theory. I'm getting really bored and ticked off in Wind Symphony too. I was ready to perform the music about a month ago and people make so many stupid mistakes. I mean you really have to try hard to play 40 cents sharp and miss accidentals all the time. Thalia is getting better. The music is finally getting to a somewhat acceptable form (at least Hanson isn't yelling at the orchestra anymore) and the sub for principal horn was here last week and he's really good. I like playing with him. Brass Choir is basically done. We're playing 2 pieces for the concert Friday. The duet I'm playing with Kirstin is going really well. I'm excited to play it on Thursday. I'm starting to get a little nervous about En Foret. My practice sessions have been really good recently, but I still haven't played with Krysta. I think I'm going to go see I Puritani at Seattle Opera Wednesday night. I need an excuse to escape from all this chaos.

Theory was really good today. Andrew, Kirstin and I all totally understood what Dr Newby was talking about and we were rocking it. We analyzed this Bartok duet in class and we had it figured out in like 5 minutes and we spent awhile during class ripping it apart and looking at all the different pieces. It was really good. Then we entered the MATRIX. We learned about serialism which is 12 tone music. I don't have time to explain it or the complete mental capacity to do so. Basically you have all 12 semitones and you can't repeat one of them until all 12 have been stated. The order those 12 tones are played is called a Tone Row. The matrix is the 12 transpositions of those intervals (144 numbers). Confusing, huh? We rocked it. And I got an A on that Debussy Prelude we turned in (the Cathedral one). Sweet.

I think I smell a rant. So we had to take this English Placement test first quarter freshman year and I scored 1 point too low from testing out of having to take a class. So now I had to fight to not take it next quarter (which I can't because of how many credits I already have). I got the hold taken off my registration for tomorrow (Fall Quarter), but now I'm going to try and see if I can get out of taking this class altogether. I think its stupid that I have to take it because I get A's on basically everything and basically all the papers I've written in 2 years. I guess I will just have to see what happens. Some of SPU's policies are stupid and this is definitely one of them.

Here's the upcoming things I'm playing:
May 15 – 1:00pm: Duet with Kirstin (Practicum), Bach Theatre
May 16 – 7:30pm: Wind Symphony, First Free Methodist Church
May 18 – 7:30pm: Reconciled (Wind Symphony/Gospel Choir), First Free
May 22 – 1:00pm: Solo (Practicum), First Free Methodist Church
May 29 – 7:30pm: Thalia Symphony Orchestra, First Free, ($15, $10 students)


Oh and check out Battles. Those guys are crazy. Their music is awesome.