Days to go:861 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 139:

THE DONKEY

When forests walked and fishes flew
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood,
Then, surely, I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening bray
And ears like errant wings--
The devil's walking parody
Of all four-footed things:

The battered outlaw of the earth
Of ancient crooked will;
Scourge, beat, deride me -- I am dumb --
I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour --
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout around my head
And palms about my feet.

(G. K. Chesterton)

Days to go: 862 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 138: Here are the performers for the Memorial Concert for Larry Cortner:

Paul Merritt (First St. Andrew's United Church, London, ON)
Dr. Ron Fox (St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica, London, ON)
Sandra Young Tangjerd (London, ON)
David Palmer (All Saints' Anglican Church and the University of Windsor, Windsor, ON)
Michael Unger (Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY)
...et moi!

The London Centre of the RCCO is bringing refreshments. Gabriel Kney and Paul Poppy have been working on the organ (Casavant 1972, mechanical action) in Studio 18 of the Don Wright Faculty of Music, University of Western Ontario.

Dr. J. S. McIntosh, colleague of Dr. Cortner, will be attending along with Mrs. McIntosh. Former students and friends will be in attendance, and the concert is open to the public.

If a google search of Larry Cortner's name has brought you here, please feel welcome to come to the Concert, which will be held at 3 o'clock on Sunday, May 1, 2011. Free admission and free parking.

Days to go:863 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 137: Well, the really exciting news is that David Palmer is going to play John McIntosh's "Thou My Soul's Shelter," a piece dedicated to Larry Cortner, on the Memorial Concert. Such a gracious person. All of them are gracious people.

Practiced most vigorously last evening and ache all over now, especially my shoulders. Lesson learned. Ouch!

The Bach is not in good shape but will be.

Days to go: 864 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 136: The Reboot of An Organist's Bucket List!

I am happy to announce that I have started serious practicing again. It helps to have motivation: in my case, the Memorial Concert for Larry Cortner, 3:00 pm, May 1, 2011, Studio 18, The Don Wright Faculty of Music, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

I am going to play the .25 of this list -- the Fugue from the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor by J.S. Bach. I was going to play John McIntosh's "Thou My Soul's Shelter" but I have a different plan for that work.

So I stopped by St. Patrick's and played the fugue 4 times through on a full plenum. Many errors up to tempo but none at a slower tempo so I guess the future is clear... 60 days to fix it before the concert.

This is fun! I'd forgotten.

Days to go: 865 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 135:

BOY AND EGG

Every few minutes,
he wants to march
the trail of flattened rye grass
back to the house of muttering hens.
He too could make a bed in hay.
Yesterday the egg was so fresh
it felt hot in his hand
and he pressed it to his ear
while the other children laughed
and ran with a ball,
leaving him,
so little yet,
too forgetful in games,
ready to cry if the ball brushed him,
riveted to the secret of birds
caught up inside his fist,
not ready to give it over
to the refrigerator
or the rest of the day.

(Naomi Shihab Nye)

Days to go: 866 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 134:

BIRTHDAY ARIA: "TO ANDREW ON HIS BIRTHDAY"

You were born long ago,
Long ago, long ago,
Lo-o-o-o-o-ng ago!

(W. A. Mozart, Tune: "Figaro")

Days to go: 867 -- Pieces to go: 9.75

Day 133:

[RUBRIC]

Then,

Place the Easter Candle
close to the Ambo

Because we are reading Hebrew Scripture
in the Light of Christ

(Quoted by Bill Targett)