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June 30, 2020

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Of the three ways of composing music: ‘A third way has developed in recording studios, which is similar to the way artists work in their studios to make paintings. Music can be built up layer by layer on recording tape, not to give a performance or to write music, but to appear on a record‘ (John Cage, Conversing with John…
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June 29, 2020

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Saturday, June 27. WFH: DAY 78. All day, I sifted through files recovered from my C-Drive in search of the lost ones associated with (or, rather, now, disassociated from) from two compositional session folders. Mercifully, I’d found a complete mixdown of the first composition. It would, at the very least, provide me with an aural template for reconstructing a second…
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June 26, 2020

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WFH: DAY 77. 7.00 am: Ablutions: 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: A review of the night’s postbag, email dispersal, and postgraduate monitoring and applications admin. 9.45 am: I was already on cuppa-tea #3 when I returned to studio work. I am berated by all for putting the tea bag and milk in my cup before I pour-on the boiling…
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June 25, 2020

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WFH: DAY 76. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: Following a necessary late night’s work, I was a little sluggish to begin. The major event of the day would be the Final Exam Board meeting to confirm third-year undergraduate and MA marks. First, I held several video-call consultations (I must decide a term to describe these online engagements) focused upon…
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June 24, 2020

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WFH: DAY 75. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.30 am: The inbox was reduced to ‘1’ unread mail. Good enough for now. Occasionally, the School get inquiries from potential applicants to our MA Fine Art scheme who don’t yet have the necessary experience and skills to embark immediately. Our advice is to delay their ambitions for a year and, in the…
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June 23, 2020

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WFH: DAY 74. 6.00 am: Awake, and had been since 5.30 am. I’m not sure whether this is a Summer or an isolation phenomenon. I was at my desk by 7.00 am, returning emails, submitting resit advice, and orientating myself to the day ahead. The morning is noticeably warmer and more humid than it has been. 9.30 am: The first…
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June 22, 2020

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WFH: DAY 73. 7.30 am: 8.15 am: A communion. 9.00 am: Admin would dominate my day’s work. But it did not dominate my mind. To begin, I disinfected my inbox and arranged my tasks in order of priority and irksomeness. ‘Where possible, make admin serve the most elevated purposes: Do well. Do good. Do right. Encourage. Lift burdens. Relieve anxiety.…
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June 20, 2020

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WFH: DAY 73. 8.30 am: A communion. 9.00 am: I looked once more at the final paragraph of the writing, while searching for information on how musicians play together in lockdown. (In the background: John McLaughlin, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Carlos Santana’s Quarantine Blues — which was made under these conditions. Wonderful!) (Oh! And happy birthday Carlos, too!) Of course,…
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June 19, 2020

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‘We often can only survive if we keep on forgetting’ (Caroline Wilkinson). WFH: DAY 72. 6.15 am: 7.00 am: A communion. There’re times (I would wish for more) when prayer is driven by a powerful sense of imperative. Knowing the torpor and inconstancy of the heart, I recognise that the motive is bestowed rather than induced by the fiat of…
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June 18, 2020

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The world is charged with the grandeur of God. / It will flame out, like shining from shook foil (Gerard Manley Hopkins, ‘God’s Grandeur’ (1877)). WFH: DAY 71. 8.00 am: A communion. 8.45 am: A deletion of spam and other bothersome unsolicited mail. After which, I ‘called-in’ on an ailing student. 9.00 am: Dark clouds gathered; rain fell intermittently. Second…
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