OCG VII - Day 1

Day 1
Awake multiple times in the night.  Many snoring types.  Also, someone apparently had an interesting nightmare as well.  Aware that my back is going to hate me at the end of this week, though sleeping on my back alleviates this a bit.  Too bad I prefer the side.

9:15 - Waking at 6:00.  Mad dash to the auditorium for 7:15 sitting at 6:50.  I realize on waking that the previous day, when I had cleaned out and moved forty-something chairs to the auditorium, that I had forgotten to arrange the chairs.  Arrived, realized that there was nothing I could do, as people had already begun to arrive.  Long sitting.

Silence during breakfast.

The hot water heater in this cabin says "Never run out of hot water again."  It lies.

Changing strings.  Inaugural meeting at 11:00.

2:20 - Good opening meeting.  My own personal comments are that I've been brought to the course by the future (in reference to the fact that I've been essentially working with a mind towards this course since 2011, before it was even official), and that my personal aims are:  1) to ensure that all arrive at the course safely, 2) to support the Orchestra in whatever mode I am needed, 3) to ensure that all depart the course safely.

RF's own comments will be replicated on his own diary (link leads to home page of DGM, where it is to be found), but two things stick out:  first, a reference to Tom's observation in Mexico this past February that "We must bring this [the Procession] into war zones", and that Boston and New York were in fact that very thing; and a comment about these performances and demonstrations being useful for three generations.

The pre-lunch work being called; "high flyers" are to meet in the auditorium with Curt at 12:15, "middle flyers" at 12:30 with Sandra in the Movements Hall, and "low flyers" with Victor at 12:30.  A bit of hesitation on my own part, as I know where I want to be, but with the quality of players around, I'm a bit unsure of whether I can hang.  As we're all leaving the auditorium, Victor asks me where I plan to go; on seeing my hesitation, he rather directly says, "Go to the high flyers' meeting".

Back in the auditorium.  Curt hands the duties of "director" to Fernie, who calls for circulation.  Some interesting stuff--passing of sounds that are post-tonal.  Different keys are called.  Some repertoire:

Eye of the Needle (x2)
Third Relation (this gets some apprehensive looks around the circle)
Red
Driving Force
Asturias

Discussion in between each piece.

6:25 - Tea at 4:00, work with Frank at 5:00.

Running repertoire with some folks at 8:00.

RF giving a pretty serious mind pickler at roughly the same time, but working in 20 minute chunks, so I head over for 8:50.  I'm not able to pick up the exact pattern he's giving, but I am able to figure out the idea of running variations of the First Primary and First Secondary exercises across the strings of the fretboard.  I watch him give maybe 6 or 7 patterns, and then he rather gleefully puts them all together at the same time, and then adds a bass skiffle part, so that there are 5 disparate parts dementedly clashing against each other.  And also a solo break for Fernie.  [As the week progresses, this will actually make a lot of sense in a backward way.]

9:30 - An intense opening OCG rehearsal, roughly 40 minutes.  A clear tie to Frank's work earlier in the day.  Afteward, an announcement for repertoire work "if you see yourself doing this".

10:30 - Late arrivals.  No repertoire run after all (most of the course showed up), but the notion of procession chords is presented, first in A minor, and then shifting to A harmonic minor.  Zithering around.

11:00 - Teaching Where is the Nurse? bass line to multiple people; this gets somewhat derailed by flighty attention (people wanting to do everything), but gets back on course late in the Movements hall.  Some other repertoire run as well, to check in.

Missing Ieva.  To bed around 1:00 am.