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It is a special day for those of use lucky enough to have studied at Magdalen. This is the morning when the choir ascends the tower and sings Fa-la-las and goodness knows what else while drunken revellers throw themselves into the river. As Organ Scholar I was one of the select few allowed up the tower, although I have gone down in history as the OS who partied so hard in his first and second years that he failed to make it up there at all. In my third year I stayed up all night, partied slightly less hard, and was rewarded with a 6 o’clock sing in the cold and wet. It is also windy up there and the tower wobbles slightly when the chimes go off, as I recall, and nobody down in the street can here us. I feel as though I was (only just!) part of a tradition, however.

May Morning looks nothing like this.

Being the first of the month I am trawling through bits of admin today, chasing up cheques, updating websites and so on. Yesterday was a case of swings and roundabouts, a pay hike in one area balanced by redundancy in another. I cannot speak too freely of the latter, but it is a sad sign of the straightened times in which we live. Luckily I am not reliant upon that work for my livelihood, but I imagine that some people will be facing tough times.

I managed to do some Korean arranging in the afternoon, a job which has shrunk ever so slightly as some numbers have been cut from the total, so, once today’s admin is out of the way, I should be able to deal with this by the end of the week. My computer is also approaching some state of normality after the palaver over the weekend, and I have dug out nearly all of the important files from their hidden folders. It fairly skips along now as well.

I refuse to be beaten by computers.

JEBO play at The Bedford in Balham on Thursday evening, and this weekend will see the first, second and third performances of With Thy Might. There are also new bits of work in the air, so, despite the hardships in some areas, the important one – composition – is continuing to progress. No word as yet on the broadcast of Estates, however.

JEBO play in Balham on Thursday evening.

I think I shall leave things there for today, for there is much to do, and I have a meeting to discuss the subject matter for a possible commission later. It is time to get back to work.

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