I have spent a hugely productive morning on the first movement of the Carta Cantata, working on the first version of the piano score. Some moments of it are rather exciting to my jaded ears, and I have been adding in detail and refining what is already there, to the extent that I am much more pleased today than I was yesterday, when I had a minor crisis of confidence about the work’s quality.
The past few days have also given me an opportunity to breathe a little, down in the country for a whole four consecutive days, and enjoying the peace and quiet. The main thrust of the carol season is over, apart from the bustle of the days around Christmas itself, and most of my shopping is done as well. Tomorrow the London Oratory School Girls’ Choir will be performing Sweet Was The Song at their Christmas Service, and I’ll be going up to lend them my ears, but I know it will be wonderfully done. It will also give me a chance to catch up with colleagues, and to try out the coach service from here to the capital.
The aim is to have the piano score of the Carta Cantata finished by the end of the year, so that interested parties can begin rehearsing it as soon as we hit 2015. The current plans are for a shortened version to be performed at Runnymede in June, but to get the whole cantata performed as well. As I write, ideas for orchestration and extra textures tend to form in my head, so I am quite confident that I shall get the entire work finished, in orchestral form, long before my deadline.
After all the bustle and hassle of the move, we also played a few quick games last night, our first in the new house, three hands of Dominion. I dutifully (and graciously, I think) lost all three, thus, presumably, setting the tone for future gaming in our new abode. In Dominion on most occasions I just cannot seem to get my engine running at all – thank heavens the opposite is true for my writing.
Bane of my Dominion games…
Nicholas O'Neill 