I guess.
We're starting to see Christmas decorations all over the place in Shanghai, especially, but not exclusively, in neighborhoods and districts with lots of expatriates. I'm not too sure how much the locals get into the whole Christmas thing. The decorations seem mostly to be an exterior feature, but that may actually only reflect the interiors I've happened to be in. For the locals, it's probably mostly something they do for the kids. They're starting to do Hallowe'en as well, and for the same reason. Both Autumn Festival (around an autumn full moon) and Lunar New Year (generally sometime in January) are probably much bigger holidays for the more traditional Chinese.
Personally, I'm finding it difficult to get into the whole Christmas thing this year. This is the first year I can remember that we won't be sending out our usual flock of Holiday cards. Put it down to "technical difficulties." It's just too hard even to think about doing that from here. We may get a select few out via email. This weekend, I'm going to have to knuckle down and get on-line to do the small amount of Christmas shopping I'm going to do this year, but it all feels weird somehow, like I'm doing it from one of those control rooms where you manipulate things using mechanical hands. I can't really explain it. Other signs of the coming of winter are surely evident. Wonderfully sweet seedless Satsuma tangerines and navel oranges are in place in the fruit markets just as they should be by now. It's not very cold at the moment, but it sure has been — and we've even already had our first dusting of snow. But still something seems to be missing that is a vital Christmastime ingredient.
Maybe we should go back to that restaurant — Vegetarian Lifestyle I think it was — that was playing that tape of Christmas carol favorites back in September!
My Sonatina is finished.
I have no earthly idea why, but the third movement came out as a Tango. It started out as something quite different, perhaps more of a Tangle. Somewhere along the line, it inexorably morphed into something very insistently syncopated. I really just put it away for a day at that point. When I came back to it, I had to accept it, like it or not, it was a Tango that all my work had wrought to that point. It was easier to finish it from that point of view, although, I'm not sure I've truly accepted this whole Tango thing yet. Anyhow here it is.
In fact, here, in one place, for your convenience, is the whole set of links to my Shanghai work.
There's so much to do in the next two weeks as we prepare to leave Shanghai that I probably won't get to any more composition. Sad thought that, but I did at least get the opportunity to do a bit of work here — more than I've had time for, for several years!
| Composition | Link to .m4a File (for iTunes) | Link to .mid File (for QuickTime) |
|---|---|---|
| Prelude, September 22-23, 2009 | link | link |
| Barcarolle, September-October, 2009 | link | link |
| Prelude, November 10-16, 2009 | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, I. Allegro | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, II. Chaconne | link | link |
| Sonatina, November-December, 2009, III. Tango | link | link |
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