Affinities Remembered
Affinities Remembered (for flute, oboe and Bb clarinet)
was composed in October of 1989 while I was in the final stages of completing
my D.M.A. It was premiered later that month in Denton, Texas.
It has three movements with the first movement consisting of a quick, asymmetrical
“A” section, which is contrasted by a slow, “B” section. The second
movement is a passacaglia with an oboe obligato. The third
movement is a fugue. Affinities Remembered was composed for, and dedicated
to, the flutist, Ms. Laurie Benson.
Beat! Beat! Drums!
Beat! Beat! Drums! (for mezzo-soprano, cello & tuba)
was composed in 1998 for fellow University of Montevallo faculty members
Richard Perry, tuba and Craig Hultgren, cello. The text is one of Walt
Whitman's Civil War poems and is a "call to arms". It was premiered on
October 27 of the same year at the LeBaron Theater on the campus of the
University of Montevallo by Perry, Hultgren and Melanie Kyle, soprano (the
composer conducting) on Dr. Perry's faculty recital.
2 Bryant songs
Song (These Prairies Glow with Flowers) was composed for
the Long Island Composers Alliance's Bicentennial Composition Competition
and Concert in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great
American poet, William Cullen Bryant. It was premiered on September
9, 1994 in Beaumont, Texas by Barbara Mathis-soprano, Kim Ellis-clarinet
and Melanie Foster-Taylor- piano. Dr. Mathis asked me to write an
additional song for a later performance of Song (These Prairies Glow
with Flowers) the following November. The song, November,
was premiered on William Cullen Bryant's 200th birthday, November 3, 1994.
Ce cE ceLLo
Ce cE ceLLo was commissioned by the cellist, Craig Hultgren.
He premiered it on November 14, 2000 at the Birmingham Art Music Alliance's
ElectroAcoustic
concert held at Birmingham-Southern College. The CD part consists
of prerecorded cello sounds which were manipulated using the Sound
Forge software program. The composition was made possible through
a generous Technical Assistance Grant from the Alabama State Council on
the Arts.
Drowned
Joe L. Alexander composed Drowned in March of 2002 as
his response to the Alabama Composer/Writer Partnership’s call for new
works. The partnership was funded by the Alabama State Council on
the Arts and was conceived by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance.
Its goal was to have living Alabama composers set to music the works of
living Alabama writers . I selected my friend and fellow Tuscalossan,
Alan May, for my collaboration. Drowned was premiered
on April 16, 2002 at Wright Recital Hall on the campus of Samford University
in Birmingham, Alabama. Dewin Tibbs was the singer, and Chris
Griffin played piano. Before the premiere, the poet spoke about the
creative process while writing the poem. The text Drowned
first appeared in a literary journal called Yemassee and
was published in a chapbook called Light Coming through the Shape
of the Moon by the Wing and the Wheel Press.
Epigrams
Epigrams was commissioned by fellow East Central University
faculty members Mark Hollingsworth (clarinet), and Dennis Boe (piano) for
performance in the 1993-94 season of the Nanola Performing Arts Ensemble.
It consist of four movements.
Five Movements for Tuba (Or something like that)
Five Movements for Tuba (Or something like that), by Joe
L. Alexander, was composed in the Fall of 1979 while I was an undergraduate
student at East Carolina University. It is the earliest composition
which I still claim and is also my most performed work. Performances
include the College Music Society's (CMS) 1991 South-Central Chapter meeting
held at Southern Methodist University and CMS's 1995 Southern Chapter meeting
held at Austin Peay State University. It is primarily a tonal work
but includes several less traditional ideas which permeate my later works.
(Asymmetrical meters, shifting between compound and simple time, and in
the last movement, my first attempt at atonality and no meter.)
Flight of Sorrow
Flight of Sorrow, for orchestra, was commissioned in the
spring of 1996 by Dr. Kurt Gilman for the Southeast Texas Youth Symphony.
It was first performed under the direction of Dr. Alan Goldspiel on December
9, 2001 by the Louisiana Tech University Symphonic Orchestra.
Happy 7th Mary
Happy 7th Mary (for computer music on CD) was composed
as a 7th anniversary present for my wife, Mary, in February 2001.
It is based on a spoken text which was then manipulated, using Sonic Foundry’s
SoundForge
and Vegas Video. It was premiered on February 16, 2002
at the Southeastern Composers League's annual meeting at Mercer
University in Macon, Georgia. It is dedicated to my wonderful wife.
Infamy . . .
Infamy . . . (for tuba and computer music on CD) was realized
at the Scream Studio at the University of Alabama during the fall of 1996.
It uses the first line of Franklin D. Roosevelt immortal speech which ushered
the United States into World War II. All of the sounds are derived
from manipulations of certain words from the speech and sampled tuba sounds.
The Sound Designer II program was primarily used to construct the piece.
The composer premiered the work in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on December 3, 1996.
It's about Damn Time
The original idea for It's About Damn Time (for tuba and
computer music on CD), by Joe L. Alexander, was germinated in the summer
of 1998 and involved the concept of a melodic tuba part contrasted/accompanied
by non-pitched percussion sounds. The piece was actually composed
in the summer of 2000 at the request of Dr. Richard Perry. It consist
of a large, one movement piece, with three distinct sections. The
sounds on the tape part were created from the MIDI percussion sounds on
a Roland JV90 synthesizer. The piece is technically challenging for
the tuba player but the overall effect for the audience is intended to
be light hearted, playful and enjoyable listening experience. A short
version of It's About Damn Time was premiered by Dr. Perry
on June 18, 2000 at City Stages, Birmingham's World-Class Festival.
The full version was premiered by Dr. Perry on July 23, 2000 at the summer
concert of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance held at the Birmingham Museum
of Art.
Oh! My Phoebus
The Hunch-Back of Notre Dame was the inspiration for Oh! My Phoebus.
The work is not a literal, programmatic translation, but was the source
which inspired the "creative juices." The specific scene which started
my imagination involved the assignation between the gypsy, La Esmeralda
and Captain Phoebus de Chateaupers. Unbeknown to La Esmeralda, the Cardinal
Archdeacon Claude Frollo was concealed in the attic watching the two unrealized
lovers. Claude Frollo is secretly in love with La Esmeralda. When he thinks
the union is going to take place, he emerges from hiding, crashes through
the ceiling, and stabs the Captain. Assuming the Captain is dead,
he sneaks out through a window into the night. The police come and arrest
La Esmeralda for the murder. Eventually she is condemned to die.
Her hanging sets up the famous scene where Quasimodo sneaks down from the
Cathedral and rescues her. As it turns out the Captain survives the attempted
murder, but this fact remains unknown to the courts and the Archdeacon.
All of the terrible events are force to their culmination by destiny. Oh!
My Phoebus was commissioned by Tennessee Technological University's
Kevin Chiarizzio. He premiered it on February 15, 1999.
Reflections
Reflections (for Chamber Ensemble) was commissioned by
Victoria A. Dansby for the East Central University Dance Troupe. It was
partially funded by a grant from the East Central University Foundation.
It was first performed on March 11, 1992 in Hammond, Louisiana at the American
College Dance Festival.
Sonare Praeludium
Sonare Praeludium (for tuba quartet) was composed in the
summer of 1999 for the Alabama Tuba Quarter. It is a large, one movement
work based on three themes. The piece is technically challenging
for the players but the overall effect for the audience is intended to
be light hearted, playful and enjoyable listening experience. It
was premiered by the group on February 25, 2000 at the College Music Society's
Southern Chapter meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Sonarequasta
Sonarequasta, or "quasi" sonata, was written at the request
of violist, George Rosenbaum. It was premiered on the Spectrum Series
at The University of North Texas on February 21, 1990. The first
movement is based on a combination of the definitions of the early Baroque
sonata and Classical sonata forms. The second movement is a traditional,
four voice fugue with two countersubjects. The work is dedicated
to Mr. Rosenbaum. In 1994, it was selected as the Winner of the Annual
Composers' Competition sponsored by the New Music for Young Ensemble, Inc.
As part of the award, Sonarequasta was performed by the Bronx Arts Ensemble
in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.
Tragic Suite
Tragic Suite, by Joe L. Alexander, is for unaccompanied
tuba and was composed during the summer of 1997. The composer states:
"The superb abilities of tubist, Mike Dunn, were foremost in my mind while
writing the work." The work consists of five distinct sections with
the pitch classes G, F#, Ab and Eb playing a prominent roll through out
the work. Mike Dunn premiered the work on July 21, 1997 at a concert
sponsored by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. Tragic Suite
is dedicated to Mike Dunn.
Wechselnde Farben
The duo for oboe and multipercussion, Wechselnde Farben,
was composed during the summer of 1986 for Mark and Beth Shelton at the
end of my first year of doctoral studies. It is a study in timbre and was
my first attempt at proportional notation, multiphonics, microtones and
percussion instruments. Wechselnde Farben is German for "changing colors."
It was also premiered at a Spectrum Series in January of 1987. In
1996, it was performed at the Society of Composers, Region VI conference
in Wichita, Kansas.