Alexander, Josef

Alexander, Josef, American composer; b. Boston, May 15, 1907; d. N.Y., Feb. 28, 1992. He studied piano at the New England Cons. of Music in Boston (graduated, 1925; postgraduate diploma, 1926), with Piston (composition) and E.B. Hill (orchestration) at Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1941), with Boulanger in Paris (1939), and with Copland (composition) and Koussevitzky (conducting) at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (1940). He taught at Brooklyn Coll. of the City Univ. of N.Y. (1943–77). In his works, Alexander adopted a facile laisséz-faire idiom marked by a pleasurable admixture of euphonious dissonances.

Works

ORCH.: Piano Concerto (1938; Boston, June 8, 1940); The Ancient Mariner, symphonic poem (1938; Boston, June 8, 1940); Doina (1940); A New England Overture (St. Louis, Feb. 12, 1943); Williamsburg Suite (N.Y., Aug. 19, 1944); Dithyrambe (1947); Epitaphs (1947; N.Y., March 8, 1951); 4 syms.: No. 1, Clockwork (1948; N.Y., Nov. 28, 1949), No. 2 (1954), No. 3 (1961; N.Y., April 27, 1970), and No. 4 (1968); Andante and Allegro for Strings (1952; St. Louis, Feb. 20, 1953); Duo Concertante for Trombone, Percussion, and Strings (1959); Quiet Music for Strings (1965); Trinity for Brass and Percussion (1976). CHAMBER: String Quartet (1940); Piano Quintet (1942); Piano Trio (1944); Wind Quintet (1949); Piano Quartet (1952); Violin Sonata (1953); Cello Sonata (1953); Flute Sonata (1954); Clarinet Sonata (1957); Trombone Sonata (1959); Brass Trio (1971); Horn Sonata (1979); Of Masks and Mirrors for Cello, Soprano Saxophone, Piano, and Percussion (1981); Escapades for Marimba (1988); also hundreds of solo piano pieces. VOCAL: Canticle of Night for Mezzo-soprano or Baritone and Orch. (1959); Gitanjali for Soprano, Harpsichord, and Percussion (1973); Symphonic Odes for Men’s Chorus and Orch. (1975); song cycles.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire