Chamber Concerto (2022) in one movement 
for nine players and electronics

Live recording of the premiere at UC San Diego, May 2022

Michael Jones & Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, percussion
Shaoai Ashley Zhang & Kyle Adam Blair, keyboards
Ilana Waniuk & Pauline Ng, violins
Alex Taylor, viola
Peter Ko, cello
Matthew Kline, double bass
Steven Schick, conductor

"Chamber Concerto" is a celebration of instruments and the musicians who play them. Although a certain emphasis is placed on the synthesizers of the ensemble—with their ever-shifting tuning and timbral identities often articulating the work’s form—this is not only a synthesizer concerto: ultimately, everyone has their say and comes to the fore as soloist. And, at the apex of the piece, the paradigm of soloist-versus- tutti is set aside altogether: here, the entire ensemble metaphorically breathes together, as if a single organism.

After having made a series of intensely focused, inward-facing works amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I see "Chamber Concerto" as a more gregarious type of piece that celebrates the multiplicity of its materials. Aspects of some of my earlier works make appearances here, sometimes in direct quotation, sometimes in more abstract ways.

"Chamber Concerto" unfolds in a single, continuous movement. Many may wish simply to listen and form their own impressions, but for those interested in a “guided tour” of the form, a rough outline follows:

1. A rhapsodic, microtonal synthesizer solo is joined by an atmospheric ensemble accompaniment. Gentle clouds of spatial audio briefly encircle the audience. The tempo quickens into a quasi-waltz, leading to...

2. A B-flat-minor outburst on the piano—an apparition of Rachmaninoff? Almost as soon as it appears, the music is again microtonally inflected by the synthesizer and winds its way back to the opening texture. Suddenly...

3. A brisk, playful toccata begins. Wooden and skin percussion instruments feature prominently, as do synthesized harpsichord and harp timbres. The toccata eventually topples into...

4. Another fast section, this one more impassioned in character. A hyper-expressive line is passed between the cello and viola, winding its way down in register while being interrupted by fast, aggressive gestures.

5. The ensemble eventually settles into a calmer mode. Spatial audio returns, as does the Rachmaninoff-esque material, now sounding like a faded memory. Up to this point in the piece, the cello’s lowest string (typically a C) has been tuned down to B-flat. This fact is now overtly revealed in a series of gently pulsing B-flat overtone chords. The “apotheosis” of the B-flat string having now been reached, the music progresses to...

6. A dreamlike “tuning interlude.” The ensemble and audience are constantly enveloped by spatialized sound as the cellist tunes the B-flat string back up to C. Immediately following this interlude...

7. The ensemble plays a long, calm meditation on falling perfect fifths. The synthesizers (now generating sine tones) and strings tune harmonies in just intonation. Bowed vibraphones continually outline the fifths cycle. A simple yet expressive viola solo grows out of the texture. Suddenly...

8. The music snaps out of its dream: the fast toccata material returns. After being the sole focus of attention for an extended passage, the toccata becomes something of a formal “hub,” enabling several other ideas from earlier in the piece to be revisited as well. The work concludes in a manner both playful and reflective.

Chamber Concerto

An Elemental Music (2022) for orchestra

Commissioned by the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus
Performed by the La Jolla Symphony, cond. Michael Gerdes, March 2023

I. Crisp, bright
II. The Cold Song. Desolate, icy
III. Dark, mysterious — As in the first movement — Presto

In the three movements of "An Elemental Music," I seek to explore basic musical materials—things that are primary, fundamental, or “elemental”—in fresh and unanticipated ways. I wanted to delve into some of the core components of my musical craft, and I hoped to infuse them with a new vitality.

In the first movement, I start from a chord (the dominant seventh) ubiquitous in many musical genres, from nineteenth- century symphonies to the twelve-bar blues. But rather than using the chord as a means to an end, I view it as an object of musical exploration in its own right, treating it like a hub where many different harmonic paths converge. The music explores these paths in turn, winding through the orchestra in lively and colorful fashion.

The second movement is by far the longest of the three, comprising over half the total playing time of the work. The movement is a very free reimagining of the aria “What Power Art Thou” from Henry Purcell’s "King Arthur," also known as the “Cold Song.” In Purcell’s aria, the spirit of winter (the “Cold Genius”) is summoned to life: here, then, I use the word “elemental” not only as an adjective, but also as a noun, referring to the primal forces of nature that the Cold Genius embodies. In my version, I freely transform the shivering staccato motif and aspects of the harmonic progression from Purcell’s original, gradually building to an intense, chilling depiction of the Cold Genius. Fittingly, I finished this piece on a day of subzero temperatures in central Illinois.

The brief third movement revisits materials from the first, but in a distorted, out-of-order fashion—perhaps as if being recalled from a distant memory. The music eventually transforms itself into a jig that gives way to a grotesque, march-like climax.

An Elemental Music

Veil/Flame (2024) for solo cello

Performed by Eric Moore

Aaron Paolucci, audio engineer
Photo by Braden Kralis

Veil/Flame

Shadow Figures (2021/24) for piano and synthesizer (one player)

Performed by Shaoai Ashley Zhang

I. Meditation (after Charles Ives)
II. Machine
III. Night (after Alban Berg)

Shadow Figures

Please visit my website for my latest works and recordings: https://alexstephenson.com

The music of composer Alex Stephenson (b. 1990) has been described as “masterfully orchestrated” and exhibiting “sonic beauty” (San Diego Union-Tribune). His work draws in equal parts from a deep-rooted lyrical spirit, a fascination with the science of sound perception, and a love of musical repertoires both old and new. With each project, he intertwines these diverse influences in novel ways, curating sonic worlds that feel simultaneously fresh and familiar.

Stephenson’s works have been commissioned by and received performances at the Tanglewood Music Center, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Breckenridge Music Festival, Royaumont Voix Nouvelles Festival, ISCM World New Music Days, Composers Conference, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, and numerous additional venues and institutions across the United States and in Europe. His recent and upcoming collaborators include the [Switch~ Ensemble], Susan Narucki, Duo Axis, Ensemble Dal Niente, Flux Quartet, and the La Jolla Symphony. 

Stephenson holds a doctorate in music composition from the University of California San Diego. He also studied at the Eastman School of Music, the University of Chicago, and, as a US-UK Fulbright Scholar, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. He currently resides in Central Illinois, where he is Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Illinois State University and co-directs the RED NOTE New Music Festival.

Alex Stephenson

Popular tracks