Alexander's ‘Arkansas Vignettes' receives MIAL nomination
COLUMBUS, Miss.-Inspiration surrounds Joe L. Alexander.
It can come from a bird call or a waterfall or a walk in the park. In the case of Alexander's latest creation, “Arkansas Vignettes”, the Mississippi University for Women professor of music discovered all of those pieces during walks in parks in the state of Arkansas and then turned that inspiration into a classical music piece that shares his outdoors experiences with others.
“Nature played a big part in the formation of the vignettes,” said Alexander, who started walking in the parks in the fall of 2020. “Several of the pieces have bird calls and one has a waterfall. The titles for each vignette refers
Joe L. Alexander (Submitted photo)
to a state park or a national park in Arkansas.”
The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) recently recognized “Arkansas
Vignettes” for a nomination in the classical music composition category. The nomination is the first for Alexander.
“I have been composing for a long time and I have had several major successes,” Alexander said. “It is very nice to belong to such a talented group of composers.”
Alexander said he tried to use the bird songs he heard during his walks as melodies. There are four or five bird calls in the piece. He said he then applied typical compositional techniques to expand and develop the movements.
“As far as the waterfall event, it's a long-time concept called ‘programmatic music',” Alexander said. “The idea is that the music ‘paints' a nonmusical story. It has been around for hundreds of years.”
Alexander started composing “Arkansas Vignettes” in February 2021, which was around the same time he started to get interested in bird calls he heard during his walks. The trio Bantam Winds performed “Arkansas Vignettes” virtually for its premiere at the Festival Internacional de Música de Campina Grande on July 8, 2021.
Alexander said he met two of the members of Bantam Winds, oboist Dr. Kristin Leitterman and horn teacher Dr. Juli Buxbaum, at The W's Music by Women Festival. In 2020, clarinetist Erin Cameron joined the faculty at Arkansas State University and the trio was formed. Alexander said he sent the individual movements to the members of Bantam Winds as he finished them and then the group read through them. He said the members of the trio only made articulation/dynamic suggestions afterward.
Alexander said he researched each of the parks he visited and tried to figure out what was the
“main thing” for each one. He said he tried to create melodies that would be fun to play and to listen to.
“Every time I create a piece, I think of it as a game,” Alexander said. “I change the game for every piece because I don't want to ‘play' the same game over and over. I don't reinvent the wheel, but each one is different. I take into account who is playing (level) and what audience will the group be playing to.”
Thomas Richardson, a native of Columbus and a graduate of The W's MFA in Creative Writing program, earned his first MIAL nomination in the poetry category for his book “How to Read: Poems”.
The winners will be announced June 11 at the annual awards banquet at the Mississippi Museum of Arts in Jackson.