Josef Alexander (May 15, 1907 – February 28, 1992) was an American composer and teacher. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston (graduated, 1925; postgraduate diploma, 1926), with Walter Piston (composition) and E.B. Hill (orchestration) at Harvard University (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1941), with Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1939), and with Aaron Copland (composition) and Serge Koussevitzky (conducting) at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood (1940). He taught at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (1943–77).[1]
Josef Alexander | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 15, 1907 Boston, U.S. |
| Died | February 28, 1992 (aged 84) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Composer |
His compositions have been performed by orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony. For 35 years, he taught music at Brooklyn College and was president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Composers. In 1955 and 1956, he held a Fulbright fellowship as a composer in residence in Finland.[2]
Compositions include A New England Overture for orchestra, published by G. Schirmer; Three Symphonic Odes for mens chorus and orchestra; Les Litanies de Satan for voice and piano;[3] Gitanjali with words by Rabindranath Tagore for soprano, harpsichord, and thirty percussion instruments.[4]
References
- ^ Nicolas Slonimsky, Laura Kuhn, Dennis McIntire"Alexander, Josef". Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ Obituary (March 3, 1992)"Josef Alexander, 84, A Composer, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ David Snow (September 6, 2016) "Josef Alexander Music Collection". The Juilliard School, Lila Acheson Wallace Library. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
- ^ Bruce Duffie (March 28, 1987)"ComposerJosefAlexander". WNIB (defunct). Retrieved 2024-03-19.