Alan Theisen

Alan Theisen (born 4 October 1981) is an American composer, music theorist, saxophonist, and conductor. He was born in Port Huron, Michigan. He received a bachelors degree (Music History and Literature) and a masters degree (Music Theory and Composition) from the University of Southern Mississippi; he is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Music Theory and Composition at Florida State University. Composing since the age of sixteen, he has produced a steadily growing body of work distinguished by its musical energy and concentration of expression. His style may be described as American Expressionism, tying together influences of Schoenberg, Bartok, Ligeti, Elliott Carter, and American jazz.

Theisen is very active in the creation and promotion of new music - he founded the Intégrales New Music Festival in an effort to showcase both his own original compositions and pieces by other contemporary composers. The Integrales festival features world-premiere performances by nationally recognized musicians and is expanding to include musical collaborations with artists, authors, and dancers.

tyle

Early efforts at composition show Theisen assimilating the early ballets of Stravinsky and the freely atonal works of Schoenberg ("Erwartung", "Drei Klavierstucke" Op.11, "Sechs kleine Klavierstucke" Op.19, etc.). Pieces written in this style include the "Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night's Dream" (manuscript now lost). Although he would occasionally return to traditional forms, Theisen would find his most convincing voice in the chromatic pantonal language exemplified in the "Concerto for Saxophone and Strings" which was premiered by renowned American saxophonist Lawrence Gwozdz and the Szczecin Philharmonic. While most of his works are pantonal, Theisen does not avoid triads or more traditional melodic gestures; however, these gestures and sonorites are often juxtaposed in such a way that their stability and historically referential qualities are diminished or lost.

His increasing preference for a pantonal language has led Theisen away from direct repetition of themes and distinct formal blocks. Motivic kernels and recurring pitches anchor the composition, as in the "Saxophone Sonata", but distinct melodies rarely come back without undergoing a severe metamorphosis. The recent "Triple Concerto" may actually be dubbed "athematic."

List of selected works

*"Concerto" for alto saxophone and wind ensemble (2008)
*"Ritorno" for flute and cello (2007)
*"Encore" for solo piano (2007)
*"Two Longfellow Settings" for soprano and piano (2003)
*"Song Without Words" for piano (2003)
*"Sonata" for alto saxophone and piano (2003)
*"Chorale Prelude In Olden Style: In The Bleak Midwinter" for piano and melody (2003)
*"Three Feline Miniatures" for piano (2003)
*"Concerto" for alto saxophone and string orchestra (2002)
*"Sardonic Suite" for piano (2001)
*"Variations on a Theme of Gretchaninov" (2001; revised 2005)
*"Sic Mea Fata" for unaccompanied choir (2001)
*"Eclogue" for solo alto saxophone (2000)
*"Sarcastic March" for solo piano (1999)

External links

* [http://www.sequenza21.com/theisen.html Alan Theisen essays on Sequenza21]
* [http://www.myspace.com/alantheisencomposer Listen to Theisen's "Concerto for Alto Saxophone and String Orchestra" and "Eclogue for solo flute" at the composer's MySpace site]
* [http://www.usm.edu/musictheory/integral/index.html Integrales New Music Festival website]

Theoretical writings

*"Hearing Time: A Listener's Guide to Elliott Carter's "Gra" read at the 2006 South Central Society for Music Theory Conference
*"With Pipes, Drums, and French Horns: Pitch (Space) Amid Stylistic Conflict in Gyorgy Ligeti's "Hamburg Concerto"
*"Emancipated Discourse, Temporal Unfoldings, and the Articulation of Harmonic Regions in Selected Chamber Compositions by Elliott Carter" - Masters thesis