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Alex Temple, Composer
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New to this site? Read this first.
I'm not a fan of stylistic partisanship, and I think a lot of people confuse "voice" (the sense that the composer's personality is audible in his or her music) with "style" (a set of conventions regarding pitch, rhythm, timbre, etc.) A lot of composers seem to feel that in order to have a voice, they need to impose strict limitations on themselves regarding pitch, rhythm, timbre, etc. I don't think that makes a lot of sense, and personally, I prefer to cast my net as wide as possible when I'm fishing for materials. I'd like to think there's something for everyone in my music. So on that note: what's your taste?
Are you a historically-conscious Romantic with an appreciation for the traditional piano repertoire, c. 1700-1950?
Check out Grass Stem Behaviors.
More into crypticness, ambiguity and the 60s avant-garde?
Check out Stile Antico.
Do you like 80s synths, industrial drums, prog-rock and microtonality?
Check out This Changes Everything!.
Interested in ghost stories, American mythology and old radio theater?
Check out The Travels of E.C. Dumonde, parts one, two and three.
Are you a fan of David Lynch, Astor Piazzolla, funk, polyrhythms, and the Space Age?
Check out Slightly Less Awkward People.
Do you want to be creeped out by distorted sampled voices?
Check out Nobody Cares About Your Dreams But You.
Or are you more into postminimalism and the "one idea per piece" aesthetic?
Check out "Triggerfish" from Three Creatures.
I think that if you listen to all of these pieces, you'll be able to tell that they're by the same composer, even though they deal in different idioms.
For more, check out the categories below:
Electronic Works
Multimedia & Collaborative Works
Orchestral & Large Ensemble Works
Chamber Works
Vocal Works
Solo Instrumental Works (Including Solo + Electronics)
Plecostomus
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Electronic Works
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This Changes Everything! (2005, rev. 2008)
6 minutes
(listen - Alex Temple, all sounds)
Wind-Up Bird II (2006)
1 minute
Nobody Cares About Your Dreams But You (2006)
8 minutes
(listen - Ian Dicke, Elisa Ferrari, Seth Gilman, Darcy Izard, Beth Lerman,
Kathleen Moniaci, Daniel Pesca, Daniel Wohl and Ming-Hsiu Yen, voices;
Alex Temple, electronic manipulation)
Schwarzwaldmusik III (2003-4)
28 minutes
(listen - Ethan Brown, flute; Sam Stein, electric guitar;
Mike Johnson, electric guitar;
Alex Temple, all other sounds and electronic manipulation)
Oaxau's Slow Waking (2004)
3 minutes
Agape Ludens (2002-3)
49 minutes
1. MBFEGW
(listen - Nadira Balgobin, power windows;
Alex Temple, all other sounds and electronic manipulation)
2. More Pockmark
3. Barb'ra/What a Life
(listen - Stephanie Neely, voice;
Alex Temple, all other sounds and electronic manipulation)
4. Static the Sky into Submission
5. That Moon!
6. Static the Sky Back Into Submission
(listen - Alex Temple, all sounds)
7. Than Surface
8. Dance for a Broken Marionette
9. 85% of the City
That Moon! (original version) (2002)
1 minute
(listen - Alex Temple, selection of samples and electronic manipulation)
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Multimedia & Collaborative Works
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A Warm Summer Night on a Hilltop (2007)
two record players, CD player
mostly written by Judy Bozone, with some contributions from me
(listen: live 3.22.07 - Judy Bozone and Alex Temple, record and CD players)
Beats Brand X (2006-7)
clarinet/bonang, electric violin, banjo, electric guitar, electric piano; 11 minutes
for a dance piece by choreographer Sam Stone
Telephone Game (2006)
acoustic guitar; 6 minutes
co-written with Daniel Perttu, Michael Gilbertson, Carlo Vincetti Frizzo, Emilia Tamburri and Joseph Rubinstein
On Eggoism (2004)
electronics; 28 minutes
for a film by Tyler Coburn
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Orchestral & Large Ensemble Works
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This Changes Everything! (2006)
chamber orchestra (1111+sax, 1110, 2perc, hpd, str); 6 minutes
Preceded by a Pale Blue Light (2005)
double tenor steel pans and orchestra (3332, 4221, 2perc, e. gtr, str); 10 minutes
Chamber Concerto: Let Machines Be Light-Handed (2003)
chamber orchestra (1111, pno, str); 15 minutes
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Chamber Works
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Stile Antico (2004, rev. 2008)
flute, piano; 14 minutes
(listen: studio recording 7.7.08-
Daria Binkowski, flute; Timothy Andres, piano)
Slightly Less Awkward People (2007-8)
bass clarinet, electric guitar, electronic playback; 6 minutes
(listen: studio recording 6.15.08 -
Sara Buddle, bass clarinet; James Moore, electric guitar)
Her Name Was Renée (2006-7)
clarinet, double bass, percussion, piano; 10 minutes
Beats Brand X (2006-7)
clarinet/bonang, electric violin, banjo, electric guitar, piano; 11 minutes
San Narciso (2006)
violin and piano; 3 minutes
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Clare Twohy, violin; Alex Temple, piano)
Sewn Bumblebees and Black Silhouettes (2006)
violin and double bass; 7 minutes
1. Slow
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Tracy Wu, violin; Andrew Trombley, bass)
(listen: live 3.22.07 - Jacqueline Nutting, violin; Anna Jensen, bass)
2. Hommage à Gérard Pesson
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Tracy Wu, violin; Andrew Trombley, bass)
3. The Bug Box
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Tracy Wu, violin; Andrew Trombley, bass)
(listen: live 3.22.07 - Jacqueline Nutting, violin; Anna Jensen, bass)
4. Corpse
(listen: live 3.22.07 - Jacqueline Nutting, violin; Anna Jensen, bass)
5. The Rudest Detective
(listen: live 3.22.07 - Jacqueline Nutting, violin; Anna Jensen, bass)
The Last Resort Party Band (2006)
alto sax, bassoon, violin, viola, piano; 8 minutes
(listen: studio recording 3.2.08 -
Emilia Tamburri, alto sax; Aaron Apaza, bassoon; Miki-Sophia Cloud, violin;
Anne Lanzilotti, viola; Timothy Andres, piano)
Stile Moderno (2004-5)
percussion, electric guitar, synthesizer, piano, violin, cello; 22 minutes
Slightly Awkward People (2002-3)
oboe, clarinet, electric guitar, piano; 7 minutes
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Vocal Works
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The Order of Omphale (2009)
amplified mezzo soprano voice, flute, clarinet, drum kit, electric guitar, piano, violin, cello; 10 minutes
text: Alex Temple
The White-Walled Room (2009)
version 1: amplified mezzo soprano voice, prerecorded electronics; 8 minutes
version 2: amplified tenor voice, vocoder, prerecorded electronics; 8 minutes
text: Alex Temple
Imogene (2008/2009)
version 1 (2008): two amplified soprano voices, amplified alto voice, prerecorded electronics; 20 minutes
version 2 (2009): amplified alto voice, amplified tenor voice, prerecorded electronics; 20 minutes
version 3 (2009): amplified tenor voice, vocoder, prerecorded electronics; 20 minutes
Part I: USA
1. Blue, White, Silver and Black
2. The Letter
3. How To See Two Things At Once
(listen: live 8.20.09 - Alex Temple and Toby C. Siegel, voices)
(listen: live 6.7.09 - Alex Temple, voice and vocoder)
Part II: Berlin
4. The Airport
5. A City of Rectangles
6. The Signs
(listen: live 8.20.09 - Alex Temple and Toby C. Siegel, voices)
(listen: live 6.7.09 - Alex Temple, voice and vocoder)
Part III: Firmament
7. Violent, Illuminated
8. The Reason
(listen: live 8.20.09 - Alex Temple and Toby C. Siegel, voices)
(listen: live 6.7.09 - Alex Temple, voice and vocoder)
text: Alex Temple
The Travels of E.C. Dumonde (2007-8)
amplified speaking/singing voice, live and prerecorded electronics; 30 minutes
1. Introduction / The Metallic Tree
(listen: live 10.17.08 - Alex Temple, voice and electronics)
2. The Mysterious Riverboat
(listen: live 10.17.08 - Alex Temple, voice)
3. The Empty City / The Blurry Place / Conclusion
(listen: live 10.17.08 - Alex Temple, voice and electronics)
(listen: studio recording 8.10.08 - Alex Temple, voice and electronics)
text: Alex Temple
Three Whitman Songs (2006-7)
amplified female voice (mezzo range) and piano; 6 minutes
1. Locations and Times
(listen: live 4.16.07 - Elizabeth Gentry, voice; Alex Temple, piano)
2. A Promise to California
(listen: live 4.16.07 - Elizabeth Gentry, voice; Alex Temple, piano)
3. When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
(listen: live 4.16.07 - Elizabeth Gentry, voice; Alex Temple, piano)
text: Walt Whitman
Two George Songs (2003)
soprano and piano; 6 minutes
1. Fenster wo ich einst mit dir
2. Mein garten bedarf nicht luft und nicht wärme
text: Stefan George
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Solo Instrumental Works (Including Solo + Electronics)
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A Vision (2009)
koto; 6 minutes
Character Pieces (2007-9)
1. For Judy
2. For Timo
3. For Rebecca F.
piano; 7 minutes
Inland (2007)
melodica and piano (one player); 4 minutes
(listen: live 2.17.07 - Alex Temple, melodica and piano)
(listen: live 3.1.08 - Alex Temple, melodica and piano)
I Thought You Said That (2006)
amplified cello and electronic playback; 8 minutes
Three Creatures (2002-6)
electric guitar and electronics; 10 minutes
1. More Pockmark
(listen: live 1.21.09 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: studio recording 1.9.03 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
2. 3 Arms and 17 1/2 Legs
(listen: studio recording 5.28.06 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: live 1.21.09 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: live 10.28.06 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
3. Triggerfish
(listen: live 1.21.09 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: live 10.28.06 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: live 6.5.06 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: studio recording 10.4.04 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
(listen: live 4.24.04 - Mark Dancigers, electric guitar)
Grass Stem Behaviors (2005, rev. 2006)
piano; 8 minutes
(listen: live 6.23.06 - Timothy Andres, piano)
(listen: live 11.2.08 - Timothy Andres, piano)
(listen: live 10.28.06 - Timothy Andres, piano)
Nine Piano Pieces (2003-5, rev. 2006)
piano; 23 minutes
1. Invocation
(listen: live 2.18.05 - Alex Temple, piano)
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Bethany Pietroniro, piano)
(listen: live 10.28.06 - Alex Temple, piano)
(listen: studio recording 6.2.04 - Alex Temple, electric piano)
2. Bad Taste Theme
(listen: live 4.25.06 - Alex Temple, piano)
3. Secret Message
(listen: live 2.6.06 - Alex Temple, piano)
4. The Speech of the Place
5. Bad Taste Variation
6. Isabella the Colossus
(listen: live 4.24.04 - Alex Temple, piano)
7. Schwarzwaldmusik IV
(listen: live 2.6.06 - Alex Temple, piano)
8. Monument (with Fungi)
(listen: live 8.3.06 - Bethany Pietroniro, piano)
9. Bad Taste Finale
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Plecostomus
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Plecostomus was a short-lived experimentalish/indie/bossa-nova/fusion band that played keyboards for in Ann Arbor. Most of the songs were written collaboratively, but this one was written mainly by me:
Saw It In A Magazine (2006)
keyboard, guitar, bass and drums; 2 minutes
(listen: live 4.25.06 - Alex Temple, keyboards; Elisa Ferrari, guitar;
Andy Monefeldt, bass; Ian Dicke, drums)
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