The Saxophone Music Of Alex Mincek And Eric Wubbels

Composers Alex Mincek and Eric Wubbels have both contributed significantly to the saxophone repertoire of the 21st Century. As members of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a New York City-based new music ensemble, they are both highly regarded performers and composers; Mincek is a saxophonist and Wubbels a pianist. While their contributions to the saxophone repertoire have been significant (seventeen works by Mincek, six works by Wubbels), there has been little scholarly attention to either composer or their saxophone works. This document provides the reader with biographical sketches and the philosophical approaches of each composer, comparing their similarities while drawing attention to what makes each unique in addition to highlighting the ways they have impacted each other as collaborators. It further examines Mincek's Pendulum III and Nucleus and Wubbels' This is This is This is and Axamer Folio, specifically evaluating the works through an analysis of form, unique uses of repetitive gestures, and extensive incorporation of extended techniques on the saxophone with the goal of providing a performer with analytical and performance tools to aid in the interpretation of these works.