Alex Shapiro, composer: Even Deeper

Even Deeper

A pensive and beautiful plunge.

(Double reed choir and prerecorded electronics).
Total duration ca. 8 minutes (2014)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
One movement work. 18 pages (score), 81/2" x 11".

NOTE: This piece is highly adaptable, and will work for ensembles of any size and personnel.

Premiered on August 6, 2014 in New York City, New York,
at the International Double Reed Society Convention, conducted by Daniel Baldwin.

kelp forest



View pages of the score
Email Alex for perusal score code
Listen to DEEP, for contrabassoon
Listen to DEPTH, for wind band
Purchase this score Score and parts available from Activist Music in printed set for $70.00; digital set for $50.00. Conductor score available in print for $35.00 or digital PDF for $15.00.

The original version of EVEN DEEPER, simply titled DEEP, was commissioned and recorded by Carolyn Beck. It uses the same audio track as EVEN DEEPER, but is set for the noble and profound solo contrabassoon. A few years later, I had the opportunity to expand the music, again with the same track but this time for symphonic wind band in a piece titled DEPTH, the first movement of my watery, ocean-based suite, IMMERSION. When Daniel Baldwin suggested that I consider creating an adaptation of one of my works for a performance at the 2014 International Double Reed Society convention, well, this piece was an obvious choice; my imagination rumbles with the vibrations of the mere thought of so many of these great instruments and their fabulous players on stage together, intoning this anthem to the sea. Inhale. Exhale.

Email Alex for the access code
to download a perusal score!

WAnt to hear an adaptation of EVEN DEEPER for low brass?

Click the photo to watch Matthew Hightower conduct
the University of Kentucky Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble
in the premiere of DEPTH SOUNDING
at Gammage Hall, Arizona State University,
May 31, 2023.

(Click HERE to hear a better balanced mix
of their wonderful performance!)

Related work:

EVEN DEEPER began life as a piece for solo contrabassoon and prerecorded track, titled DEEP, and has since been performed by many different low register instrumentalists:

DEEP

(Contrabassoon and Electronic soundscape).
Total duration ca. 8 minutes (2004)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
Commissioned in 2004 by Carolyn Beck.
One movement work. 4 pages, 8.5" x 11".

Recorded in December 2004 by Carolyn Beck, contrabassoon;
Dan Morris, additional percussion.

Recorded in December 2006 by Leslie Lashinsky, contrabassoon;
Dan Morris, additional percussion.

Recorded in October 2007 by Marco Mazzini, contrabass clarinet.

Recorded in September 2018 by Cayla Bellamy, bassoon.

Audio clip of contrabassoon version performed by Leslie Lashinsky.

Also available for low brass as:

DEPTH SOUNDING

Total duration ca. 8 minutes (2023)
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).
One movement work. 19 pages, 8.5" x 11".

under the sea

cellular structures

Deep is featured on Carolyn Beck's 2005 CD, Beck and Call, on Crystal Records CD 846. Click CD for more info.

Deep is featured on the 2007 Innova Recordings CD, Notes from the Kelp (innova 683), recorded by Leslie Lashinsky. Click CD for more info.

A version of Deep for bassoon is featured on the 2018 Mark Masters CD, Double or Nothing (Mark Masters 54263-MCD), recorded by Cayla Bellamy. Click CD for more info.

1. Even Deeper, page 3

1. Even Deeper, page 10

One of the most fascinating residents of the sea
is the aptly named Lion's mane jellyfish!
Able to grow 3 feet wide,
with tentacles capable of extended 100 feet long,
they are among the largest and most toxic jellies.

Commonly seen in the San Juan Islands,
as Alex left her sailboat one August day in 2025 with her friend Belinda,
they came upon a gorgeous specimen in the marina.

Take two minutes to relax and float along with this mesmerizing creature,
and click the image below to watch Alex's video,
set to the perfect soundtrack of the opening of DEEP.