Javier Alvarez (MEX), born 1956, studied clarinet and composition. He is a freelance composer and teacher of composition and computer music technology at the Royal Academy of Music and at the University of Hertfordshire. He has recently been appointed Artistic Director for the Society for the Promotion of New Music for the 95-96 season.

In "Calacas Imaginarias" I chose as my sources poems ranging in era, style and intention, but all concerned with death as contemplated by poets related to the Spanish speaking world. I also took words (for "Remover Migaja completo") from an anonymous instruction booklet belonging to an American export slice toaster. In addition to the abstract qualities of words as pure sounds, I was fascinated by the particular manner in which the recurrent themes of death, absence and removal suggested virtual landscapes and images beyond historical facts. Yet I could hardly avoid the whence of the words: as I composed, I tried to imagine Nezahualcoyotl's public addresses in ceremonial rites or Santa Teresa's life-long confrontations with the Inquisition, or the multi-cultural solitude of a translator, unknowingly capable of mixing technical gibberish into eloquent poetry, a sad and true magician of our hybrid 2 minute culture. With regards to the title, I made up "Calacas Imaginarias" ("Imaginary Skeletons") by freely associating the nature of my approach with a prevalent Mexican symbol for death, the calaca or skeleton. This is an icon which often accompanies poetry as a form of popular vignette.