I wound up ordering one of these:
TechTock sunrise-sunset alarm clock, Amazon
I’ve only had it for one night, but so far I like it quite well. 25 alarm sounds, a 3-position switch on the back for volume, and 4 brightness settings for the clock face (the latter automatically dims further from 10pm-6am, automatically). The instruction manual was tolerably well written and setting the thing up wasn’t complicated. Best thing is, the light ring for sunrise comes on at super-low output (1% of total, maybe?) and then ramps up very slowly and almost unnoticeably over the next 30 minutes.
I really like that I can turn the alarm off after it sounds by simply pushing any button on the clock’s top (there are 10). No need to fumble around feeling for the correct button, as with my old clock radio. The two ‘ears’ won’t turn off the alarm, though, because they are the snooze buttons. (So big, ya can’t miss ’em!) 
Two possible downsides are visible PWM flicker if one stares intently at the output (but that’s not the purpose of the thing, right? 
), and the clock face could have had a lower “low” setting or even an “off” for those who are bothered by lit clock faces. Oh, one more: it is powered via usb cord, but no AC power adapter block was included with it; I had a couple of extra adapters sitting around, though.