Various Artists - Dream Gardens - Chamber Music of Robert Mueller (2023)

From the composer: I endeavor for my music to be the expression of human emotion, from excitement to ecstasy, from sadness to shame, from joy to rejection and a myriad of other feelings that are part of our human experience. Writing almost exclusively in acoustic media, I am energized by the countless possibilities of structural, harmonic, melodic, timbral and rhythmic sounds that can be utilized to reveal sentiments and passions (without pandering to the basest of emotions), but always with an ear to satisfying logical development and conclusion. Works that I have created for public performance include large orchestral or wind ensemble pieces, chamber music and works for solo instruments. It is my hope that the performers and listeners will connect with my music in a visceral way. Do they hear a melody and identify with its haunting quality? Does a chord progression “strike a chord” within their own hearts? Does a certain orchestration evince a particular mood? The great poet William Wordsworth said, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” I strive through my music to communicate the essence of human expression, from the breathings of my own heart to those of the listener.

Robert Mueller has been composer-in-residence three times for the Fort Smith Symphony, and his music has been performed nationwide by several orchestras, including the Cincinnati, Omaha, Fort Smith, Lansing, Arkansas, Missoula, Helena, Jackson, and North Arkansas symphony orchestras. Mueller has received numerous commissions, has been widely published and has produced a chamber music CD entitled Time Labyrinths. Several music festivals have programmed his music, including the Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, Music Festival of Arkansas, Southwest Contemporary Music Festival and conferences of the Society of Composers, International Double Reed Society, National Flute Association and College Music Society. He has also been composer-in-residence for Missouri State University’s Annual Composition Festival. Mueller has been the recipient of more than 30 awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He has also been awarded an American Music Center grant, an individual artist grant from the Arkansas Arts Council, prizes from the Omaha, Lansing, Jackson and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, and other awards as well. Mueller attended Northern Michigan University, where he received the Outstanding Pianist Award upon graduation. He has also received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the university, and he was invited to be Composer-in-Residence. He earned the Master of Music in Composition degree from Bowling Green State University, where he studied composition with Marilyn Shrude. At Bowling Green, he also did extensive studies in orchestral conducting. Mueller received a DMA in Composition at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where his teachers were Earle Brown, Joel Hoffman, Jonathan Kramer, Frederic Rzewski and Allan Sapp. He is currently Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches music composition and music theory and conducts the university’s Symphony Orchestra.