Mixed Chamber: Instrumental

MIXED CHAMBER: INSTRUMENTAL

Sinister and Somber Dances

for trombone choir (2018)

Premiered in 2018.

A Still, Small Voice

for oboe, English horn, bassoon, and organ (2018)

Premiered 2018.

Stargazing

for flute, clarinet, and piano (2015)

Commissioned by Doug Monroe for the Hemingway Trio. Premiered May 2015 in Cologne, Germany. Additional performance in Prague, Czech Republic, May 2015. Interlochen Public Radio recording.

Two Flavors

for two violins (2014)

Two Flavors, a violin duet, was commissioned by violinist Er-Gene Kahng, and first performed in 2014. The two movements, entitled “Earth” and “Citrus,” represent two types of flavors experienced in wine-tasting. In each of the movements, “flavors” eventually give way to emotional responses, and soon the arguments begin!

Old Meditation

for two violins and piano (2014)

Commissioned by Er-Gene Kahng. Premiered May 2014, Fayetteville, AR.

Deserted Paths

for flute, oboe, and piano (2014)

Commissioned by the Green Lake Trio (Jill Heyboer, flute, Theresa Delaplain, oboe and Robin Guy, piano), Deserted Pathways was first performed in 2014 at the National Flute Convention in Chicago. Each of the three movements represents hiking on a deserted path to different destinations. As described by reviewer Huntley Dent, "it feels like an inner journey to deeper reaches of emotion and memory." The first movement, entitled, “…to the hayfield,” opens with an extended flute solo. The second, “…to the mountains,” features the oboe; while the finale, “…to the old cemetery,” opens with just piano but soon continues with all three instruments.

Dream Gardens

for double reed quartet (2013)

Commissioned by Theresa Delaplain. Premiered June 2013, Redlands, CA, at the International Double Reed Society Convention. Published by BacktoClassic.

Emblems

for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (2012)

Commissioned by Theresa Delaplain. Premiered June 2013, Redlands, CA, at the International Double Reed Society Convention. Published by BacktoClassic.

"Immediately appealing in its gentle timbres and melodic contour, the piece also has a hidden thought-out structure. Emblems [...] are abbreviated symbols for something larger. In this piece, the emblem consists of two notes (A and B) that become the seeds for expansion and development. The accessibility of the music disguises that a tone row has been devised—like Berg in the Violin Concerto, Mueller doesn’t let Schoenberg’s method undercut his own lyrical bent." - Huntley Dent, Classics Today

Rhapsodies and Interludes

for flute, oboe, and bassoon (2012)

This Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon was performed at the 2012 IDRS Conference in Oxford, Ohio. It is a fine example of contemporary music that is accessible for both performer and audience. The work incorporates a continuously evolving dreamlike figure that alternates with contrasting interludes. The three instruments provide a variety of textures: monophonic, homophonic and polyphonic, often morphing from one to another in rapid succession. At first, the contrasts between ideas are stark, but eventually the rhapsodies and the interludes merge into one idea, with the opening three note motive (C#, B, D) never far away.Suitable for professional and college/conservatory students.

Del pari

for oboe, violoncello and percussion (2008)

Commissioned by Sally Wall, premiered in 2020 by Theresa Delaplain, Dominic K. Na and Fernando Valencia

First Light

for two oboes and English horn (2004)

Commissioned by Theresa Delaplain. Premiered 10/04 at the University of Arkansas Octoboe concert with Theresa Delaplain, Bo Newsome, and Heather Haydu. Performed at the International Double Reed Society Convention, Austin, TX, June 2005, with Theresa Delaplain, Bob Newsome, and Sally Wall.

Lone Bird

for oboe, English horn, viola, cello, and bass (2002)

Commissioned by Bo Newsome and Heather Haydu. Premiered at the 2002 International Double Reed Society Convention, Greensboro, NC, by Bo Newsome, Heather Haydu, and chamber ensemble.

la pointe au portail

for oboe, cello, and piano (2002)

The Grand Portal (la pointe au portail) is a natural arch rock formation on the shore of Lake Superior within the great escarpment of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Before 1900, its span of over 100 feet was large enough to allow ships to sail underneath it. A mighty crash in 1900, which could be heard 100 miles away, limited the scope of the natural arch, but the formation maintains its grandeur. The music of this trio portrays the effects of wind and waves upon the Grand Portal, "where steady rhythms from the piano anchor yet never inhibit free-flowing melodic lines" (Jed Distler), including a musical representation of a geological collapse.

Fields on the Edge of Forever

for violin, alto saxophone, and piano (2002)

Composed in 2002 for the Umble/Warner Trio. It explores the lonely beauty of endless fields of grain one finds in north central North Dakota, and the endless grief associated with fields like Babi Yar and Treblinka, where misery and suffering had no boundaries.

Three Lamentations in Times of Sorrow

for oboe, viola, and piano (2001)

Commissioned by Theresa Delaplain. Premiered 10/01 by Theresa Delaplain, oboe, Rico McNeela, viola, and Mary Scott Goode, piano. Written in three movements, this work is a statement of sorrow at teh events of 9/11. Published by Bocal Music. Recorded on Time Labyrinths CD, Nuance 1519.

Peaceable Spaces

for violin, viola, cello, and piano (2001)

Premiere performance 04/01 by Rico McNeela, violin, Erin Brooks, viola, Stephen Gates, cello, and Robert Mueller, piano. Commissioned by the University of Arkansas to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.

Masques

for oboe, bassoon, and piano (1998)

Commissioned by Richard Ramey. Premiered by Theresa Delaplain, oboe, Richard Ramey, bassoon, and Jong-Wan Ham, piano, on a Boston Mountain Chamber Players concert, 03/99. Additional performance at the International Double Reed Society Conference, Greensboro, NC, 06/03; University of Arkansas 2016: Arizona State University 03/16; International Bassoon Festival Siegried Miklin, Bogota 10/16. Published by Bocal Music. Recorded on Time Labyrinths CD, Nuance 1519.

Five Stones from the Same Chaotic Stream

for bassoon ensemble (1996)

Premiere performance by the OA Bassoon Ensemble, 11/96. Published by Bocal Music.

Night Journey

for two pianos (1991)

Commissioned by Alan and Alvin Chow. Performances: 3/92 in Tahlequah, OK; 3/92 in Boulder, CO; 4/92 in Norman, OK; 4/92 in Fayetteville, AR; 4/92 in Shawnee, OK; and 10/93 in Oklahoma City, OK. All performances were by Alan and Alvin Chow.

Mogami-Gawa

for viola, piano, and percussion ensemble (1991)

Commissioned by the UA Percussion Ensemble, Bruce Roberts, director. Performances: 4/92 in Fayetteville, AR by Rico McNeela, viola, Robert Mueller, piano, and the UA Percussion Ensemble. Publication: C. Alan Publications, Greensboro, NC.

Poem for Eight Instruments

for flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, and string quartet (1982)

Performances: 4/82 in Marquette, Michigan, and 2/83 in Bowling Green, Ohio.