Scena della Opera (1997) for piano trio
Premier performance in Fayetteville, AR 2/99 by the Boston Mountain Chamber
Players: Jeongwon Ham, piano, Rico McNeela, violin, and Stephen Gates, cello.
Additional performance 3/99 by the same group.
Echo Fantasy (1989) for violin, cello and piano, (revised 2018)
Commissioned by Steve and Betsy Highland. Performances: 4/89 in Superior, WI
by Steve Highland, Betsy Highland and Robert Mueller; 3/90 in Lawton, OK (as
part of the regional meeting of the College Music Society); 3/92 in Ft. Worth, TX
(as part of the 1992 Region VI convention of the Society of Composers, Inc.); and
11/92 in Fayetteville, AR by the Ozark Chamber Players; 6/12 by the Interlochen
Ensemble.
ROBERT K. MUELLER
COMPOSER
STRING QUARTET
String Quartet: From the Other Side
for String Quartet (1990, rev. 2018)
String Quartet: From the Other Side was composed in 1990, following a commission by the University of Arkansas for the Quapaw Quartet. It was premiered in February 1991 by that ensemble in several locations across the state of Arkansas, including Fayetteville and Little Rock. Composed in homage to Dmitri Shostakovich, arguably the greatest composer of string quartets in the twentieth century, the work is cast in four movements – each of which is a commentary on significant events in the great composer’s life: 1917 – the year of the communist revolution; 1936 – the year of the famous “chaos instead of music” article in Pravda; 1948 – the year the Union of Soviet Composers declared him an “enemy of the people,” and 1975 – the year he passed away. "In his own voice", writes Huntley Dent, "Mueller's homage perfectly recaptures a prominent side of Shostakovich's personality". Two Shostakovich themes are employed in this commentary: the famous D-S-C-H theme from the eighth quartet (and elsewhere), and a prominent theme from the thirteenth symphony.
In retrospect, the quartet may also be a commentary on the pivotal events of 1989 – 1990, namely the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of the cold war. These events, though great for some, have not brought about an end to suffering from injustice. In this work’s end, all elements of emotional struggle are stripped from the quartet’s sound as minuscule utterances from open strings fade into an abyss of total silence.