Portfolio
Joshua Muetzel is a composer whose work is drawn to the commonalities in human experience, the fundamental and mystical qualities of nature, and the ways in which human beings and the natural world interact. He is interested in numbers and patterns in nature, climate change, interpersonal relationships, and personal introspection. He touches on these concepts through a narrative compositional style with a particular focus on rhythm and timbre that reaches beyond categorizations of style or genre. He plays steel pan, is a coffee enthusiast, and is an ordained minister for your wedding ceremony needs.
Short Bio
Selected Works
Pan Quartet No. 1, "Constellation" - percussion quartet
“Constellation” transports listeners into the celestial expanse where myth and music intertwine. The quartet explores constellations and asterial phenomena through shimmering textures and resonant harmonies that evoke the delicate tension between starlight’s stillness and the universe’s ceaseless movement. Each pan part contributes to this cosmic dance: the tenor pans lead with clear, melodic lines while the double seconds and cello pans weave intricate rhythms like starlight shimmering across the heavens. Listeners will hear celestial patterns taking shape, moments of spacious stillness, and an upward lift, as if gazing into a night sky bursting with infinite possibility. “Constellation” invites you to reflect on the harmony of the universe, where myth, music, and the stars remain forever entwined.
PDF Score:
an aching... like a memory - solo clarinet and string orchestra
an aching... like a memory is inspired by the bittersweet memories that may linger after a long-term relationship has ended on good terms. The break may have been necessary and will ultimately be better for each person, but the pain nevertheless persists, weaving its way into previously joyous memories to produce an altogether new feeling, one akin to mourning. The string orchestra begins the piece as if descending down into the mind’s recesses, recalling old moments in time. The solo clarinet then joins, soaring above the orchestra like a moment floating back into memory. The piece ends as the strings bring their melodic material back in, interwoven with the clarinet’s bittersweet musings.
PDF Score:
See the Circle - piano and MIDI keyboard
See the Circle explores the fluid nature of circles and circular motion through the language of microtonality, expanding the harmonic and melodic possibilities of the piano. The music unfolds in overlapping arcs, spirals, and rotations. Microtonal intervals — pitches that exist between the keys of a traditional piano — create shimmering harmonies and subtle tonal shifts that evoke the sensation of perpetual motion. These "in-between" sounds blur the lines of conventional tonal systems, much like the indistinct edges of a spinning wheel or the evolving contours of ripples in water. The structure of the piece mirrors the dynamics of circular motion: moments of rapid spinning energy dissolve into stillness, only to be set into motion again. Gestural repetitions trace evolving cycles, with layers of microtonal texture suggesting both outward expansion and inward focus — a journey through concentric rings of sound. An added bit of fun — the piece can cycle seamlessly and can smoothly loop over and over.
PDF Score: