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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

Virtuous Impatience - percussion ensemble

This piece reflects the constant, nagging sense of urgency I feel when I think about life on this planet locked in a continuous struggle against loathsome corporations and careless individuals. The music is comprised of irregular 5-bar phrases in which the performers are not always playing in a congruous fashion. This rhythmic dissonance reflects the cognitive dissonance in the dialogues about solutions to our climate issues.

PDF Score:   

Virtuous Impatience - full piece
00:00 / 09:04
Virtuous Impatience - Excerpt, pg 11-24
00:00 / 01:26
Virtuous Impatience - Excerpt, pg. 36-46
00:00 / 01:05
Virtuous Impatience - Excerpt, pg. 46-50
00:00 / 00:48

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:   

an aching... like a memory - full piece
00:00 / 07:07
an aching... like a memory - Excerpt, cello and bass entrance pg. 3-6
00:00 / 01:27
an aching... like a memory - Excerpt, clarinet solo pg. 6-10
00:00 / 01:58
an aching... like a memory - Excerpt, ending pg. 13-16
00:00 / 01:40

...but they are like us, too - alto saxophone and electronics

This piece was commissioned by Alvin Phan, a doctoral saxophone student who wanted to perform a new piece based on an issue he is passionate about: the mistreatment of animals in the meat industry. I worked with Alvin to create a solo alto saxophone work that incorporates a number of extended techniques for the instrument, implemented in a score that utilizes semi-improvisatory musical gestures via cell-based notation. The work also features fixed media that depicts the progress of humankind from its simple, naturalistic origins toward a most inhumane present.

PDF Score:   

but they are like us, too - full piece
00:00 / 16:29
...but they are like us, too - Excerpt, Module 2
00:00 / 01:42
...but they are like us, too - Excerpt, middle Module 3
00:00 / 01:04
...but they are like us, too - Excerpt, end of Module 5 into Module 6
00:00 / 01:58
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