Saga (Download)

Brian Mueller dedicated Saga to his doctoral teacher from Indiana University, famed marimba soloist and pedagogue, Kevin Bobo. In this epic and demanding solo for 5-octave marimba, Mueller uses many different techniques within a wide variety of musical contexts making this an extremely challenging piece.

There are 5 individual sections throughout the piece which hint at a vaguely programmatic structure: Calling, Venture, Contention, Affirmation, and Realization. These titles of sections help communicate the following sentence, which Mueller feels is the summation of the work: “Follow your dreams, and have the courage to stand up and fight in the face of defeat.”