1767–1817 · Classical
August Eberhard Müller was born in Northeim in 1767 and died in Weimar in 1817. He was a composer, organist and choir leader, and from 1804 he was Thomaskantor in Leipzig. For players he left piano sonatas and capriccios, and our site has his Siciliano at intermediate level.
August Eberhard Müller was born on 13 December 1767 in Northeim. He was trained by his father, an organist. At the age of eight the boy gave his first public performance.
Müller then studied with Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach in Bückeburg. There he served as organist of the Ulrichskirche, a post he held until 1788.
From 1789 Müller worked in Magdeburg a choir leader, a teacher and an organist.
Müller got to know Johann Friedrich Reichardt in Berlin in 1792. Reichardt put in a word for him, and in 1794 Müller became organist at Leipzig's church of St. Nicholas.
In 1800 he became assistant to Johann Adam Hiller. When Hiller died in 1804, Müller succeeded him as Thomaskantor.
In 1801 Müller conducted the first performance of Haydn's The Seasons outside Vienna. He kept the works of J. S. Bach in the repertoire and helped to spread Viennese Classicism.
Müller became Kapellmeister at the ducal court in Weimar in 1810. He died in that city on 3 December 1817.
Müller's son Theodor Amadeus Müller played the violin. Frederic Ernest Fesca is named among Müller's pupils.
Müller's piano output includes two concertos, fourteen sonatas, a number of capriccios and other short works. He also composed seven flute concertos and further pieces for flute with orchestra, plus études for flute and piano.
Müller also wrote about how to play other composers' music. In 1797 a guide of his to Mozart's piano concertos and correct fingering, the «Anleitung zum genauen und richtigen Vortrage», appeared in Leipzig.
He also arranged Mozart's opera «La Clemenza di Tito» for piano. His first arrangement appeared in 1795, and the Breitkopf & Härtel edition in 1803.
One piece by Müller is available on our site: the «Siciliano» for solo piano, at intermediate level. It is the place to start getting to know the composer.