Die Müde ("The Tired Woman") is the seventh in a series of short works for solo instrument based upon characters from Der Ohrenzeuge: Fünfzig Charaktere ("Earwitness: Fifty Characters"), written in 1974 by the Bulgaria-born British-Austrian novelist Elias Canetti (1905-1994). Canetti’s distinctive studies incorporate poetic imagery, singular insights, and unabashed wordplay to create fifty ironic paradigms of human behavior. This collection of works, begun in 1997, was inspired by the vividly surreal depictions of Canetti’s characters. To date there are nine works in this series, composed for contrabass, violin, contrabassoon, ocarina, glass harmonica, bass flute, alto saxophone, trumpet, and percussion.

Die Müde was composed in September of 2004 and composed for saxophonist Eric Nestler, who first performed the work at the University of North Texas on 19 October 2004.