This piece is written for the Mousai Trio, consisting of Soprano, Clarinet, and Piano. The first movement is 'Hope is a feathered thing', followed by 'Nature changes'. The lyrics are straight from Emily Dickinson. The Mousai Trio consists of Grace Curtis, soprano; Emma Davies, Clarinet; and anna glover, piano.

Two Poems by Emily Dickinson

Ovidʼs Dream is a musical description of the creation story as described by Ovid in his work, “Metamorphoses”. I have included only only four parts of the story in this work; Chaos, Air and Sea, and Earth.
The first movement, “Chaos”, is based upon the following description from “Metamporphoses”:
“[. . .] a huge, rude heap, and nothing else but even
A heavy lump and clottered clod of seeds together driven
Of things at strife among themselves for want of order due.” (1.7-9)
“No kind of thing had proper shape, but each confounded other;
For in one selfsame body strove the hot and cold together.
The moist with dry, the soft with hard, the light with things of weight.” (1.17-19)
“Air and Sea” is simply a description of the creation of those elements, while “Earth” is described by Ovid as, “an enormous globe” and embodies the coming together of all of the earthly elements formed from Chaos. In the former movement, I tried to create the sense of being engulfed in flowing elements such as water and air. The accompaniment to “Earth” is rhythmically driven, with influences from Afro-Cuban and Indian classical music.
Each movement is based upon a tone row, which is utilized in a much freer form than found in traditional atonal music, as it also embodies traditional harmonic structures. This compositional technique is from Randall Sandkeʼs, “Metatonal Theory”.
I used two pieces of software in the creation of this piece, Appleʼs “Logic” and Propellerheadʼs “Reason. “Chaos” was created with both pieces of software. There are many sampled sounds, including plucked piano, vocalizations, and empty bottles. “Air and Sea” was composed using only instruments from “Logic”, and “Earth” was composed using only “Reason”.
Ovidʼs Dream was originally a one-movement work titled, “Chaos”. The creating of “Chaos” was funded by a grant from the Bluffton University Research Center, so naturally, I am indebted to them for Ovidʼs Dream as well, as much of the original “Chaos” material is contained in it.

Ovid's Dream

Performed by the UAB Chamber Trio. This piece is composed for two treble instruments and piano. The UAB Chamber Trio consists of trumpet, clarinet and piano. 

Sonata for Three

Emily Dickinson Trio - Nature 2nd Mix

Emily Dickinson Trio - Hope 2nd Mix

Ovid's Dream: Chaos

Ovid's Dream: Earth

Ovid's Dream Air & Sea

Reflections On Sherry Electronic (2)

This piece was commissioned by Bath Spa University to serve as the processional for their graduations. It is written in three parts so that it can be stopped at the end of each fanfare section as per the time needs of the assembly. The trumpet parts are performed by yours truly, the rest of the ensemble I programmed using  East/West Symphonic Orchestra Gold. 

BSU Fanfare & Processional Full

Thanks to the UAB Chamber Trio (pictured) for premiering and performing this piece on tour!

Sonata for Three is meant to be playable by piano, and any combination of other instruments, particularly treble clef instruments. The three movements are tied together by the use of quartile harmonic structures (often known as ‘jazz’ harmony) that are more readily apparent in the 2nd and 3rd movements than in the first. The first movement is somewhat moody, moving from periods of absolute joy to moments of thought and mystery back to joy again. The 2nd movement is generally more contemplative, with a middle section that gets a bit excited before going back to quiet contemplation at the end. The third movement is more of a semi-contentious conversation between the upper two voices while the piano plays a kind of awkward jazz waltz underneath. Near the end there is a reference to the first movement, leading to a kind of shouting match to end the conversation.

Sonata for Three Movement I

Sonata for Three is meant to be playable by piano, and any combination of other instruments, particularly treble clef instruments. The three movements are tied together by the use of quartile harmonic structures (often known as ‘jazz’ harmony) that are more readily apparent in the 2nd and 3rd movements than in the first. The first movement is somewhat moody, moving from periods of absolute joy to moments of thought and mystery back to joy again. The 2nd movement is generally more contemplative, with a middle section that gets a bit excited before going back to quiet contemplation at the end. The third movement is more of a semi-contentious conversation between the upper two voices while the piano plays a kind of awkward jazz waltz underneath. Near the end there is a reference to the first movement, leading to a kind of shouting match to end the conversation.

Sonata for Three Movement III

Sonata for Three Movement II

Some really rough demos of this piece. It's five movements. Three of them involve lots of classically based improvisation. For more info see www.jeffboehmmusic.com.


Dresden Abandoned Factory Demo

Dresden 1.Gottfried Semper Demo

Quick demo of a moment from Dresden Abandoned, a five movement work for trumpet and electroacoustic accompaniment. Sorry for the sloppy trumpet playing!

Dresden Waiting Demo Verb

Dresden Glory Days Demo Bb

Find Another Bath: an art book presenting images and works focusing on the other, often ignored, side of Bath.

My part in this book is to create and perform a piece for trumpet and backing track. The subject that I have chosen is that of the riots during the Luddite Rebellion, which was a rebellion led by workers in the woollen industry in protest to the advent of machines that replaced human labour. 

Bath had a rather technically advanced woollen factory based on the River Avon in the Twerton area. A group of Luddites had plotted to murder the factor owner and his foreman and then burn down the mill. However, they were thwarted by the militia sent to protect Bath. At least two other woolen mill owners moved from the towns of Swindon and Frome so that they might be safe from the threatening Luddites.

This piece attempts to project the calm, yet tenuous role of Bath as well as the riotous moments from around the country. 

I have taken the rhythms of the woollen mill's machinery, recorded in 1953, and used the rhythms and the recordings throughout the piece.

Riots Master

MMW Letters Home Master

This is the 2nd of my mill pieces. The rhythms used throughout the piece are taken from recordings of a working hammer mill in Devon, UK. The piece was performed at the Saltford Brass Mill in Keynsham, UK. The Saltford Mill was where many of the manillas used to purchase slaves were made. You will also hear readings from a letter to a slave ship captain and words from a ship's manifest. The piece is not exactly descriptive, but is meant to illicit thoughts about our history and the role of seemingly innocuous events and places in the bigger picture.

The Brass Mill

This is a piece commissioned by the Alabama Trumpet Guild Ensemble. The recording is of the premiere performance at the International Trumpet Guild Conference 2018 in San Antonio.

Henrietta Park ITG Performance Mixed

Gottfried Semper Stereo

Jeff Boehm is a music educator, conductor, composer and trumpet player living in Bath, UK. After spending his very early years in Niagara Falls and Elmira, New York, he spent the remainder of his formative years in Dayton, Ohio - USA. He has also lived and taught in West Virginia, Wisconsin and Iowa. He is now a lecturer (faculty) at Bath Spa University.

Jeff Boehm

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