The Boy King – Bb Trumpet and Piano

For Trumpet and Piano
I.) In Youth
II.) At Rest
III.) Discovery

In 1922 when Howard Carter unearthed the tomb of the ‘Boy King’ Tutankhamun among the glittering artefacts were a pair of trumpets, believed now to be the oldest operational instruments in the world. One silver and the other bronze, these instruments possess the most haunting harmonic series and curious sound qualities.

In 1939 the BBC recorded one James Tappern, a bandsman of Prince Albert’s Own 11th Hussars who, not without considerable effort, extracted the long forgotten notes from the priceless instruments. Thus for the first time on the wireless millions of people heard sounds that originated over 3000 years ago.

For this piece I have used the interval shapes heard on this famous recording to construct a narrative which follows the reign of the young Pharoah ‘In Youth’ to his entombment ‘At Rest’ and on to the archaeological wonder of the early twentieth century in ‘Discovery’.

There is of course the claim that the instruments possess magical powers which portent war and conflict. This composer has sought to couch the intervals in a peaceful dialogue between the Trumpet and Piano, anticipating some persuasive harmony and in celebration of the life and legacy of ‘The Boy King’.

Jeffery Wilson 2020.