About the Music

Filho de Boto (2025) is a tone poem for solo bass clarinet that draws its narrative from one of Brazil’s most enduring Amazonian legends: the Boto (river dolphin). According to the myth, the Boto transforms on certain nights into a handsome, charismatic man dressed in white. He emerges from the water to seduce women at village dances, only to vanish back into the river before sunrise, leaving behind a child and a mystery.

The composition explores this duality—the aquatic beast versus the human seducer—through the bass clarinet's vast expressive range. The deep, resonant chalumeau register evokes the dark, flowing currents of the Amazon, while soaring, agile passages in the altissimo capture the man’s flamboyant charm and his eventual, elusive retreat.

Beyond the fable, the Boto serves as a profound cultural metaphor, giving an aquatic face to human displacement and loss. The myth allows communities to process the trauma of the "vanishing stranger"—grappling with complex legacies of colonialism, exploitation, and fatherless families. This work challenges the listener to hear not just the beauty of the legend, but the deeper, darker truths woven into its fabric.

Extended-range instrument NOT required. Solo score: 10 pages.

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About the Composer

Joseph Hallman is a Philadelphian composer who has worked with some of today's most talented musicians and artists on concert programs both nationally and internationally.

Hallman’s series of chamber concerti were composed for members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra. Akin to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and Hindemith's Kammermusik, these pieces have won acclaim for their wit and strength.

Among his most prominent collaborations, Hallman has composed multiple concerti and chamber and solo works for the internationally acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, winner of a 2011 MacArthur “Genius” Grant. The live premiere recording of The St. Petersburg Concerto is available on iTunes and all other major digital distributors.

Hallman’s work with poets, in particular Jessica Hornik and Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea, has inspired strong relationships and works for voices and chamber ensembles. The Inscape Chamber Music Project, on the Sono Luminos label, recorded and released Three Poems of Jessica Hornik and imagined landscapes: six Lovecraftian elsewheres, which was then nominated for a Grammy award.

Hallman continues to write prolifically for chamber musicians and orchestras across the country and world.