Broken Tulip
Zae Munn
About this work:
Broken Tulip was premiered on July 9, 2008 at Interlochen Arts Camp. Performers were: Jill Heyboer, flute; Daniel Silver, clarinet; Tim McAllister, alto saxophone; George Sakakeeny, bassoon; Hank Skolnick, contraforte; Mark Hetzler, trombone; and Kim Burja, percussion
Broken Tulip takes inspiration from the notion that an idea or an object can remain static while the perception of that idea or object shifts radically around it. A real life example of this type of radical paradigm shift is the broken tulip, a rare, multi-colored tulip with irregular flame- or feather-like markings. A standard tulip, however, is solid-colored, a unitary blend of two overlaid pigments. Because a tulip is reproduced by planting its genetically identical offsets, a broken tulip was quite rare and appeared seemingly at random. This combination of mystery and rare beauty made the broken tulip aesthetically prized--and economically valuable.
But it was discovered that a virus, carried from bulb to bulb by the peach potato aphid, irregularly suppressed the laid-on color of the tulip, allowing a portion of the base color to show through in that tell-tale flame or feathered pattern. These rare moments of beauty were suddenly seen as diseased and undesirable, and growers set about ridding their fields of the infected tulips. A violent paradigm shift occurred and the broken tulip was doomed.
My piece does not tell the story of the rise and fall of the broken tulip—there is no tulip melody, no virus leitmotif. It borrows the energy and tension in the story of the broken tulip and explores the more general idea of radical paradigm shift.
I’d like to point to another example of a potential paradigm shift right in our midst. Broken Tulip has an important part for the contraforte, played by Hank Skolnick. The contraforte is a modern, reworked version of the contrabassoon. It has a wider bore, is more agile, and more consistent throughout its expanded range. The rather limited paradigm of the contrabassoon as an occasional octave doubler of the bassoon in late romantic and 20th c. orchestra music may shift as the contraforte moves into chamber repertoire like Broken Tulip and its own solo repertoire.
Year composed: 2008
Duration: 00:07:40
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Trombone, 1 Percussion (General)