Butterfly Effects is in seven sections, originally
for flute and harp, in which the flutist is asked to play bass,
alto,
piccolo and concert flutes. The titles are the names of butterflies: Mourningcloak, Banded Blue Pierrot, Common
Jezebel, Question Mark, Monkey Puzzle, Karner Blues, and Psyche. Five
movements have been arranged by the composer for oboist
Cynthia Green Libby who has recorded the piece with harpist Jeremy Chesman. Noteworthy Sheet Music has published the original flute and harp score online in the U.S and the recording with oboist Peter H. Bloom and Mary Jane Rupert (for whom the piece was written) is slated for release on Navona Recordings in 2018. The oboe version of the score is published by Certosa Verlag in Germany.
The composer
writes: Butterfly Effects for flute and
harp was written for "2," with flutist Peter
H. Bloom and harpist Mary Jane Rupert who premiered the first
parts of the piece in Bangkok in 2009 and the entire
work in Illinois in 2010. Along with the butterflies themselves,
a quotation from Zhuangzi was the starting point for the music: "Am
I a human who dreamt of being a butterfly or am I now a butterfly
who dreams
of being human?" The Taoist philosopher's dream illustrates,
among other lessons, a sense of oneness with all living beings.
Like other
creatures, butterflies are adapted
to their environment in interesting and sometimes astonishing
ways. The monkey puzzle, for example, has tail filaments that
mimic its antennae, apparently to confuse predators, while the
toxic common jezebel warns off predators with bright coloration
only on the underside of its wings since it spends much time
in the forest canopy. An endangered species, the tiny Karner
blues were so-named by Vladimir Nabokov, an avid lepidopterist
as well as a novelist. Curiously, the Karner blue larva feeds
only on wild lupine, the disappearance of which is a reason for
its growing rarity. So fragile that their wings may be damaged
by a heavy rainstorm, butterflies confound the odds, surviving
under difficult conditions, even—like the mourningcloak—wintering
over as adults in icy New England.
All seven
movements are short, some only a minute in length. Mourningcloak,
for alto flute and harp, is somber and reflective. Banded
Blue Pierrot (concert flute) is short and glittering. Common
Jezebel is a sultry tango for alto flute and harp that becomes increasingly
chromatic and contrapuntal, requiring some
fancy footwork on the harp. Question Mark (bass flute) requires
the flutist to use "beat boxing" and key slap techniques
that maximize the percussive qualities of the flute. Monkey
Puzzle (alto flute),
in a kind of mimicry of the confusing antennae and pseudo antennae
of the insect, flutters along to the middle of the piece and
then proceeds backwards to the beginning in what is known as
retrograde motion. Karner Blues adopts some of the riffs of blues
instrumentalists and singers in the only movement for piccolo.
Psyche, a word meaning breath or soul in Greek, is for concert
flute and reminds us again of the Zhuangzi dream and the oneness
of all living
beings.
See
score sample below.
To
order the score: Certosa Verlag Noteworthy Sheet Music
To
order the CD: amazon.com amazon.com
psyche |
Duo "2"
Cynthia Libby Green, oboe
|
