Editor’s Note:

In many ways, Paul Zonn’s short Red Wiggler for solo tuba might be considered an aural and visual poem on the common composting worm (the red wiggler, or eisenia fetida) as it squirms and thrives through sounds – and, in the coda, as it wriggles at the bottom of the lower stave, safe from the surface humming. Despite the extent to which Red Wiggler utilizes graphic and proportional notation, it is still more traditionally notated than many Zonn works. Here, the graphic aspects show the widening and narrowing of vibrato, and traditionally-notated extended techniques include humming while playing, fluttertongue (flz), occasional quartertones, and pitch bending.