Violet

Item details

Description +
- Duration: 4½ min.
  
  Violet is my first ever vibraphone solo, adding to my catalogue of usually marimba-dominated works. The title Violet reflects on an anime protagonist named Violet Evergarden, from the popular series Violet Evergarden, and her selfless desire to always help and eventually bring closure to people's stories that she encounters in her own journey for self-discovery.
  
  Violet reflects the ideas of helping bring happiness to others in all situations, with the main 'positive' theme being repeated in various keys and permutations throughout the piece, while also being iterated in different manners ranging from calm and peaceful, to radiant and joyous, before ending on a more solemn and reflective note.
  
  I wrote this piece for Carissa Soares, who is one of my good percussionist friends. It's a great experience writing for someone else and this allows me to try new ideas I wouldn’t otherwise try on works premiered by myself.
  
  Adam Tan
Instrumentation +
- Vibraphone (3 octave)
Watch+
- Performed by Carissa Soares
About the composer +
- Adam Tan is a marimba soloist, educator and composer based in Perth, Western Australia. Adam is most known for being a YouTube content creator on THE STUDIO, a self-produced YouTube show uploading weekly episodes for education and entertainment relating to percussion.
  
  Adam has performed and presented in-person in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States, and has also presented online classes in Argentina, Central America and the United Kingdom. Highlights include solo performances at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), inc. percussion days (Japan), PAS Hong Kong Days of Percussion and Oh! Asian Percussionists Series (Hong Kong), Malaysia Percussion Festival, Chosen Vale Percussion Seminar (USA), Australian Percussion Gathering and masterclass presentations at the 505A Percussion Gathering (Hong Kong), MalletLab Summer Intensive (USA), WA Day of Percussion (Australia) and various universities and schools across Taiwan.
  
  As a composer, Adam's works for percussion are performed regularly as they appear in repertoire lists for auditions, examinations and competitions around the world, such as the UIL Texas Prescribed Music List (PML). Adam’s works can be listened to on all music streaming platforms and stores.
  
  Adam is the founder and director of Marimbafest Australia, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of percussive arts in Australia, curating various events including the annual marimba festival and competition Marimbafest, as well as the annual concert series Percussion All-Stars.
  
  Adam has a Master of Music (Research, Percussion) and Bachelor of Music (1st Class Hons) from the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music.
  
  Adam is a Marimba One Premier Artist and a Signature Artist of Encore Mallets with his own signature series of mallets. Adam's compositions are published by Edition Svitzer.
Reviews +
- Percussive Notes, April 2023
  
  “Violet” is a beautiful work appropriate for intermediate-level performers. It requires four mallets throughout and calls for rotation strokes, single mallet strokes, double stops, and onehanded grace-note figures. For the majority of the piece, the right hand carries the melody and the left hand plays accompaniment, so careful balance is imperative. There are also numerous rhapsodic runs that cover most of the range of the vibraphone. Adam Tan includes stickings for these, although he states in the performance notes that players can use their own. Mallet dampening is also indicated, although I found the notation a little bit confusing regarding what to dampen when. Pedaling is explained, but not explicitly notated in the score.
  
  The title of the piece comes not from the flower or color, but from the main character of the anime seriesViolet Evergarden. Knowing nothing about anime, I found Tan’s program note describing Violet’s “selfless desire to always help” useful in my understanding of the piece. The musical material is sunny and consonant, moving through various manners of representation using the same or very similar material. In that regard, “Violet” is somewhat like a theme and variations.
  
  Tan has recently gained popularity with his marimba solos. For those who enjoy them, I highly recommend “Violet” — his first work for vibraphone.
  
  —Joseph Van Hassel
Credits +
- Front Cover graphics and layout: Adam Tan
  Photo: Adam Tan
  Engraving: Adam Tan & Johan Svitzer
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright ©Adam Tan

Item details

Related publications