Saudade

Item details

Description +
- Duration: 5 min.
  
  Saudade is a Portuguese word that very loosely means 'the love that remains.' It is a term that is used to denote the melancholic feeling of missing someone or something; a bittersweet emotion, as it is both a feeling of sadness due to their absence and a feeling of nostalgic joy from their memory. This piece is my attempt at painting this feeling in music.
  
  This version of the piece is scored for unaccompanied solo marimba. A version with string quartet accompaniment is also published separately as Saudade Fantasia.
Instrumentation +
- Marimba (5.0)
Watch+
- Performed by Joey Eng
About the composer +
- Joey Eng (b. 2001) is an Australian percussionist, composer, producer and educator. As a soloist, Joey was a winner of the 2022 Warana Concerto Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2020 Warana Concerto Competition, a finalist for the 2022 Richard Gill Award, and a finalist in both the inaugural 2019 Marimbafest solo marimba competition and the 2021 Marimbafest solo marimba competition, in which he placed 2nd. A multi-skilled percussionist and collaborator, he has performed with many orchestras across Australia including the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra, Perth Symphony Orchestra, Australian Baroque, Australian Youth Orchestra, and the Vienna Pops Orchestra.
  
  As a composer, Joey was a finalist in both the 2020 and 2021 WAAPA Symphony Orchestra Composition Competitions and has had multiple new works premiered by the Defying Gravity percussion ensemble. Joey also regularly premieres new orchestral works, solo and chamber percussion pieces through his Youtube channel - works that have since been performed by percussionists around the world. As a composer-performer, he has scored and performed in live theatre productions including ‘The Hope Fault’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’. Joey is also an adept arranger, and his arrangements of contemporary songs have been performed by the Perth Symphony Orchestra, the WAAPA Symphony Orchestra and Defying Gravity.
  
  Joey completed his Bachelor of Music from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts under the tutelage of Tim White OAM, receiving the 2022 WAAPA Medal as the top graduate of the entire school. Joey has been awarded an ECU Vice Chancellor’s Award, an ECU WAAPA Scholarship, a 2022 Peter Hurford Award, the 2022 Luigi Paolino Award, and the 2021 Norman Archibald Percussion Scholarship.
  
  Joey is endorsed by Marimba One (USA).
Reviews +
- Review (Percussive Notes, February 2025)
  
  “Saudade” is a Portuguese word that does not have an easy equivalent in English, creating a magical charm around the intangible concept of longing and nostalgia for someone you love or a moment that may never happen again. This mystique allures composers to write works devoted to the complexities of emotions when there is an emptiness inside. Marimbist and composer Joey Eng eloquently tackles this topic with his marimba solo “Saudade.” This short, sweet, and yearning solo starts quiet and delicate, then gradually develops into full-blown emotions before ending where it began, creating a sincere arc of melancholy in just over four minutes.
  
  “Saudade” is a four-mallet solo requiring good control and competency on the marimba — suitable for professional performances, college recitals, or juries. It is written idiomatically to the instrument, but the constantly changing bass notes and large leaps between bars make for a more difficult work than a beginner should tackle. Eng does a great job of highlighting the melody hrough clear notation in the score, opening up opportunities for possible interpretations to bring personal approaches to this piece. With clearly defined melodies and a pleasant harmonic progression, “Saudade” is appealing for listeners and performers alike.
  
  The piece creates a nice arc from beginning to end, with character notes added throughout to help performers approach the sections — for example, “soaring with resolve” and “pensive.” Eng relies on two contrasting themes to connect the piece, both of which are very lyrical and memorable. These catchy melodies develop their own sense of nostalgia, as if we have heard the tunes many times before. Although short, “Saudade” covers a lot of ground and works well to feature subtlety on the instrument while also demonstrating good power and melodic direction on the marimba.
  
  —Matthew Geiger
Credits +
- With support from Koda’s Cultural Funds
  Front Cover Graphics and Layout: Nicola Lee
  Photo: Joey Eng
  Printed in Copenhagen, Denmark
  Copyright © Edition SVITZER
  www.editionsvitzer.com

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