The Violet Hour
- Instrumentation
- Cello Ensemble
- Composed
- 2010
- Duration
- 5'
- Publisher
- Composer (self-published)
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About this piece
The Violet Hour is a five-minute piece for four cellos, commissioned by Joseph Elworthy and the Parisot Cellofest and dedicated to Aldo Parisot and Elworthy. In the composer's programme note, the title is the moment just before sunrise when colour first returns to the sky. It moves through short sections: a dark, brooding opening of rising a piacere arpeggios, then a furtive dance shaped by Brazilian rhythms, which grows into a hopeful, lyrical close. Her performance note asks for rubato in the outer sections but a steady pulse in the middle, especially in the pizzicato passages.
Technical overview
All four parts go into treble-clef thumb-position territory (up to about C6). They play fast sixteenth-note arpeggios that sweep from bass to treble clef, and accented, syncopated dance figures that need tight ensemble. There is also pizzicato, sul ponticello and freely timed a piacere arpeggios at the opening.
Technical focus
- Ensemble Skills
- Thumb Position
- Shifting
- Rhythm
- Articulation
- Pizzicato
- Rubato
- Hairpin Dynamics