Memento was written by Calvin Chiu for Hong Kong Percussionist Sophia Woo

The piece, “Memento” for Vibraphone and 5.0 Octave Marimba, is inspired by the movie bearing the same name. The main character in the movie, Leonard, suffers from a rare form of memory loss; in order to find the person who murdered his wife, he uses a delicate system of

Memento was written by Calvin Chiu for Hong Kong Percussionist Sophia Woo

The piece, “Memento” for Vibraphone and 5.0 Octave Marimba, is inspired by the movie bearing the same name. The main character in the movie, Leonard, suffers from a rare form of memory loss; in order to find the person who murdered his wife, he uses a delicate system of tattoos and Polaroid photographs to retain information which he is unable to recall. I was particularly fascinated by the idea of retrieving information from the past by utilizing these small “motifs”, which almost serves as the sparks or reflection along his path of vengeance. Throughout this piece, the audience will hear an obsessive appearance of the “motif”, serving as flashback to the buried, unbearable memories of the past.

XYPublication recommends this piece for Young College to Graduate Level Percussionists