PLEASE NOTE: This purchase is for a downloadable PDF copy of the piece. You will NOT receive a hard copy shipped to your address. Hard copy from Edition Svitzer coming soon!
 
Watch the recording of Maddie and I playing Orange Sunset first:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oux4JUjzgiM
 
"There is nothing more musical than a sunset."
- Claude Debussy, from The Theories of Claude Debussy (1967)
 
Orange Sunset is my first foray into writing for two vibraphones, exploring the sonorous sound of two warm sustains blending and texturising with each other. I love the sound of moto perpetuo style chordal blends and was inspired to write Orange Sunset after having heard famous pop songs like JVKE's Golden Hour which lull you into that sense of serenity and peace, before creating vivid imagery of flying over the clouds.
 
I wrote Orange Sunset in collaboration with my percussionist friend Maddie Colvin, who happened to buy a brand new Marimba One vibraphone at the same time as me! I was interested to see what our new instruments would sound like playing together, so I workshopped Orange Sunset with Maddie to be written and performed in the space of a few weeks.
 
The title Orange Sunset comes from one of my favourite pastimes - going to the beach on the weekend by myself and watching the sun set slowly, turning the sky from a bright blue to a crimson orange, before eventually fading into shades of pink and purple. I always feel a sense of calm and reflection when seeing the sun slowly depress into the ocean, knowing that no matter how hard the day has been, the sunset will always be beautiful at the end of it.
 
Orange Sunset uses a triple-lateral motif which gets gradually built up into thicker textures, before the vibraphone 1 part emerges with simple, yet powerful octaves. The chords are mostly common harmony but with added 7ths and 9ths, and it is only at the very end where the harmony becomes incredibly simple, signifying the conclusion of the sunset.
 
Orange Sunset was premiered by Maddie Colvin and Adam Tan at Percussion All-Stars 9: SPECIAL/STAGE on 24th June 2023 at the Richard Gill Auditorium, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
 
Orange Sunset requires two 3.0 octave vibraphones (cannot be played on marimba or other keyboard instruments). You will receive one (1) PDF file with the full score and both Vibraphone 1 and Vibraphone 2 parts.
 
Studio VIPs / Studio ARTISTs: Discount code available at patreon.com/adamtan! Use that code in checkout to gain 25% off this score (Studio ARTISTs) or 50% off (Studio VIPs)!