Sunset in Depoe Bay

A sunset on the Oregon Coast is magical – it not only looks beautiful but also evokes various memories, thoughts, and emotions. This piece is about the five-minute fragment of sunset I watched this summer in Depoe Bay. During the five minutes, I thought about my hometown over the ocean, which is ironic since facing the ocean used to symbolize my yearning to go out and travel the world outside when I lived there. Then, I thought of things that disappear – evaporating water, burning ash pile, supernovas, and back to sunset – and the mortality we encounter every day. That would make a great title, but more for a multi-movement suite. So, I decided to compose a piece about what I was watching – the Sunset in Depoe Bay.

The music begins with the sound of beach. It slowly transforms into multiple descending lines, like the sun going down, and the last bit of sunlight fades away, thus the closing the music. I tried to transform the visual image to music without adding further emotion or expression, so that the audience can hear what I saw and react in their own ways.