Heath, Dave: Golden Sunset

Golden Sunset was inspired by and is dedicated to the flute maker Albert Cooper who, for me, has been like a Zen master, producing amazing, perfect and exploratory instruments, his only motive being the perfection of his craft.The initial idea for the piece came from Albert Cooper's name itself. It struck me that the letters of his surname looked a bit like a flute, and more importantly, made an interesting scale-i.e. the C, then the two open holes A and G then the P (which looks like the G sharp key), the E (as an E) and the R as any note (I have used D)-so the final scale is C, A, G, G sharp, E, D.Golden Sunset is in three movements. I have wanted to write a piece in Albert Cooper's honour for a long time. I have admired him both for his dedication to his craft, and for his modesty and honesty as a man. David Heath