Chan has described his music as a diary or memoir, particularly of emotions, and writes cumulative works with only one work per genre. These cumulative compositions have highly abstract titles such as
Orchestra with Solo Instruments and
Solo Piano, but each is made up of self-contained sections with more descriptive titles. His most autobiographical works are
Solo Piano and
String Quartet. He has called it "a perpetual work in progress", saying "as an artist, you create one work, which is the work defined by the life that you lead and the experiences that you have". "The music were my diaries, a way of writing down feelings. As a composer I think of music as the sound that feelings make." Four such sections have received high-profile media coverage:
Wind Farm Music (Dedicated to Tony Abbott), Rendezvous With Destiny, and
Serenade for Tenor, Saxophone and Orchestra.
Solo Piano Very few sections of
Solo Piano have been publicly released, the major exception being
Forever #1, a one-minute piece written for the second anniversary of the
9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA. It is purposely similar to the one minute of silence observed at commemoration ceremonies. His website contains memoir essays on several other sections of
Solo Piano, such as
Untitled (for Steve),
Wisconsin Cowboy Lullaby and
Nachtstück, none of which he has allowed to be publicly performed so far.
String Quartet Several sections of
String Quartet have been publicly released, notably the sections covering the years 1991 to 1996, known as the
AIDS Memoir Quartet. Other sections include
Liberty and the Pursuit, a tribute to his teachers the Pro Arte Quartet, and
Farwell My Good I Forever, and
Untitled (Thomas Brand gewidmet).
AIDS Memoir Quartet AIDS Memoir Quartet chronicles Chan's six years as an AIDS activist at the height of the epidemic in Australia, including importing experimental medications from
Los Angeles to
Sydney. The work has been exclusively performed by the
Acacia Quartet.
Voices and Instruments Voices and Instruments is a diverse work employing any combination of voices (solo or choral) and instruments (chamber, orchestral or electronic). Though less obviously autobiographical than
String Quartet or
Solo Piano, it does contain sections inspired by events within his direct experience, such as the Lindt Cafe hostage crisis of 2014, or discovering that Benjamin Britten's first love Wulff Scherchen was alive and living in Australia. Several sections have been released: "Wachsein ist andersvo (Awakening is elsewhere)",
Rendezvous With Destiny,
"Dass ich dich schau ewiglich" (That I may see you eternally),,
Love Is Always Born (December) and Serenade for Tenor, Saxophone and Orchestra ("My Dear Benjamin").
Serenade for Tenor, Saxophone and Orchestra ("My Dear Benjamin") This orchestral song cycle is based on letters between
Benjamin Britten and
Wulff Scherchen. Chan decided to write the work when he discovered that Scherchen was still alive and went to meet the 95-year-old who was living in northern New South Wales, Australia. ==Recognition==