...empty mind, open heart...

1. empty your mind

2. it is flows through all things

3. the equilibrium crumbles

4. open your heart

Dedicated to the luminary Steve Cowan, …empty mind, open heart… is a four-movement suite that centers around the intervals of a fifth and a tritone. Each movement is inspired by a quote from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. The opening movement is a meditation. The aleatoric rhythms and pacing of the notes are guided by the breathing of the performer, according to specific instructions in the score. Out of that atmosphere emerges a fluid, serene series of arpeggios in irregular rhythms in the second movement. Each new chord changes only one or two notes at a time in a gradual evolution over time. The third movement is a study in rhythm, sometimes dizzying. And the piece ends with a heartfelt, mostly quiet soliloquy.