David Leisner

Empty mind, Open 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.