The Empty Boat (2015)
(For Voice, Flute, Horn, Bassoon, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello)
Approximate duration: 6 minutes
Rehearsal recording
Chloe Payne, soprano
Live premiere performance in Pienza, Italy
Chloe Payne, soprano
Mary Gatchell, conductor
Emma Ferguson, flute
Karl Kramer, horn
Michelle Ward, bassoon
Colin Payne, piano
Norma Davis, violin
Long Okada, viola
Christine Chen, cello
Poem by Chuang Tzu.
Who can free themselves
…of achievement and fame
Then descend and be lost
Amidst the masses?
They will flow like Tao, unseen…
They will go about like life itself,
With no name and no home.
Simple, without.
To all appearances, they are fools.
Their steps leave no trace.
They have no power.
They achieve nothing.
They have no reputation.
Since they judge no one,
No one judges them.
Such is the perfect state of being.
The boat is empty.