Paddy Field

1 Flute

1 Clarinet in Bb

1 Crotales

best to be equipped with 2-octaves (written C4 – C6), if only 1-octave (C5 – C6) is available, omit the notes with smaller noteheads

Accessories: hard plastic mallets, 2 double bass bows

1 Piano

inside-piano passages are notated inside box. And which hands to use are left to the discretion of performers, guidelines are given only to facilitate reading

1 Violin (prepare mutes)

1 Violoncello

Wu Guan-zhong’s paintings always evoke the quest of simplicity through expressing more through less, as well as the pointillistic, linear and planar representation of space through brushstrokes. The composition departs from the above concepts, using Wu’s synonymous painting as medium. I questioned the quality of the spatial emptiness on the painting as well as answering to Wu’s approach to the physique of brushstrokes. I intertwined staccato elements and metallic echoes which portrait the small irritations on the field with the long linear gestures that suggest the slow-flowing yet stagnant shallow water. To research on the empty space of the paddy-field, I illustrated a sentimental emotion of ‘hometown’ in the section that follows. After the calm opening, remote resonances ringing brought in new rhythm which propels the music into a cantabile which reminisces human lives on the field and their individual stories.