Sören Sieg: Heaven's Net. Circle Song No. 6 from UMONDE. Performed by Jitka Konečná.

This is the sixth of 12 Circle Songs I wrote in spring 2020 in the first lockdown. Michelle Holloway had come up with the idea, Claire Little encouraged me through the composition process, and Jitka Konečná was so enthusiastic when she heard about these "loops", that we met for a recording session in her beautiful home town of Olomouc in December 2020.

In my view recorder and loop station match perfectly together: the recorder provides the whole range from the deep, warm great bass to the jubilating soprano or sopranino. The loop station allows you to bring them all together, while playing just by yourself.

For the titles and mottos of the pieces I turned to Lao Tzu's Taoeteking. This ancient, deep philosophy is all about following the flow, the energy, the "way" (Dao) of the universe - just like this music.

This piece is called HEAVEN'S NET, and this refers to law Tzus saying in the Taoteking: "Heaven's net is very vast. It is sparsely meshed, yet nothing slips through." Again, Lao tzus goes very deep. This saying for me is about confidence, optimism and positivity, something I personally very much relate to. Lao tzu tells us we can and shall be confident in the universe, in fate, in nature, in the way things go. Much in opposite to the modern Western approach, where we easily fall to the hubris of "designing", "shaping" and "optimizing" everything life and universe, always "achieving goals", Lao tzu emphasizes the need to lay back, watch and let it happen. The power and wisdom of not-acting - something we should urgently remember in a world that has become obsessed with "controlling a virus", failing over and over again, and then trying even harder to reach the impossible, to "undo" nature. We easily overlook, says Lao tzu, all the negative side effects in our desperate attempt to reach our goals. In the same way we do not seem to notice the disastrous side effects of the lockdowns. Lets reconsider this old Chinese wisdom!

This loop includes not only my beloved claves, but also the bongos, which gives it a great vibe in my ears. I wish to thank Jitka Konečná first for her patience with me, for creating this fantastic home studio where we did the recordings, and most of all for her wonderful, groovy and inspired playing. I also wish to thank her husband Jan who cared for us all the weekend.

You can find out more about Jitka Konečná here:
https://www.jitkakonecna.cz/en/

She is part of the wonderful recorder ensemble iFlautisti:
http://www.iflautisti.com

And you can find out more about me and my music and order the score at
www.soerensieg.de