Concept

Inspiration for the piece:

"Hans' journey is completely radical because he is still happy at the end - without anything to show for it...
There is the risk that one day, Hans might draw the following lesson from his experience: that owning nothing is the key to true happiness; I was happiest when I was at the well, and the stone, the last of what my gold bought me, dropped in the water.
But Hans, that isn't true! You weren't happier when you lost the stone than you were before, when you gained the gold, and the horse, and the cow, and the pig, and the goose.
Don't believe what you've heard about the honour of poverty; hold true to your experience, which always teaches you the most. You have leart...that a piece of gold, or even two, can sometimes make you happy and sometimes miserable.
You have also learnt that you can be happy without any obvious reason. Happiness, therefore, does not reside in things, that is what you have learnt, Dear Hans. Happiness resides in you; that is the lesson your journey has taught you."

From: the Philosophy of Happiness, by Ludwig Marcuse, p. 46-47)

This piece is also performed in English and is highly appropriate for Classes 3-6.