Rūta Vitkauskaitė

Programme Note

The story of the creation of my work “Rūta Čiuta” started some years ago. Classic+ members Julija and Simona organized a collaboration camp to which several composers came. We all worked intensively, and Julia and I talked a lot about the spells. I’m very interested in all kinds of mystical things, and I started studying sound words, words that have a strong musical effect and subconscious meaning. It was interesting to find out what meaning the word Rūta had in ancient times. In songs that could be healing, the compound Rūta Čiuta is often found. And the ruta plant is a very strong antibiotic, widely used in ancient medicine. This is precisely why “Rūta Čiuta” was born. We wanted it to be an intense piece, with mystical healing power, and first it was born as improvisation, and only years later I arranged it as a score for Classic+. As the times were emerging from Covid-19 pandemic, I really wanted this music to have a therapeutic effect on a person, through intensity creating positive adrenaline, and therefore healing. I really sincerely suggest to listen to it, especially if you are sick, feel unwell or need good adrenaline in your life, which will start blood circulation and dispel all your diseases.

Commissioned by Ensemble Classik+, funded by LATGA, second edition at the request by students of the University of Cambridge.