Rūta Vitkauskaitė

Programme Note

This piece is dedicated to the commemoration of the Hiroshima tragedy that occurred on August 6th, 1945. While writing this composition, I was thinking about life before and after this event and how we, as humans, sometimes commit acts that can have such tragic consequences for our lives. I invite my audiences to reflect on how we can take more responsibility for our actions. After experiencing a tragedy of such scale, we must learn to live with this new understanding.

The piece was written during the lockdown and social isolation caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic, which affected the life circumstances of many people around the world. It was commissioned by CRAS ensemble for their project IN OUR TIME, which commissions a new composer each time the Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight.

In 2023, the new arrangement of the piece was commissioned by ”Suddenly. Everything Feels” event, for a soloing contrabass clarinet (Scott Lygate) and string quartet (Emma Lloyd (violin), Lisa Robertson (violin), Katherine Wren (viola), Laura Sergeant (cello)). Premiered at Scottish Music Centre on June 22, 2023, funded by The Fenton Arts Trust.