“[Kitichi] has a language that is very evocative of the earth, of the most noble and spiritual part from which it emanates.”
— Iván del Prado —
Kitichi · R. 12 № 1
a poem for orchestra and elemental earth
2022 · 9m
Instrumentation
3 2 2 3 – 2 2 3 1 – tmp+1 – hp – str
Dedicated to Mother Earth.
First performance on 12 April 2024
by Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México and Iván del Prado at the Felipe Villanueva Hall in Toluca, Mexico.
Published by RR Editions.
“He is one of the finest and most talented Mexican composers of today.”
— Dr. Emilio Garzón —
“Like the Brahms, Dvořák, and Beethoven works it evokes, Ruiz’s music is resolutely tonal and impeccably crafted.”
— Apple Music —
“¡A Mexican compatriot! Dedicated to making his whole being speak through the music he writes, rather than taking the easy way out or trying to reinvent the wheel with new instrumental techniques and avant-garde languages.”
— José María Álvarez —
PROGRAMME NOTES
Kitichi, a poem for orchestra and elemental earth, is the first of five works that make up the series Tattvas (“Elements”), and whose title is a translitetarion of the Sanskrit name of the ruler of earth in the ancient Hindu scripts. The other works of the project—Varuna, Agni, Pavana and Indra—are related similarly to the other elements: water, fire, air and ether.
In both a literal and a symbolico-mythological sense, we are made up of earth, water, fire, air and ether. Seen with other eyes, Kitichi lives in our bones, in the minerals that conform them. We could even find the elemental king of earth in the virtue of diligence, or in patience.
Our relationship to the elements and their attributes in all their facets—planetary, biological, temperamental, etc.—is now more important than ever before. We destroy our planet because we destroy our body, our soul. Tattvas is at once a tribute to the elements and a reminder for us to reconnect with the elemental world around us in its various material and subtle aspects within and without us. This music has been written with the intention to connect ourselves as listeners with this magical but very real world, to learn to live with more consciousness in it and through it.
O Kitichi, ruler of that most solid of elements,
teach me to work tirelessly as you do
with unmatched diligence when you mine
in the depth of dark for the jewels of light.
You are sworn to protect the treasure
from prying ones. Reveal your secret passageways
to those who walk in the light!
Show me the way to the heart of the mountain
where you keep the secrets of life.
Sloth, perish! Languishment, hence!
You are doomed to perish by the
industriousness of Kitichi’s army of dwarves.
O earthy king, show me the spirit of activity,
the tireless work of your kingdom of gnomes
and pygmaeans who unceasingly serve you.
Rocky foundations, stand firm!
Earth, sprout the seed of your womb!
Mountains, rise up to the sky!
Touch the blessed feet of your heavenly Father!
Kitichi, Kitichi, Kitichi!
This short poem-as-invocation reveals the essence of Kitichi and, perhaps, invites us in harmony with the music to live more attuned to earth in our lives. By Rodrigo Ruiz.