The very first musical idea related to the work came to me in 2018 while I was in a cabin in the beautiful woods of Mt. Shasta, California. My sister urged me to improvise for her on the old piano by the fireplace. An idea flowed in E flat major; this idea later became the theme in clarinets (bar 30) in the finished work. Months later, I went to visit my good friend Alex Cigolini at his home in Portugal where he had a home studio he built himself. We spent about two weeks together and during this time I orchestrated some of his songs. I also recorded the E-flat major piano improvisation. Other ideas in F minor and C major came, all with altogether different themes and moods, and those were recorded, too. One day, while we took a break, I simply exclaimed “Tattvas!” It had become very clear to me that these three improvisations where the groundwork for a larger project built around the five elements of antiquity. The first idea was clearly water-related; the F minor idea with the deep octave bass ostinato was to be the earth; and the C major idea, which made one feel like floating, could be nothing if not air. During the rest of the recording sessions some very primitive sketches for fire and ether also came to me.

Varuna, a poem for orchestra and elemental water, is the second of five works that make up the series of Tattvas (“Elements”). The title is a translitetarion from the Sanskrit name of the elemental king of water in ancient Hindu scripts. The other works of the project—Kitichi, Agni, Pavana and Indra—also follow this same principle: they are simulteanously a tribute and a reminder to reconnect with the world around us in its raw, physical aspect, as well as in its more subtle and intangible one.

In both a literal and a mythological sense we are formed by earth, water, fire, air and ether. Speaking specifically of water, for instance, we know that our body mass is made up of about 70% of this refreshing liquid. Seen from another perspective, to flow and to clear obstacles are watery qualities, as are adptability and purity. Thus, we may start to realise that our relationship with the elements and their attributes is now more important than ever. It all begins with becoming conscious of this relation both at the planetary level and at the microcosmic level (each individual as body, mind and soul).
This music was written with the intention to connect us as listeners with this magical, but very real world, and to learn to live more consciously in and through it.

O Varuna, ruler of that most liquid of elements,
teach us to adapt as you adapt,
to rush joyfully to the unfathomable Father’s abode
as you run joyfully back to the deep ocean
in an untiring effort to return to your origin.

O liquid king, show us the spirit of stillness,
that expectant calm of your mirror-like surfaces.
Reveal your underwater cathedrals to us,
that we may witness the magic
of your kingdom of nereids and undines.

Rain, drop from your lofty nest!
Streams, rush down to the sea!
Ocean, embrace the waters in your majestic expanse!

Varuna, Varuna, Varuna!

This short invocation reveals the essence of Varuna and perhaps inspires us, in harmony with the music, to live more attuned to the water in our lives.  By Rodrigo Ruiz.