Lucija Garuta / Julija Vasilljeva / Maris Skuja - Lucija Garuta: Sacred Love

Garuta's songs, despite being written almost a century ago, only now see their release world premiere in a studio album - carefully selected and recorded by Garuta's former student pianist Maris Skuja and his brilliant stage partner soprano Julija Vasiljeva. "The mission of Garuta's music is a battle against shallowness. Modern music is full of various effects, but it often lacks substance. Garuta's music, in contrast, is very full of content." - Maris Skuja "Garuta's solo songs are miniatures with thematic structure, development and thought. They are as concise as a jigsaw puzzle - small, bright pieces that contribute so much to understanding an individual, an era and a composer'smusic. A three-hour opera with an expanded form does not suit today's hurried person. It is the miniature that makes this music relevant." - Julija Vasiljeva.Among music scholars, Lucija Garuta is often referred to as the Latvian Germaine Tailleferre, who was a member of the French group of composers called Les Six. This comparison is not accidental. From her early years as a student, Garuta dreamt of studying music abroad, and she was particularly interested in the new trends coming out of France. After her studies at the Latvian Conservatoire, she not only fulfilled her dream of continuing her education but also became acquainted with the concert life of Paris (1926). Garuta studied piano with the eminent French musicians Alfred Cortot and Isidor Philipp, who was, among other things, a good friend of the composer Claude Debussy. She also studied instrumentation with the composer, conductor and music critic Paul Le Flem. On her second visit to Paris (1928), Garuta continued her composition studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique with Paul Dukas, whose students included such composers as Maurice Duruflé and Olivier Messiaen.