La Rassa a Bute is a drama in music written in the dialect of Lecce. It was written by an unknown author and it probably dates to the beginning of the 18th Century. Although the text of the drama is preserved, the original music has been lost.
It is a valuable piece of theatrical work, belonging to the “opera buffa” genre associated with Naples and particularly popular in the Salento region in the 18th Century. For many years, intense academic studies have focused on this text, trying to unlock the linguistic mystery.
Khaossia, on the advice of Alessandro Laporta, director of Lecce’s Provincial Library where the original manuscript is kept, decided to breathe new life into this work through this musical production. This is a preview of a theatre production to be performed in the historic theatres around the Salento peninsula in the future.
We decided to write music to some sections of the opera, identified as “arie”, and to evoke the technique of the text in others.
The style of composition and execution is heterogeneous, which is a characteristic of Khaossia: with inspiration from ancient music, roots music, and the music of Salento.
The music has been composed and arranged by Fabio Turchetti.