Rimo, Rimo Tuto lyrics and meaning

Rimo, rimo tūto,
Rimo, rimo tuto.
Sutarjiela,
Sutarjiela.

◈ Slaviūno dainyne: SlS III-1587.

Rimo, Rimo Tuto: sutartinė interpretation

This very short sutartinė can be understood as a purely rhythmic, sound-word piece. The lines "rimo, rimo tūto" and "sutarjiela" carry almost no narrative meaning. They are best read as refrain-like units that hold the beat and form the opening or foundation typical of sutartinės.

"Sutarjiela" may be connected with the name sutartinė itself and with sutarimas, agreement or coordination. In that sense the word points to the manner of singing: several singers must align their parts with precision.

A second reading makes the piece almost self-referential. "Sutarjiela" names the sutartinė, and the genre's name comes from sutarti, to agree or bring voices into accord. The song can therefore be heard as a key to sutartinės as a whole: what matters most is not what is said, but that several voices agree, mesh, and produce one tense, harmonious sound with rubbing seconds. Such short sound-word pieces may have helped singers warm up and tune their parts before longer sutartinės; at the same time, they reveal the genre's core principle, harmony made from distinct voices.

Rimo, Rimo Tuto: symbols and phrases

"Rimo, rimo tūto"
A sound-word refrain. It marks the rhythmic base of the song, with almost no semantic meaning.
"Sutarjiela"
A word linked with sutartinė and with sutarimas, agreement. It points to vocal coordination and accord.
Short repeated structure
A repeated text of only a few lines. It may have suited warming up and bringing the voices into tune.
Vocal coordination
A sutartinė depends on exact alignment of parts. Here that coordination becomes the song's main purpose and the essence of the genre.

Rimo, Rimo Tuto: sutartinė history

"Rimo, rimo tūto" is listed in Slaviūnas's collection as volume III, no. 1587. It is an extremely short sutartinė, made almost entirely of sound words. The Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija notes that sutartinės refrains are often asemantic forms such as čiūto, tūto, and lylio; texts this brief show especially clearly that the force of a sutartinė lies in vocal collision and rhythm rather than in narrative.

The word "sutarjiela" echoes the very name of the genre, sutartinė, from sutarti: to agree, to come into accord, to tune voices together. Sutartinės flourished in north-eastern Aukštaitija from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century; in 2010 they were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

sources

  • Z. Slaviūnas. Sutartinės, vols. 1-3 (1958-1959), III-1587
  • D. Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė. Sutartinės: Lithuanian Polyphonic Songs (2002)

Rimo, Rimo Tuto: sources