Sofia Gubaidulina (b 1931)

To mark Sofia Gubaidulina’s 90th birthday, Donald Macleod and
Gerard McBurney explore five different aspects of her progressive
and distinctive music. Gubaidulina has been living in Germany
since 1992 and is still busy composing today. When she was born
in 1931 in Tatarstan, the Soviet Union was under Stalinist rule.
Up until her emigration, she worked as a composer under the
strictly regulated conditions determined by Soviet cultural
policies. This week, we get an insight into the life of a
composer behind the Iron Curtain, as Gubaidulina developed her
own creative path, un-swayed by any hint of ideological pressure.


Music Featured:


Musical Toys Allegro rustic for flute and piano Offertorium Piano
sonata (1st mvt, Allegro) Pantomime for Double Bass and piano
Seven words for Cello, Bayan and Strings (Est ist Vollbracht) 5
Etudes for harp, double bass and percussion (Nos 1, 4 & 5)
Vivente – non vivente Artyomov: Archipelagos of Sounds in the
Ocean of Time (excerpt) Sheptalki Concordanza Johannes Passion
(The word) Rejoice! Sonata for Violin and Cello (5th mvt, Listen
to the small voice within) Stimmen….. Verstummen (8th Mvt) In
Croce Alleluja (Vjeruju (Credo); Da ispolnjatsja usta maja:
quarter note) Hommage to Marina Tsvetayeva for a capella chorus
(The Day’s burden has sunk beside the Waves) Rubaiyat
Galgenlieder (excerpt) Hommage a TS Eliot (excerpt) Garden of joy
and sorrow for flute, harp, spoken voice ad lib. (excerpt)
Glorious Percussion (excerpt) Hour of the Soul (1976/1988) for
solo percussionist, mezzo-soprano and large orchestra (excerpt)
Canticle of the Sun (excerpt) In Tempus Praesens for violin and
orchestra (excerpt) Quasi hoquetus


Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC
Cymru Wales


For full track listings, including artist and recording details,
and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after
broadcast) head to the series page for Sofia Gubaidulina (b 1931)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00113yq


And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve
featured on Composer of the Week here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z