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