Sofia Gubaidulina

Soviet and Russian composer

Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of modernist sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous chamber, orchestral and choral works. Her output has been described as exploring the tensions between Western and Eastern music, and has been characterised by "innovative use of microtonality and chromaticism, rhythm over form and use of contrasting tonalities.

Her compositions have been praised for their "emotional intensity", while she described her music as bringing legato, that is, a sense of "connected flow into the fragmented staccato of life." Alongside Alfred Schnittke, Arvo Pärt and Edison Denisov, Gubaidulina was considered one of the foremost composers of the former Soviet Union who were disfavoured by the authorities including the KGB, but whose work became frequently commissioned and performed by major international orchestras, with her first major breakthrough being her violin concerto Offertorium (1980).

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Works

The Long LineExplore Nine Centuries of Music

...The Deceitful Face of Hope and of Despair
Allegro rustico
Alleluia
Alleluia: I. Alliluija. ♩ = 100 -
Alleluia: II. ♩ = 60, legato simile -
Alleluia: III. Alliluija. ♩ = 144, con spirito -
Alleluia: IV. Alliluija. Legato simile -
Alleluia: V. Alliluija. ♩ = 84-88 -
Alleluia: VI. Vjeruju. ♩ = 60-66 -
Alleluia: VII. Da ispolnjatsja usta maja. ♩ = 100-92 -
Am Rande des Abgrunds
Bez tytułu 2
Chaconne
Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings
Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
Concordanza
Dancer on a Tightrope
De profundis
Dialog: Ich und Du
Duo Sonata for Two Baritone Saxophones
Duo Sonata for Two Bassoons
Eight Etudes
Eight Etudes: I. Staccato - Legato
Eight Etudes: II. Legato - Staccato
Eight Etudes: III. Espressivo - Sotto voce
Eight Etudes: IV. Ricochet
Eight Etudes: V. Sul ponticello - Ordinario - Sul tasto
Eight Etudes: VI. Al taco - Da punta d'Arco
Eight Etudes: VII. Pizzicato - Arco
Eight Etudes: VIII. Senza arco
Ein Engel
Ein Walzerspaß nach Johann Strauss
Et exspecto
Et exspecto: I. ♩ = c. 116
Et exspecto: II. 7⁄16 = 36
Et exspecto: III. Presto
Et exspecto: IV. ¼ = 116
Et exspecto: V. Con moto
Fachwerk
Fairytale Poem (Marchenpoem)
Five Etudes
Five Etudes: I. Largo
Five Etudes: II. Allegretto
Five Etudes: III. Adagio
Five Etudes: IV. Allegro disperato
Five Etudes: V. Andante
Galgenlieder à 3
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 1. Die Mitternachtsmaus
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 10. Das Gebet
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 11. Das Fest des Wüstlings
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 12. Improvisation
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 13. Fisches Nachtgesang
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 14. Nein!
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 15. Das Mondschaf
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 2. Das Nachdenken
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 3. Das Ästhetische Wiesel
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 4. Das Knie
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 5. Das Spiel I
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 6. Das Spiel II
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 7. Die Beichte des Wurms
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 8. Der Psalm
Galgenlieder à 3: Nr. 9. Der Tanz
Galgenlieder à 5
Galgenlieder à 5: I. Die Mitternachtsmaus
Galgenlieder à 5: II. Das Aesthetische Wiesel
Galgenlieder à 5: III. Das Knie
Galgenlieder à 5: IV. Die Beichte Des Wurms
Galgenlieder à 5: IX. Das Fest Des Wuestlings
Galgenlieder à 5: V. Improvisation
Galgenlieder à 5: VI. Die Prozession
Galgenlieder à 5: VII. Der Tanz
Galgenlieder à 5: VIII. Das Gebet
Galgenlieder à 5: X. Spiel I
Galgenlieder à 5: XI. Spiel II
Galgenlieder à 5: XII. Fisches Nachtgesang
Galgenlieder à 5: XIII. Nein!
Galgenlieder à 5: XIV. Das Mondschaft
Garten von Freuden und Traurigkeiten
Glorious Percussion
Hell und Dunkel
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva: I. Below the Waves
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva: II. Horse
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva: III. All Magnificence
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva: IV. Interlude
Hommage a Marina Tsvetayeva: V. A Garden
Hommage à T.S. Eliot
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: I.
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: II.
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: III. "Time and the Bell Have Buried the Day"
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: IV.
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: V. "The Chill Ascends From Feet to Knees"
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: VI.
Hommage à T.S. Eliot: VII. "Sin Is Behovely, but"
In Erwartung
In croce
In tempus praesens
Introitus
Jauchzt vor Gott
Jetzt immer Schnee
Jetzt immer Schnee: I. Ty maya tishyna
Jetzt immer Schnee: IV. Zapis: Apophatic
Johannes-Ostern
Johannes-Ostern: I. Ostemorgen
Johannes-Ostern: VII. Intermedium
Johannes-Ostern: X. Dritte Erscheinung Christi vor den Jüngern: "Abschied"
Johannes-Passion: I. Das Wort
Johannes-Passion: III. Das Gebot des Glaubens
Johannes-Passion: IX. Eine Frau, mit der Sonne bekleidet
Johannes-Passion: V. Hoffnung
Johannes-Passion: X. Grablegung
Letter to the Poetess Rimma Dalos: I. Crotchet (120)
Letter to the Poetess Rimma Dalos: II. Crotchet (60)
Lied ohne Worte
Meditation on the Bach Chorale "Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit"
Mirage: Die tanzende Sonne
Misterioso
Musical Toys
Musical Toys: I. Mechanical Accordion
Musical Toys: IV. The Magic Smith
Musical Toys: IX. The Woodpecker
Musical Toys: V. April Day
Musical Toys: VI. Song of the Fisherman
Musical Toys: VII. The Little Tit
Musical Toys: X. The Elk Clearing
Musical Toys: XII. The Echo
Musical Toys: XIII. The Drummer
Musical Toys: XIV. Forest Musicians
Pantomime
Perception: I. Einsicht
Perception: IV. Dezember
Perception: VI. Begegnung
Perception: X. Ich und Du
Perception: XI. Col legno II
Perception: XII. Montys Tod
Perception: XIII. Stimmen
Piece 1
Piece 3
Pro et contra: II.
Pro et contra: III.
Prolog
Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Violoncello
Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Violoncello: III. Larghetto sensibile
Rejoice!: I. Your Joy no one will take away from you
Rejoice!: II. Rejoice with Joy
Rejoice!: III. Rejoice, Ravvi
Rejoice!: IV. And he returned to his own abode
Stimmen ... Verstummen, symphony in 12 movements Orchestral
The Canticle of the Sun
Violin Concerto no. 1, "Offertorium" Orchestral