Meet the Composer: Sofia Gubaidulina

BACKGROUND

Sofia Gubaidulina [soh-FEE-uh goo-by-DOO-lih-nuh] was born in 1931 in the Tatar region of the Soviet Union (now Russia). Her family owned an old piano that Sofia used to play by reaching inside and plucking the strings, which sparked her interest in composing. She studied music close to home, then moved to a bigger city to continue her education. 

Early in her career, Sofia Gubaidulina focused on composing music for films. Later on, she began to write more standalone pieces. She developed an interest in Russian and Central Asian folk instruments like the bayan, a relative of the accordion. She uses a lot of different techniques to compose, including improvisation, or making up music on the spot. She also expresses her religious beliefs through her music. 

Sofia Gubaidulina moved to Germany in 1992, where she recently celebrated her 90th birthday. Her music is performed all over the world, and she still composes today. 

MUSIC

1. Offertorium was the first piece of Sofia Gubaidulina’s to become famous outside of her home country. She wrote the piece for a famous violinist who was touring the world at that time. This excerpt, or short section, shows the violin soloist playing very fast and difficult passages before the orchestra joins back in. 

2. Sofia Gubaidulina really likes composing for percussion instruments and focusing on rhythm in her composing. This excerpt is from a concerto she wrote for percussion ensemble and orchestra. Normally in a symphony orchestra, the percussion instruments are at the back, but in this performance, notice how the percussion instruments are in the front!

3. Sofia Gubaidalina wrote a set of pieces for the piano called Musical Toys. This short piece from that collection is called "The Drummer". How do you think she will make the piano sound like a drum?

4. This is an example of Sofia Gubaidulina’s writing for the bayan, a folk instrument that is related to the accordion. She really likes writing for this instrument and has written several pieces for it.

CREATE, CONNECT & RESPOND

1. One of the ways Sofia Gubaidulina likes to compose is by using numbers to create musical patterns. Learn more about how numbers can be used to compose, and try composing with numbers yourself, with our Music & Math: Numbers lesson. 

2. Another technique that has informed Sofia Gubaidulina’s composing is improvisation. Try improvising for yourself with our What is IMPROVISATION? lesson.