March 13, 2025
A 93-year-old woman died of heart disease in Germany. Sofia Gubaidulina — a composer, the author of over a hundred works. Her music is featured in the animated film "Mowgli," as well as in the films "Vertical" and "Scarecrow."
A desk to write on and a piano to play as much as you want is all you could wish for.
Born in 1931 Chistopol (Tatarstan), to a family of intellectuals. Her father was a surveying engineer. Her mother was a teacher. During the hungry war years, she lived with her parents in Kazan and attended a music school.
At school, they gave out an extra 50 grams of bread, so you'd walk an hour and a half there and back with such a desire! Besides, there's a stark contrast between poverty and the loftiness of spirit.
In 1946 she entered Kazan She attended the conservatory, excelled in her studies, and was a recipient of a Stalin scholarship. In 1954, having received a diploma as a pianist, she decided to become a composer and went to the capital to continue her studies.
At the Moscow Conservatory, Gubaidulina's talent was recognized, but they said her "path was wrong"—she was too freedom-loving. One of those who supported Gubaidulina was Dmitry Shostakovich - She showed him her first symphony.
The symphony was bad. But Shostakovich encouraged me and said as we parted: "I wish you to continue on your 'wrong' path."
In 1963, at 32, she graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Since then, she has always been a "freelance artist."
"I have to feed my family" are very dangerous words. They are followed by one: "I have to adapt."
Inspiration comes as soon as worries disappear
She was one of the first in the USSR to write electronic music, at the Moscow Experimental Studio at the Scriabin Museum. There, on a synthesizer, she composed the piece "Vivente — non vivente" ("Living — Nonliving").
She made ends meet by working in film. She wrote music for 25 films, including "Vertical," "Mowgli," "A Man and His Bird," and "Scarecrow."
With Alfred Schnittke и Edison Denisov was one of the famous "Moscow Troika" of non-systemic composers.
She is incomprehensible, and therefore a phenomenon. And, moreover, one that has no analogies.
(Alfred Schnittke)
She refused to write music for party propaganda. She lived in extreme poverty in a communal apartment and sent her daughter to Kazan to live with her parents.
- Sonya, just write the Komsomol overture once!
- I won't.
- Well, then you'll be left without black caviar in your refrigerator!
— Why do I need caviar? There's a grocery store nearby. They sell beets there.
(dialogue between Gubaidulina and a certain “official composer”)
In 1979, at the next congress, her music was criticized by the head of the Union of Composers of the USSR Tikhon Khrennikov. Gubaidulina was blacklisted—the so-called "Khrennikov Seven"—of disgraced composers. She was banned from performing on radio and television.
Once every ten years, you were allowed to perform one piece. No tickets or posters, a "closed option." They took Denisov's and my scores, recruited the orchestra members—the cream of the State Orchestra. They rehearsed. And then, three days later, they crossed our names out!
In 1981, her violin concerto "Offertorium" was performed in Vienna — That's how the whole world finally learned about Gubaidulina. During perestroika, she began touring. In the early 1990s, having received a German scholarship, she moved to Germany.
I never considered myself an exile. I simply settled in a place where I was given the opportunity to create in silence.
She has received dozens of prestigious international music awards and has been nominated for a Grammy. In 2005, at 73, she conducted a world tour in honor of the Kazan millennium. Due to her busy schedule, she declined the request from the Russian authorities to perform music for the celebration.
Supported ideas Sakharov, called herself a "citizen of the world."
In a 2014 interview with Russkoe Pol (Germany), she discussed Russia and Ukraine. Since then, she has not spoken publicly about politics.
Why does my soul hurt so much? Because I see that humanity is consumed by hatred, by this virus, and it is very difficult to get rid of it.
