(Chistopol, October 24, 1931 – Appen, March 13, 2025)
She was born in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, then part of the Soviet Union.
She studied piano and composition at the Kazan Conservatory, graduating in 1954. In Moscow, she undertook further studies at the Conservatory, first with Nikolai Peiko from 1959 to 1963 and then with Shebalin.
During her studies in the USSR, her music was labeled "irresponsible" for its alternative explorations. She was supported by Dmitri Shostakovich, who, upon evaluating her final exam, encouraged her to continue on her "bad path."
Then, despite everything, she was allowed to express her modernism in several scores composed for documentaries, including the 1968 production "On Submarine Scooters," a 70mm film.
In the mid-1970s, Gubaidulina founded Astreya, a folk instrumental improvisation group, together with composers Viktor Suslin and Vyacheslav Artemov.
In 1979, she was blacklisted as a member of the Khrennikov Seven at the 6th Congress of Composers of the Union of Soviet Republics due to her participation in festivals disapproved by the regime.
In the early 1980s, she gained fame abroad thanks to violinist Gidon Kremer, who performed her violin concerto Offertorium. Later, she composed a Homage to T. S. Eliot, using the text of the poet's spiritual masterpiece Four Quartets.
In 2000, together with Tan Dun, Osvaldo Golijov, and Wolfgang Rihm, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart commissioned her to write a Passion, each composer using texts from one of the four Gospels, in commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The use of unusual instrumental combinations characterizes her music. In the piece "In Erwartung," she combines percussion instruments with a saxophone quartet. She has also written pieces for koto and orchestra, as well as three collections for domra and piano, all based on Tatar folk themes.
In the early 1980s, Gubaidulina began to use the Fibonacci sequence to structure the form of her works. For example, in the Symphony "Stimmen... Verstummen...", in Perception, in the percussion piece In the Beginning Was the Rhythm, in the Chorus Homage to Marina Tsvetaeva, in the Trio Quasi hoquetus, in the Sonata Et exspecto, and others. The composer has employed the Fibonacci series as a guideline to organize both the general and particular rhythms of her works.
In 2004, she was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2013, she was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.
'Fachwerk' is dedicated to Geir Draugsvoll, who holds a chair in accordion at the Copenhagen Academy of Music and who presented the world premiere of the work on 13 November 2009 together with Anders Loguin (percussion) and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw in Ghent (Belgium).
For Sofia Gubaidulina, the term Fachwerk, whose sound fascinates her immensely, contains two components. On the one hand, the term refers to the craftsmanship required to transform a composition into a performable musical work, encompassing structure, form, architecture, and timing. On the other hand, the term also has an aesthetic component. After all, the half-timbered construction of houses in the late Middle Ages and early modern period not only serves structural purposes but also gives the buildings a particularly attractive and picturesque appearance. In the composer's eyes, the 'half-timbered' principle is also perfectly manifested in the bayan instrument due to its construction and its specific sound possibilities. In Sofia Gubaidulina's last instrumental concerto, as in her previous works, beauty and construction merge to form an artistic whole. (Helmut Peters)