Sofia Gubaidulina, Part 4

Gubaidulina began to be recognized in music circles in the Soviet Union from the early 60s. She joined the Moscow branch of the Composer's Union, at the time a crucial step in advancement as they not only organized concerts, composer's retreats and symposia, but also controlled Soviet cultural policy in music. The Composer's Union offered a "Meet the Composer" evening in December 1962 the first part of which was devoted to the music of Sofia Gubaidulina. Along with the Chaconne we talked about in the last post, one of the works featured was her Piano Quintet (composed in 1957-58). Let's have a listen to the first movement. The performers are Kathryn Woodard, piano and Brooklyn Rider (Colin Jacobsen, violin; Johnny Gandelsman, violin; Nicholas Cords, viola; Eric Jacobsen, cello). Recorded live at the Rudder Theatre, College Station, TX, February 26, 2009.

That does not depart too far from the Shostakovich model, though the musical language is certainly different.

A year later, in early 1963, Gubaidulina's candidacy came to an end along with her state financial support. She was not attracted to many of the avenues pursued by her colleagues which included teaching or working as an editor for a state music publisher. The idea of film composition seemed more promising and her teacher Nikolai Peiko helped to open some doors for her. She also won a prize of several hundred rubles at the 1963 All-Union Competition for Young Composers that helped sustain her. The award-winning piece was an Allegro rustico for flute and piano: