DVII. GUBAIDULINA, Sofia (1931- )
Silenzio, for bayan, violin and cello (1991)
I. (4:11)
II. (2:32)
III. (2:47)
IV. (1:19)
V. (7:44)
Elsbeth Moser, bayan
Kathrin Rabus, violin
Maria Kliegel, cello
Gubaidulina graduated from the Kazan conservatory at 23. As a student, the only Western works allowed were those of Bartók. Raids were conducted for banned scores, particularly those of Stravinsky (the traitor!)
Nevertheless, the students surreptitiously discovered Ives and even John Cage! The latter must have been a big influence, because her early works explored alternate tunings.
How interesting that the two most radical female composers to emerge from the Soviet era were Galina Ustvolskaya [see Post XXXIII] and Gubaidulina -- both of whom the more conservative Shostakovich encouraged to continue to explore the utterly anti-Soviet modernity from which the two women never strayed.
**
The bayan is a Russian push-button accordion:
A composer begins with silence. And what diversity can fill that void! What fortissimos we have been subject to from a creator's imagination!
Gubaidulina is here interested in the pianissimo dynamic. Morton Feldman comes to mind [see Post CCLIV].
All five movements use rhythmic proportions in different ways, sometimes mysteriously; other times in variations of given note lengths.
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