Obituary: Composer Sofia Gubaidulina, 93

In Thursday’s (3/13) National Public Radio, Tom Huizenga writes, “Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, an intellectually probing artist who fused sound and spirituality, died Thursday at her home in Appen, Germany. She was 93 years old. Her death was confirmed by her publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, who called Gubaidulina ‘the grande dame of new music.’ One of the first modern women composers to reach international acclaim, Gubaidulina’s singular style was often large in scope, both musically and philosophically, yet intimate in the painterly details she conjured from an orchestra…. Sofia Gubaidulina was born on Oct. 24, 1931, in Christopol, in the rural Tatar region of the Soviet Union … Her family was poor, and she recalled a bleak existence as a child … Gubaidulina’s formal studies, in piano and composition, began at the conservatory in the region’s capital city of Kazan, where she graduated in 1954. She enrolled in the Moscow Conservatory and in 1959 met the revered composer Dmitri Shostakovich who gave the young Gubaidulina key advice … In 1979, her music, along with that of six colleagues, was officially denounced as ‘noisy mud’ by the Soviet Composers’ Union … One of the first works to capture the attention of Western audiences was Offertorium, her first violin concerto, premiered by Gidon Kremer in 1981…. Gubaidulina took inspiration from a broad range of sources. While Asian and Western philosophy played a large role, she has adapted ancient Egyptian and Persian poetry, and has cited other composers as major influences even though her music stands as completely her own.”