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Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina (1931- ) has achieved international acclaim for her unique musical oeuvre which draws on Eastern and Western musical traditions and reflects a deep-rooted belief in the mystical and religious qualities of music.

Kurtz's biography of Gubaidulina is the first in any language. Based on her papers and extensive interviews with Gubaidulina, her colleagues, and family, the book places her life and the evolution of her work within the broader cultural and political context of the post-Stalin Soviet Union. For the English edition, the text has been revised and updated and a chronology of Gubaidulina's life and a complete list of her works have been added. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Biography of a great composer
Comprehensive biography of Sofia Gubaidulina. Great on context of life in the Soviet union during first half of her life.
Ample quotes from composer herself and commentators on philosphy behind,and composition of a number of her best known works.

Quite informative, but it gets repetitive and there is little analysis of the music
Michael Kurtz wrote his biography of Sofia Gubaidulina in German in 2001, ending with the premiere of the Johannes-Passion. This English translation by by Christoph K. Lohmann appeared at the end of 2007. It has been updated to include Gubaidulina's life and work up the premiere of "The Light of the End" in 2004.

Kurtz based his biography of Gubaidulina on long discussions with the composer, press clippings, and interviews with Gubaidulina's friends and colleagues, including such obscure figures as Gennady Aigi. While much of the material here will be already known to passionate fans of the composer, I found much new information. I was surprised, for instance, to notice that in spite of the Orthodox references in her works, Gubaidulina actually stands quite a distance from the Church in theology and uses it for convenient symbolism. Also, Gubaidulina's three marriages are discussed, and the precise reasons for her move to Germany.

Unfortunately, there were a few aspects of the biography that I was unhappy with. Unlike Richard Steinitz in his excellent critical biography Gyorgy Ligeti: Music of the Imagination, Kurtz discusses only Gubaidulina's life and does not talk about the works much at all--you'll find not a single sample from a score here.

Also, the second half of the book gets highly repetitive, where it is basically just travelogues: Gubaidulina goes to city A and premieres a work, then she flies to city B and premieres another work, then she takes a 2-week vacation, then she flies to city C. And attention is given only to concerts of her works when I daresay most Gubaidulina fans (due to the high price of tickets) must now be content with CD releases, and Kurtz doesn't list them or talk about Gubaidulina's feelings about them.

Finally, the beautiful reproduction of Gubaidulina's Zahlenmystik sketch from the Johannes-Passion, present in full color in the German edition, is missing here. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite informative, but it gets repetitive and there is little analysis of the music, and an updated English translation is out
Michael Kurtz wrote his biography of Sofia Gubaidulina in German in 2001, ending with the premiere of the Johannes-Passion. It is this original edition which this listing describes. However, an English translation by by Christoph K. Lohmann appeared at the end of 2007, published by Indiana University Press. It has been updated to include Gubaidulina's life and work up the premiere of "The Light of the End" in 2004.

Kurtz based his biography of Gubaidulina on long discussions with the composer, press clippings, and interviews with Gubaidulina's friends and colleagues, including such obscure figures as Gennady Aigi. While much of the material here will be already known to passionate fans of the composer, I found much new information. I was surprised, for instance, to notice that in spite of the Orthodox references in her works, Gubaidulina actually stands quite a distance from the Church in theology and uses it for convenient symbolism. Also, Gubaidulina's three marriages are discussed, and the precise reasons for her move to Germany.

Unfortunately, there were a few aspects of the biography that I was unhappy with. Unlike Richard Steinitz in his excellent critical biography Gyorgy Ligeti: Music of the Imagination, Kurtz discusses only Gubaidulina's life and does not talk about the works much at all--you'll find not a single sample from a score here.

Also, the second half of the book gets highly repetitive, where it is basically just travelogues: Gubaidulina goes to city A and premieres a work, then she flies to city B and premieres another work, then she takes a 2-week vacation, then she flies to city C. And attention is given only to concerts of her works when I daresay most Gubaidulina fans (due to the high price of tickets) must now be content with CD releases, and Kurtz doesn't list them or talk about Gubaidulina's feelings about them.

Besides the fact that the translation was updated, the only real difference between the two editions is that a beautiful full-colour reproduction of Gubaidulina's Zahlenmystik sketch from the Johannes-Passion is present only in the German edition. ... Read more

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Chapters: Canticle of the Sun, Offertorium, Stimmen Verstummen, Music for Flute, Strings, and Percussion. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Canticle of the Sun, also known as the Laudes Creaturarum ("Praise of the Creatures"), is a religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in the Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be among the first works of literature, if not the first, written in the Italian language. The Canticle of the Sun in its praise of God thanks Him for such creations as "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water". It is an affirmation of Francis' personal theology as he often referred to animals as brothers and sisters to Mankind, rejected material accumulation and sensual comforts in favor of "Lady Poverty". Saint Francis is said to have composed most of the canticle in late 1224 while recovering from an illness at San Damiano, in a small cottage that had been built for him by Saint Clare and other women of her order. According to tradition, the first time it was sung in its entirety was by Francis and Brothers Angelo and Leo, two of his original companions, on Francis' deathbed, the final verse praising "Sister Death" having been added only a few minutes before. Historically, the "Canticle of the Sun" is first mentioned in the Vita Prima of Thomas of Celano, in 1228. Original text in Umbrian dialect: Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore,Tue so le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione. Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,et nullu homo ène dignu te mentouare. Laudato sie, mi Signore cum tucte le Tue creature,spetialmente messor lo frate Sole,lo qual è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:de Te, Altissimo, por...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1715614 ... Read more

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Chapters: Vladimir Nabokov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Nikolai Borschevsky, Sergei Berezin, Carolyne Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Salomon Mandelkern, Ivan Saenko, Heinz Christian Pander, Julia Voznesenskaya, Denis Klyuyev, William Zeitlin, Joshua Ben Aaron Zeitlin. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 66. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (Russian: , pronounced ; 23 April 1899 2 July 1977) was a multilingual Russian-American novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist. He also made contributions to entomology and had an interest in chess problems. Nabokov's Lolita (1955) is frequently cited as among his most important novels and is his most widely known, exhibiting the love of intricate word play and synesthetic detail that characterised all his works. The novel was ranked at #4 in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels. Pale Fire (1962) was ranked at #53 on the same list. His memoir entitled Speak, Memory was listed #8 on the Modern Library nonfiction list. Nabokov House in Saint Petersburg where Nabokov was born and lived the first 18 years of his life Nabokov was born on 22 April 1899 (10 April 1899 Old-Style) in Saint Petersburg. The eldest of five children of liberal lawyer, politician and journalist Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov and his wife, née Elena Ivanovna Rukavishnikova, he was born to a wealthy and prominent family of the untitled nobility of Saint Petersburg. His cousins included the composer Nicolas Nabokov. He spent his childhood and youth in St. Petersburg and at the country estate Vyra near Siverskaya, south of the city. Nabokov's childhood, which he called "perfect", was remarkable in several ways. The family spoke Russian, English and Fre...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=32442 ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, (born October 24, 1931) is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations. In In Erwartung, she combines percussion (bongos, güiros, temple blocks, cymbals, tam-tams, bayan among others) and saxophone quartet. She has written pieces for 17-stringed Japanese bass kotos and four 13-stringed Japanese kotos and Western orchestra and works for zheng. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on September 1, 2008. The length of the article is 1677 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sofia Gubaidulina: A Biography.(Book review)
Author: Peter J. Schmelz
Publication: Notes (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2008
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 65Issue: 1Page: 84(4)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Sofia Gubaidulina, Charles Bronson, Sergey Lukyanenko, Nellie Kim, Emil Sayfutdinov, Artur Yusupov, Aman Tuleyev, Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, Alisa Galliamova, Yanina Batyrchina, Ravil Geniatulin, Haroun Tazieff, Denis Saifutdinov, Dajan Ahmet, Renata Litvinova. Excerpt:Alisa Galliamova (Russian : , Tatar Cyrillic : , Latin : Alisä Mixail q z ällämova ; born 18 January 1972) is a Russian chess player, who was born to Russian father and Tatar mother. She holds the FIDE titles Woman Grandmaster and International Master . In 1988 she won the World Junior Girls Chess Championship . She was married to Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk , one of the top rated players in the world. In December 1997, she won the candidates tournament for the Women's World Chess Championship held in Groningen , Netherlands . She was scheduled to play a match with Xie Jun , who finished second, in August, 1998 and the winner of that match was supposed to play a match in November 1998 with Zsuzsa Polgar for the Women's World Chess Championship . However, after the match with Xie Jun had already been scheduled, Galliamova objected because the entire match was scheduled to be played in China, the home of her rival. The reason for this was because only China had bid for the match. Galliamova wanted half of the match to be played in Kazan , Russia . However, the Russians did not have the money required. Finally, when Galliamova failed to show up to play the match, the match was declared forfeited to Xie Jun. FIDE then scheduled a match between Xie Jun and Zsuzsa Polgar for November 1998. However, Polgar said that she could not play at that time because she was pregnant. After Polgar had given birth to her son, Tom, in March, 1999, FIDE again tried to schedule a match. This time Polgar said that she could not play th... ... Read more

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This extraordinary work by Sofia Gubaidulina features the unusual combination of two solo violas and orchestra. It was commissioned by Kurt Masur, who conducted its sensational premiere in 1999 with the New York Philharmonic. The subtitle, "A Dedication to Mary and Martha," refers to two New Testament figures whose contrasting experiences of worldly and spiritual love provide the dramatic stimulus for the music. ... Read more

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From the AMP Library Of Russian-Soviet Music comes TWO PIANO SONATAS in one publication. The first is a 1965 Sofia Gubaidulina sonata and the second was written by Tigran Mansurian in 1967. ... Read more

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This edition contians two very accessible works by Gubaidulina for trumpet and piano. "Song Without Words" is scored for trumpet and piano. "Two Ballads" is scored for two trumpets and piano. ... Read more

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1980 sheet music booklet. German. ... Read more

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For unaccompanied cello. Ten Preludes by Sofia Gubaidulina. Chanson Contre Raison Sonata by Viktor Suslin. ... Read more