Dissertation - International Bass Clarinet Research Center

contemporary techniques such as multiphonics, fluttertonguing, and various methods of
striking the piano strings. Born in October 24, 1931 in Chistopol, located in the southcentral
region of the former Soviet Union known as the Tatar Republic 40 , Gubaidulina
lived under the repression of the Soviet system until the late 1980s when her works began
to attract more notice. She has lived in Germany since 1992 41 .
Her life in music has had an interesting parallel to the historical phases of Soviet
history. During her childhood throughout the Stalin era she lived in Kazan, now the
capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and studied piano under Leopold
Lukomsky. She continued her education at the Moscow Conservatory from 1954-1963
under Nikolai Peiko and Vissarion Shebalin during the Khrushchev regime. During this
time, she also met with Dmitri Shostakovich. He bolstered her confidence to an
unprecedented level upon hearing some of her work by stating, “Be yourself. Don’t be
afraid to be yourself. My wish is that you should continue in your own, incorrect way.” 42
After Gubaidulina’s formal schooling was finished, she became a freelance composer and
made a living in the early years of her career by writing film music. This freelance
period occurred during the Brezhnev period of rule that lasted until 1982. The
suppression of contemporary composers by the Communist rule affected her life and
development as it did every other creative artist under the regime. She worked as well as
she could within it, but when travel restrictions were released in 1986, her life completely
changed. The career that followed has been nothing but one of undeniable success. 43
40 Michel Kurtz, Sofia Gubaidulina – A Biography, (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press, 2007), 7.
41 Kurtz, 222.
42 Kurtz, 45.
43 Kurtz, 266.
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