Thea DerksSofia Gubaidulina's ‘Revue’ proves unexpected gem https://theaderks.wordpress.com/2026/03/10/sofia-gubaidulinas-revue-proves-unexpected-gem/ #AliciaDiPiazza, #BaselSinfonietta, #SofiaGubaidulina, #TitusEngel, #Zeitgestalten
Contemporary Classical - Thea DerksSofia Gubaidulina’s ‘Revue’ proves unexpected gem
Sofia Gubaidulina, one of the great composers of the post-World War II era, passed away in March 2025. During the Soviet dictatorship, she encountered strong opposition from the authorities and was forced to earn a living as a film composer. The apparatchiks wanted nothing to do with her highly personal sound world full of mysterious rustlings and deafening explosions of sound, which were at odds with the socialist realism they preached. Her Revue, recently released on CD, would undoubtedly have made them grind their teeth.
An additional stumbling block was her unshakeable Russian Orthodox faith, which she expressed in every note. She often used cross constructions in her compositions and intoned religious works such as the Canticle of the Sun by Francis of Assisi, the Gospel of John and the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross, to mention just a few. At the same time, she felt a deep connection with nature; in her own words, she cultivated her music like a plant growing out of silence. Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, she moved to the village of Appen near Hamburg, where she would live until her death.
Her penetrating music has appeared on countless CDs, and Naxos added a new disc to the collection in December 2025. In addition to successful pieces such as Zeitgestalten for orchestra (1994), Introitus for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1978) and the Chaconne for solo piano (1962), it also features the rarely performed Revue for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band from 1976. This remarkable work was unknown even to me and turns out to be a forgotten gem in her already extensive oeuvre.
Fierce contrasts
It caused a scandal at its premiere in 1978. No wonder, for in this piece Gubaidulina completely flouts all the laws of socialist realism. She switches casually between poppy beats from an electric bass guitar, angelic singing, the faint rustling of unidentifiable instruments, jazzy big band music and ear-splitting eruptions of dense, dissonant layers of sound. Despite the patchwork of atmospheres, Gubaidulina manages to make the whole thing flow organically.
The piece opens with the dreamy sound of bells, which imperceptibly transitions into the glissandi of whole and minor seconds that are so characteristic of her music. These swell to hurricane force in no time and then abruptly fall silent. From this sudden silence, a funky jazz-rock beat emerges, played by bass guitar and drums. This is quickly ‘assailed’ by dissonant exclamations from the orchestra and elongated vocalises from female voices. – We are less than two minutes into the piece. After this, the different atmospheres keep following each other in rapid succession.
Glenn Miller meets angelic singing
During the ten minutes that the piece lasts, you find yourself transported now to the world of Glenn Miller, then to an alien universe full of evil creatures, before being treated to spectacular trumpet riffs à la Miles Davis. This culminates in a gigantic climax, after which the mystical chimes from the beginning return, and a woman’s voice recites a poem against the backdrop of angelic singing and the whispering of male voices. A passage with ethereal flute sounds is followed by a loud, heavy swinging beat from the entire ensemble, after which the piece ends with the fading tinkling of small cymbals.
The performance of this varied Revue is compelling and once again underlines Gubaidulina’s overwhelming craftsmanship. Unfortunately, the CD booklet only lists conductor Titus Engel and the NDR Big Band as performers, so we must simply assume that the musicians also provided the singing and speaking parts. The other pieces are performed excellently as well by Basel Sinfonietta under the baton of Engel.
Subtle microtonality
In 2016, Italian pianist Alicia di Piazza collaborated with Gubaidulina on an arrangement of Introitus, in which the tonal concept and rhythmic accents were slightly modified. However, the alternation of microtonal, diatonic, chromatic and pentatonic passages remained intact, and Di Piazza impresses with the very subtle interpretation of her part. In the following Chaconne, her firm hammering rivals that of pianists from the Russian tradition.
Zeitgestalten is distantly related to Revue in its use of multicoloured percussion, flexatones and bass guitars, but does not switch between different musical styles. With its spaciousness, unusual playing techniques, glissandi and hushed versus fortissimo passages, it is core Gubaidulina music from start to finish. – Even though bird-like motifs from the flute and other instruments at times evoke Messiaen.
It is a pity that not a single duration on the back cover is correct, while the unflattering portrait photo on the cover seems to have been chosen by a Gubaidulina hater. But otherwise, this is an exemplary release, both in terms of musical interpretation and recording technique.
#AliciaDiPiazza #BaselSinfonietta #SofiaGubaidulina #TitusEngel #Zeitgestalten
Lars Holgersson 🎶
