‘They called her a prophet composer’: composer Sofia Gubaydulina passes away
At the age of 93, world-famous composer, honorary citizen of Kazan and honoured artist of the RSFSR Sofia Gubaidulina passed away. “There are people you want to be involved with. Mrs Gubaydullina Sofia is the person whose fate is a source of great pride for Tatarstan," says Irada Ayupova, Minister of Culture of Tatarstan, about her. Sofia Gubaydulina, a composer and a person of the world, is known all over the planet. Her works are performed on the largest stages in the world, by the most famous performers.
Sofia Gubaydulina was a person of the era
Sofia Gubaydulina, a world-famous composer, honorary citizen of Kazan and honored artist of the RSFSR, passed away. She was 93 years old.
Kazan City Hall and Mayor Ilsur Metshin expressed their deep condolences to the family and friends of Sofia Gubaydulina in connection with her death, sharing the bitterness of an irreparable loss.
“We learned of the death of Sofia Gubaydulina with deep pain. Sofia Gubaydulina was a person of an era, an outstanding modern composer and a person of outstanding personal qualities. For us, she will forever remain an example of devotion to creativity, aspiration for the unknown, a standard of decency, honesty, attentive and caring attitude to the world and people,” Metshin’s condolences read.
Sofia Gubaydulina was born on 24 October 1931 in Chistopol. She graduated from the Kazan Conservatory (1954) and the Moscow Conservatory (1959) as well as postgraduate studies at the Moscow Conservatory (1963). Throughout her creative career, she faced misunderstanding but received support from outstanding cultural figures, including D. Shostakovich. Since 1975, she was a member of Astrea composer group. Since 1991, she lived in Germany. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, a laureate of the Imperial Prize of Japan, a recipient of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, a Dame of the Order of Merit for the FRG and an Honorary Doctor of Yale and Chicago universities.
In 2022, Realnoe Vremya published a detailed review article about Sofia Asgatovna, in which she talked about her roots, how her musical talent grew on Tatarstan soil, and what a huge influence the composer had on the musical culture of our time.
“The life of Sofia Gubaydulina is an intimate conversation with God”
Gubaydulina was born in Chistopol in 1931. When the girl was three years old, her family moved to Kazan. They lived on what is now Telmana Street, at number 29. In 2001, in honour of the composer's 70th birthday, the Centre for Contemporary Music was opened there, named after her.
The Sofia Gubaydulina Centre for Contemporary Music published words of grief in connection with the death of the outstanding composer:
“Her work and enormous personal contribution to contemporary musical art have received high recognition throughout the world.
Sofia Gubaydulina is one of the most famous and performed contemporary composers. She opens up amazing musical worlds and new sound spaces to listeners. Her unique work, which is well known and highly valued, elevates humanity to spiritual spheres — to the highest Divine principle.
The life of Sofia Gubaydulina is an intimate conversation with God, a dialogue between “Me and You”. Musicians who know Sofia Gubaydulina well call her a celestial being, endowed with a unique ability to hear the sounds of the Cosmos, the spiritual world, the grandiose consonances of the universe and the World Human Soul. Through her music, which is born in a parallel dimension, she brings new sounds, new vibrations into our world, transforming the souls of her contemporaries. Her music is like a prayer to God, a prayer for love, for faith.
Sofia Gubaydulina is our contemporary, her homeland is Tatarstan, Russia. According to her, it was here that the deep essence of her entire life was laid. Here she gained strength, becoming one of the greatest composers of our time, a person of peace!
Creative intelligentsia and cultural figures shared their memories of the great composer with Realnoe Vremya.
Tatarstan