Heard anew: Sofia Gubaidulina

When it comes to classical composers, most people think of old masters such as Beethoven and Mozart. But the »Elbphilharmonie Visions« festival demonstrates that contemporary music can also be »just as rich and diverse as humanity itself« (Alan Gilbert). The festival’s programme features only music by contemporary composers. Not only is that musically very exciting, it also offers an amazing opportunity to ask the composers questions about their works and the process of creating them. How do you go about composing? Do you have a concrete idea of the work before you sit down to write it, or does it emerge only when you start? What role do your surroundings play? And what are your hopes for your music?

The Festival composers talk about this in short interviews. In this case with Sofia Gubaidulina, now over 90, who has been living near Hamburg for many years and whose music bears witness to her strong faith. Perhaps the best description of her music were the words of conductor Simon Rattle, who said she was a »flying recluse – she is always in orbit and only occasionally visits terra firma. She visits us on Earth now and again, bringing light with her, then she returns into orbit«.

Do you already have a strong vision of a work before you set about writing it?

If we are talking about a clear concept of a work, about the form it takes, I have to say that I have never managed to realise my original idea exactly. New connections emerged from time to time within the formed components, so that I kept having to make changes. This means that my intuition about the form was not clear after all, it was just wishful thinking. But if we are talking about the inner vision of a future work, this has nearly always been very clear and fascinating in my case. In almost all cases, though, this applied to the end of the work and not to the beginning.

As far as I understand the question, it relates to the clarity of the first impulse, which can refer in turn to either the beginning or the end of a work. I would say that neither one is good or bad. Rather, it's one and the same thing: the clarity of the impulse and its formulation by the composer, or the idea of the final whole and its subsequent formulation. The exact way the idea is formulated is then a question of form. It has nothing to do with success or failure, it's simply one attempt.

What role do non-musical factors play in your work?

For me, music is everything that produces sound. From the original moment when the world was created, everything began to make sounds: the sky, the stars and planets, plants and birds, animals and humans.  And all that is music. All human activity, all relationships between people likewise make sounds, as do all outward phenomena and all people's inner psychological conditions. They all make sounds which need converting into music. A sound wants to assume a concrete form, and this form is embodied by all works of art created by Man. Architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, prose – all this makes up the musical wealth of our human history, and all of it is music.

But where are the »non-musical factors«, if life itself already sounds like music? I find myself unable to solve this riddle. And in all honesty I must admit that I don't know what »non-musical« is supposed to mean. I know that some people differentiate between »absolute« music and »programme« music, but this means nothing to me.

At the »Elbphilharmonie Visions« festival, contemporary orchestral music plays a more prominent role than probably at any other concert hall in the world: 18 works by 18 composers are being performed on nine evenings. Do you think that's a good idea, or is it the wrong strategy?

A grand experiment deserving of admiration! This is a project so courageous and bold, it takes my breath away.

It's perfectly possible that there will be fewer people in the audience on the second evening than interpreters on the concert platform. But even if the outcome is less overwhelming than the idea itself, I am convinced that this is an extremely important experience that can serve as a precedent for the future. It shows that it's possible to maintain a high level of culture even in times like this that are exceptionally difficult for this kind of art.

What does contemporary music need to win the public's favour?

A question that's too hard to answer. I fear it may be impossible to reach this goal.

What improvements to concerts would you like to see – today and in the near future?

In the near future I cannot imagine either an ideal or even a normal concert scene. We are facing a long, an unstopppable war where art has no legitimate place. It will take a miracle to rescue concerts of serious music.

Deutsche Übersetzung: Hans-Ulrich Duffek

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