Sofia Gubaidulina: Canticle Of The Sun Gidon Kremer & Nicolas Altstaedt

• 1 The Lyre of Orpheus 23:52
• 2 Glorification of the Creator, and His Creations: the Sun and the Moon 10:12
• 3 Glorification of the Creator, the Maker of the Four Elements: Air, Water, Fire and Earth 13:19
• 4 Glorification of Life 14:29
• 5 Glorification of Death 07:23
• Total Runtime 01:09:15

Info for Sofia Gubaidulina: Canticle Of The Sun

Two major works by Sofia Gubaidulina comprise this album: “The Lyre of Orpheus” (composed in 2006), for violin, percussion and string orchestra, and “The Canticle of the Sun” (1997, rev. 1998), for violoncello, chamber choir, percussion and celesta. Both pieces were recorded at the Lockenhaus Festival in, respectively, 2006 and 2010.

Sofia Gubaidulina’s 80th birthday in October 2011 generated much press coverage around the world, appropriately stressing the uniqueness and the variety of her compositional approaches. Both are in evidence on these recordings from Lockenhaus. Gidon Kremer is the soloist and Kremerata Baltica the ensemble on the premiere recording of “The Lyre of Orpheus”, dedicated to the memory of Gubaidulina’s daughter. Kremer has long been a committed advocate of Gubaidulina’s work, and the composer has praised the way the violinist seems to unleash music from the soul. In this work of austere beauty and raw lyricism, violin, string orchestra and percussion intermingle in new ways. At a subterranean level, the piece is also an exploration into acoustic phenomena and the physics of sound, with pulsating difference tones part of its underlying structures. “The Lyre of Orpheus” was recorded in 2006, a month after Kremer gave the first performance.

“Canticle of the Sun”, recorded in 2010, revisits the celebrated piece that Gubaiduilina wrote in tribute to Mstislav Rostropovich on the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1997. Rostropovich’s famously sunny disposition was an inspiration, by association prompting Gubaidulina to set St Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun” for choir. In this recording, Nicolas Altstaedt, one of the most accomplished cellists of his generation, takes on the highly expressive lead role. A further, timely, Lockenhaus connection here: as of this year, Altsteadt takes over from Kremer as the new director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival.

Featuring unorthodox showcases for violin and cello, this album is testament to the sensitive individualism of Sofia Gubaidulina. Performed by Gidon Kremer´s Kremerata Baltica, 'The Lyre of Orpheus' proceeds via a series of discrete violin flourishes and glissandi, until coaxed into the open under cover of the ensemble. Its inclusion of sleighbells is one example of Gubaidulina´s characteristic use of unusual percussion, which reaches further extremes in her setting of St Francis´s 'Canticle of the Sun' when cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, having detuned his instrument to its lowest possible note, eventually abandons it to bow first a drum, then a flexatone device. Strange, but beautiful. (Andy Gill, The Independent)

Gidon Kremer, violin
Marta Sudraba, violoncello
Kremerata Baltica
Nicolas Altstaedt, violoncello
Andrei Pushkarev, percussion
Rihards Zaïupe, percussion
Rostislav Krimer, celesta
Riga Chamber Choir
Mâris Sirmais, conductor