Sofia Gubaidulina's "Galgenlieder à 3" was commissioned by Patricia Adkins Chiti and premiered in Huddersfield in 1996.
Sofia Gubaidulina, born in 1931 in the Tatar region of the Soviet Union, moved to Moscow in 1954 and later to northern Germany in 1992.
Sofia Gubaidulina's "Galgenlieder à 3" combines a singing voice with a double bass and percussion, which is an unusual combination for a song cycle.
Filmmusic was Sofia Gubaidulina's main source of income after completing her studies at the Moscow conservatory.
Niek de Groot, the Dutch double bassist on this recording, was originally a trumpet player and started playing the double bass at 18.
A special feature of Gubaidulina's work is the use of very wide intervals and a quasi-scenic approach to the music, in contrast to chromaticism.
Sofia Gubaidulina's work is strongly influenced by the Christian religion, though she was not baptized Russian Orthodox until age 39.
