So Be It

“So Be It!” is the first complete composition by Sofia Gubaidulina after her year of crisis 2012. She wrote the work “in memoriam Viktor Suslin”, who died on 10 July 2012, encouraged by the Israeli violinist Nurit Stark for a Suslin memorial CD that was released by BIS in Autumn 2014. “So Be It!” is the translation of the word ‚amen‘.
The musicologist Tatiana Frumkis has written the following about this work: “(...) The B-A-C-H motif beloved by both Gubaidulina and Suslin appears like a secret seal, together with the ‘cross motif’ in the form of the theme of the Fugue in C-sharp minor from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier I. (...) The dramatic dialogue of the two ‘heroes’ (violin and double bass) develops in interaction with each other, and also together with the environment (piano and percussion) that by turns shows solidary or animosity. This principle is found in many works of Gubaidulina that already belong to the classics of the 20th century (e.g. ‘In croce’ and ‘Detto I’, ‘Seven Words’ and the Concerto for bassoon and strings). (...) The chorale that crowns the work with its shimmering harmonics sends her dear friend and faithful companion a farewell greeting ... A greeting bidding farewell, but not a final one, for their connection remains eternal … So be it”.