The Rider on the White Horse

"This work is an orchestral excerpt from my major dilogy ('St. John Passion' and 'St. John Easter') which I wrote in the years 2000 and 2001. In that dilogy as well as in the present work there is a continual inner dialogue between two texts from the New Testament, the Gospel of John (the Passion level) and the Book of Revelation (the Apocalyptic level). The response-based principle lends the mystical events of the apocalypse a sense of psychological fulfilment and the earthly sufferings of the Word-as-flesh a higher purpose.
In this orchestral work, however, the Passion level has been so highly compressed that it melts into one point, a sort of turning point. This refers to the interlude in the middle of the work. In 'St. John Easter', the interlude occurs after the following words directed by the Resurrected One at the incredulous Thomas: 'Reach out your hand and put it into my side, stop doubting and believe.' What happens next is a transformation from disbelieving to believing, from simply seeing to true perception, from misuse of words to service to the true Word. The entire Passion is focussed on this one immovable point of the Earth’s movement.
The first and last sections of this work draw on the apocalyptic dialogue level. This work, however, does not include the solo vocal parts or the two choirs. The orchestral score has essentially been retained without change. The first part corresponds to the descent of God to Earth and the incarnation (ruled by the Earth element) while the last section corresponds to the transfiguration and ascension of Christ into heaven (where everything is consumed by fire and light).
'The Rider on the White Horse' is dedicated to the conductor Valery Gergiev on the occasion of his 50th birthday." (Sofia Gubaidulina)