Pantomime for double bass and piano

In 1959, Sofia
Gubaidulina met Dmitri Shostakovich for a lesson, to play for him and to absorb
his wisdom. He advised her to continue along her incorrect path, words that would resonate with her for the duration
of her career. Gubaidulina’s adoption of microtonality, traditional folk music,
and religious mysticism in her work ultimately did antagonize the Soviet
government, as Shostakovich predicted, and as a result she was reprimanded and
blacklisted for writing ‘irresponsible’ music.                                                                                 

A few years after
this fateful meeting, in 1966, Pantomime for
double bass and piano was written. Although this piece is nearly twenty years
before Gubaidulina first uses the Fibonacci Sequence to structure her work, one
can see that she is experimenting with form through small phrases with large
expression. In the opening section, glissando and tremolo techniques pepper each
phrase and a distinctive gesture with the bow ends each musical segment. A new
section begins as the piano’s line is taken over by a circular staccato
pattern, convincing the bass to join in with agitated Bartok pizzicato and
ricochet.  In this early work, one can
still hear influences of Anton Webern and even hints of her brief mentor,
Shostakovich.