Sofija Gubajdulina was born in 1931 in Tatarstan in the then Soviet Union and later studied composition at the music conservatory in Moscow. But her music, which has both religious and literary themes, was considered "irresponsible" during the Soviet era.
The desperation one feels when one cannot do good. It felt like one was not allowed to engage in the most essential things and fulfill one's mission. But the fact that many people now come to me and listen tells me that my life choice was still the right one, she said in connection with receiving the Polar Prize in 2002.
Among her supporters was Shostakovich, who encouraged her to continue as she had begun, and by the end of the 1980s, she became an international name. Since then, the world's major concert halls have commissioned and performed her music.
In 1992, she settled in Hamburg, Germany.
Sofija Gubajdulina was 93 years old.
