Gubaidulina - In croce (1991) (with score)

Maria Kliegel - Cello
Elsbeth Moser - Bayan

One of the many works in which Sofia Gubaidulina makes reference to Christian themes and imagery, In croce was composed in 1979 for cellist Vladimir Tonkha, who, along with organist Oleg Yanchenko gave the work its first performance in the concert hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The version here came after Gubaidulina began to incorporate the bayan, the Russian push-button accordion, into her works, and she and bayan player Elsbeth Moser rearranged In croce for cello and bayan in 1991.

The work's title can mean either "On the Cross" or "Cross-Wise," and it carries a musical meaning, along with the obvious Christian one. Roughly speaking, the bayan begins the work playing comparatively diatonic music in the upper part of its register, while the cello plays spare tones in its lower register. Both instruments centre their activities on the note E. As the work progresses the two instruments begin to approach each other, eventually crossing in the most aggressive passage. After some wild playing from both instruments, the mood grows hushed again; dissonant chords on the bayan accompany the barest of textures from the cello as they both converge again on E. The work's ending is quiet and sombre. [from allmusic.com]