The Canticle of the Sun is a composition by Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina based on the "Canticle of the Sun" and dedicated to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich for his seventieth birthday. Though the piece features a soloist and an ensemble, Gubaidulina does not consider it a cello concerto.
Sofia Gubaidulina gives the following outline of the formal sections:
- Glorification of the Creator, and His Creations - the Sun and the Moon
- Glorification of the Creator, the Maker of the four elements: air, water, fire and earth
- Glorification of life
- Glorification of death
Though she notes that the cellists 'abandonment' of his or her instrument actually divides the piece in two.
An overtone row played on the C string is used, after which the cellist tunes the string down to the lowest note possible on the instrument, bows near the bridge, on the bridge with a snare drum stick, behind the bridge, and then on the tailpiece. The cellist then puts down the instrument, playing on a bass drum, and then on a flexatone with a bass bow before returning to the cello.
The piece has been recorded and released on: