The Russian composer Elena Firsova, born in Leningrad on 21 March 1950, represents a significant figure in the landscape of contemporary Russian music. Her Monolog for solo bassoon, dedicated to Valeri Popov, was composed in 1989, a decade after her inclusion in the so-called “Khrennikov Seven,” a blacklist drawn up during the 1979 Congress of the Union of Soviet Composers. This measure sanctioned the unauthorized participation of certain Soviet composers in contemporary music festivals in the West; among those listed was also her teacher, Edison Denisov.

The work reflects distinctive features of Firsova’s compositional language, characterized by a free atonal idiom influenced by the principles of the Second Viennese School, particularly in terms of the concentration and economy of musical material. Special emphasis is placed on timbral dimension, articulated through the use of short cells and intense sonic gestures, which contribute to shaping an introspective musical dramaturgy.