Originally entitled "Modus" in deference to the Soviet authorities censorship on religious matters, this 1977 work marked the end of a long period of musical infertility in the composer's life. The "Cantus" was soon to follow. While everybody might remember the biblical story that Sarah was ninety years old when she bore Abraham a son, it is difficult to perceive the religious implications of the piece since there is no text. From the purely musical point of view, it is a piece of grinding minimalism, a 25-minute work in which nothing much happens for more than the first 20. Scored for timpani, organ and three vocal soloists, it begins with a seemingly endless succession of bursts of four slow timpani blows separated by stretches of silence. Five minutes later, the timpani stops and the voices engage in a not less monotonous vocalise for three minutes. Then, it is back to the timpani, then back to the voices, and to the timpani once more. Less than 4 minutes to the end, the organ begins an ascending succession of chords. Voices and timpani join in. The last bars are reserved for the solo vocalizations of the female voice.

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