Gulag is a musical piece for full orchestra in one movement; principally it belongs to the genre of symphonic poems in which the composer condenses his message in one single musical image to represent the spiritual essence of his subject. The poem was composed in 2008 and it was first performed by the symphonic orchestra of Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca,-Klausenburg) Hungarian Opera directed by György Selmeczi.
As for his source of inspiration, the composer was strongly influenced by certain reports heard directly from survivors of unbelievebly cruel events; events that happened in scenes of ultimate repression in regimes based on force arid dictatorship during the 2Oth century. Speaking about his work, the composer has mentioned several times that "his intention was to create a symphonic memorial to remind and warn of general human suffering." and he has stated that "any questions like where were suffering and death the most unbearable seem rather undeserving. This idea is well expressed by the motto of ‘Gulag’ on the first page of the scores: ‘In such an age I dwelt on earth’.
Concerning his means of expression, Boldizsár Csíky has remained faithful to his style of accentuated polyphonies. Tension in his music is created by
simultaenously sounded contrapunctical lines of contradictory character which enfold through intensified orchestrational effects. Beside a choral with bitter intonation, breath-taking vocal fragments appear representing the distant homeland, ‘the hidden heartland of home’. The concluding psalm text of ‘De profundis clamavi’ sung by a male choir sacralize the musical image of universal human suffering.