EDIT: One piece you would rather not hear anymore?

[chopintod]

EDIT: ---deleted---

[JCarey]

For me? Opus Clav... (OC).  Written with those crazy staffs why??  No one can possibly play it at speed correctly, yet people claim that they can.  AND: the composition doesn't even make sense.  Random notes to me.  And how long is it? 4 hours?  Why, I ask? Why?

You obviously have no idea about what you're talking about. First of all, I fail to see why you describe the staves as "crazy"? Are you implying that the staves are crazy, or that the fact that Sorabji often would use 3-5 staves in his music is "crazy"? And, when you write "why??", I assume you are asking why he wrote his music like that. The answer is, he wanted to make it easier to read. I think that was considerate of him, not crazy. However, if I misinterpreted your post, I apologize.

It is not true that no one can possibly play it at speed correctly. Unless you have played it, how would you know? I believe that Jonathan Powell can play it correctly up to speed, and if Hamelin were to spend the time learning it, I believe he could as well. And as for your statement, "the composition doesn't even make sense", might I ask what you consider a "sensible composition"? Just because you can't understand the logic behind it, that doesn't mean there isn't any. And, if you have listened to G.D. Madge's recording, then it is random notes. Check out this thread I posted a while ago - https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,12002.0.html. And yes, it is about four hours long. Why? Because that is the length that Sorabji felt was necessary.

So, as for your original question -

Chopin's Heroic Polonaise. I don't know what it is about this piece that annoys me so much, but I dislike the themes, I think it was poorly developed, and I think it's uncomfortable to play. And worst of all, when I was young, my grandmother would always request that I play it for her. No thanks.

[stevie]

no piece at all, i would never deny an artist of his right to create.

[da jake]

The Hamster Dance.

[JCarey]

Stevie is absolutely right. I change my answer to nothing.

[pita bread]

For me? Opus Clav... (OC).  Written with those crazy staffs why??  No one can possibly play it at speed correctly, yet people claim that they can.  AND: the composition doesn't even make sense.  Random notes to me.  And how long is it? 4 hours?  Why, I ask? Why?

I'd erase you from the history of mankind.

[Etude]

For me? Opus Clav... (OC).  Written with those crazy staffs why??  y?

I  have to say, I find it easier to read on four staves.   

No one can possibly play it at speed correctly, yet people claim that they can.

I'm not sure I, JCarey, or Mr. Powell would agree with you there.
 

AND: the composition doesn't even make sense.

It makes far more sense than any piece I have ever heard before.  I'm not sure what in particular you're referring to but it's the most organized music I've seen.  The way he uses themes all the way through the work.  In the very last movement almost four hours after the beginning we hear a theme (well we would with a decent recording hopefully) from the third movement, first introduced 15 minutes into the piece.  As the piece progresses, more and more themes are introduced but most continue to be used throughout the rest of the piece.

Random notes to me.

I can see why you might say that.  I'd like you to listen to this small part of OC played by a computer (thanks to JCarey for providing these short samples of OC):

https://www.johncareycompositions.com/madge/real3.mp3

it's more or less in the key of A MAJOR

what key is this in?:  https://www.johncareycompositions.com/madge/MadgeImprov3.mp3

This is the same section played by Geoffrey Madge.  Not very similar at all.  I just hope you arent basing your comments off his recording.

And how long is it? 4 hours?  Why, I ask? Why?

I would really enjoy the variations, passacaglia, Coda-Stretta, and other such movements.  It would be a shame if Sorabji cut these out as a means of shortening the piece. 

Sorabji planned the structure of the piece before he wrote it:

Introito, Preludio-Corale, Fuga I, Fantasia, Fuga II, Interludium I, Cadenza I, Fuga III, Interludium II, Cadenza II, Fuga IV, CODA-STRETTA.

The piece is four hours because that is the time Sorabji needed to get everything he wanted into it.

[chopintod]

EDIT: ---deleted---

[dinosaurtales]

only one? hm  that's going to be a tough choice.

[JCarey]

Now about the OC: I just don't like it.  I have read extensively the post about Madge's recording, and I agree: his recording is crap and is terrible.  I would also say that, where are the other recordings?  If people can play this well, at speed, with full emotion, then show it to me.

Why would anybody waste their time proving anything to you? If you don't like it, you don't like it. It's as simple as that.

IT'S NOT A BAD SONG: I JUST DON'T LIKE IT

Actually, it's not a song at all. Maybe that is why you don't like it - you were expecting it to be a brief composition written or adapted for singing. In that case, I can understand why you were unpleasantly surprised when you heard it, if you thought it was going to be a song.

And I don't like the staves.

Why wouldn't you like the staves? What makes them any different from any other staves? You must dislike all music then. And if you mean, "I don't like the fact that it's written on 3 staves", then that makes no sense. The typical "song" is written on 3 staves, one for voice and two for piano. Hmm...

My question was supposed to be based on personal preferences, not on general thoughts.

When you say that you would erase a piece from the history of mankind, you should expect hostility from people who like that piece. Don't seem so surprised that you upset some people, especially Etude, who has taken time out of his life to learn 3 movements of the OC.

I know many people who hate the Fur Elise because they have to teach 20 seven year olds to play it each year, and none can actually play it.  

That isn't really why they hate it, but whatever...

(it was inconsiderate; all artists have the right to their expressions)

Does anybody else see the hypocrisy when comparing this statement to what chopintod said in his "Muzak" thread? Hmm...

Pita, I still have no clue why you would say such a thing when you know nothing about me. I have never said anything like this to anyone before, and I don't know why you would.

Pita isn't you. Now you know.

[Etude]

Now about the OC: I just don't like it.  I have read extensively the post about Madge's recording, and I agree: his recording is crap and is terrible.  I would also say that, where are the other recordings?  If people can play this well, at speed, with full emotion, then show it to me.  As of yet, I can't hear this piece played by a human, and very few people have heard it played by a human.  YET: people continue to praise it, when they haven't heard it.

That's something we're all waiting to be shown.  The only two options we have are to attend a performance by Jonathan Powell of OC, though no more a currently planned, or wait for him to make a recording of the piece, which will be even longer.  I know this piece isn't as difficult as it sounds, many movements become quite managable when they're learnt.  There are just a few extremely difficult movements that raise the difficulty of the entire piece to where it stands.  But it is not impossible.  Sorabji made his music difficult deliberately so that people who learned it would have to do it properly.  There are no shortcuts to learning the piece.  There are shortcuts to playing it as proven in 1983 (?) but not learning.  We praise the piece because we can see it's worth beyond the quality of the recordings, or lack thereof.  I've looked through the score.  You can know this piece for months and then notice something completely new in it that you didn't see before.  THis has happened to be a number of times.  Only last month, I noticed things in the Coda-Stretta that I didn't see before.  If you're concerned with how it sounds, I have yet to hear a piece by Sorabji that sounds bad.  The recordings might make it sound bad, Habermann's recordings, for example, are on a horrible bright piano, which is completely unsuitable for the style of the music he was playing, and some of the more dissonant parts of the fantasie espagnole are unbearable on his recording.  If a recording of a piece seems bad, I try to look past this and hear the piece as it is supposed to be.  I've even played almost completely the first three movements, and quite a bit of the fourth, and I really like them.  When you ask where the other recordings are, I don't know if you know that John Ogdon recorded this piece towards the end of his life.  However he had mental illness and could not interpret the piece as well as he would have done otherwise.  He plays too slowly, exaggerates dynamics and often contradicts them completely.  However, he plays mostly the right notes, which is fundamental, however much Madge begs to differ.  All I can say is wait for J. Powell's recording to come out, THEN judge the piece.

[thierry13]

Now about the OC: I just don't like it.  I have read extensively the post about Madge's recording, and I agree: his recording is crap and is terrible.  I would also say that, where are the other recordings?  If people can play this well, at speed, with full emotion, then show it to me.  As of yet, I can't hear this piece played by a human, and very few people have heard it played by a human.  YET: people continue to praise it, when they haven't heard it.

If I can hear it, maybe I'll like it.  IT'S NOT A BAD SONG: I JUST DON'T LIKE IT

And I don't like the staves.

Mr. Powell performed the OC, and yes well, at speed, and with full emotion. He didn't record it yet tough. Soon he will. We do not PRAISE the OC, we protect it agaisnt stupid people who doesn't like it because it is hard, crazy, and THEY haven't even heard it. I do not consider hearing G.D. madge's recording hearing the OC. You have the right to dislike this piece, but the statements you did are simply false, unbased, and pretty stupid. "And I don't like the staves" ... what? Why would you not like it? Following your logic, I can't even IMAGINE how much you must HATE orchestral scores. They have MUCH MUCH more staves. Why? Because it is way more clear this way. Same for the OC. You have the right to not like a piece you didn't even heard, but please,PLEASE, for the man kind ( to pita bread), don't do stupid statements that are simply untought and plainly wrong. OC, is not unhuman, it is superhuman. And it is a piece, not a song  

[chopintod]

For the love of God, cut me a break people.

[thierry13]

Aww you were faster than me on a few seconds etude.  

[Etude]

I do not consider hearing G.D. madge's recording hearing the OC.

 

I absolutely agree

"And I don't like the staves" ... what? Why would you not like it? Following your logic, I can't even IMAGINE how much you must HATE orchestral scores. They have MUCH MUCH more staves. Why?

HAHAHAHAHA




In response to the original topic, which has now been changed to "One piece you would rather not hear anymore?"  I would go for Liszt's no. 3 from Grand Etudes de Paganini (La Campanella).  It's extremely over-played, and the orignal from "Etudes d'execution transcendente d'apres Paganini" is far better in my opinion, as is the early "Grande Fantasie de Bravoure sur le Clochette", which is longer and incredibly difficult.

Aww you were faster than me on a few seconds etude. 

yep.   
you beat me this time though.

[thierry13]

For the love of God, cut me a break people.

Cut me a break of stupid people who hate OC for no reasons.

[Etude]

Cut me a break of stupid people who hate OC for no reasons.

Didn't you hear?  It's cool to hate OC.

[chopintod]

 

I absolutely agree

HAHAHAHAHA




In response to the original topic, which has now been changed to "One piece you would rather not hear anymore?"  I would go for Liszt's no. 3 from Grand Etudes de Paganini (La Campanella).  It's extremely over-played, and the orignal from "Etudes d'execution transcendente d'apres Paganini" is far better in my opinion, as is the early "Grande Fantasie de Bravoure sur le Clochette", which is onger and incredibly difficult.


yep.   
you beat me this time though.

Thank you, Etude.  This is the response I was looking for.

And no, I don't hate orchestral scores.

And just because I don't like having 4+ staves for the same instrument, played by the same person, doesn't mean I hate music.  This is a non sequitur.

Terry

[thierry13]

Thank you, Etude.  This is the response I was looking for.

And no, I don't hate orchestral scores.

And just because I don't like having 4+ staves for the same instrument, played by the same person, doesn't mean I hate music.  This is a non sequitur.

Terry

Give me a single reason why you do not like 4+ staves huh? Because you can't play it? It would be far worse to read on 2 staves, believe me.

[Etude]

It would be far worse to read on 2 staves, believe me.

no kidding.

[JCarey]

And just because I don't like having 4+ staves for the same instrument, played by the same person, doesn't mean I hate music.  This is a non sequitur.

If you are referring to my post, then apparently you do not appreciate nor understand the fine art of sarcasm.

[Etude]

beautiful isn't it?  The Coda-stretta on two staves.

[JCarey]

beautiful isn't it?  The Coda-stretta on two staves.

I wonder what the ending would look like on 2 staves.

[chopintod]

Could we forget the musical aspect of this and look at the personal side? I am being insulted because of a harmless opinion I posted.  JCarey, when I said that I don't know why pita would want me erased from the history of mankind, you responded that I'm not pita.  Do you seriously think this is an OK comment to make?

I am being insulted.  Please realize that this is hurting me deeply,  and please stop.  I deleted my comments.  There is no reason for you to continue.

[Etude]

I wonder what the ending would look like on 2 staves.

it's just in four parts there isn't it?  Sustained chords in the outer ones, and semiquaver chords on the inside.  In the opening there are about 6 or 7 independant melodic lines throughout.  Oh well, I might enter the ending later and see which looks crazier.  

chopintod:  sorry about this.  when you make a topic about which piece you would want gone, and your first choice is the Opus Clavicembalisticum, we've heard this fifty times before, and we get a little frustrated because we can see greatness in this piece, and many others can't for whatever reasons.  This thread needs to get back on topic.

[JCarey]

JCarey, when I said that I don't know why pita would want me erased from the history of mankind, you responded that I'm not pita.  Do you seriously think this is an OK comment to make?

I don't recall ever saying it was an "OK comment to make". But you said that you didn't understand why Pita would make such a comment, stating that you would never say it yourself. My explanation as to why Pita would make such a comment and you wouldn't was that Pita wasn't you.

It's quite simple, really.

[JCarey]

This thread needs to get back on topic.

I think the fact that this thread went off topic is the best thing that happened to it.

[thalbergmad]

I would live happily if i never heard the fantasy impromptu again.

Lots of people seem to get worked up when the OC gets mentioned.

I have yet to listen to it as it is beyond my listening capabilities and i don't think it would do it justice to listen to it in 8 sittings.

Very enjoyable thread.

[ahinton]

Lots of people seem to get worked up when the OC gets mentioned.

I have yet to listen to it as it is beyond my listening capabilities and i don't think it would do it justice to listen to it in 8 sittings.

Very enjoyable thread.

Yes, they do, don't they?! Actually, Jomathan Powell has re-typeset a few pages of that work using less staves per system than the composer did, on the basis that, whist the composer's layout offers the best in terms of intelligibility, it is not always to the best advantage of the performer when learning it. In any case, to judge a piece on the basis of the number of staves per system it may have is self-evidently fatuous, as has already been obersved here.

Best,

Alistair

[JCarey]

Yes, they do, don't they?! Actually, Jomathan Powell has re-typeset a few pages of that work using less staves per system than the composer did, on the basis that, whist the composer's layout offers the best in terms of intelligibility, it is not always to the best advantage of the performer when learning it. In any case, to judge a piece on the basis of the number of staves per system it may have is self-evidently fatuous, as has already been obersved here.

If there is anything I dislike about the amount of staves Sorabji uses, it's the fact that he doesn't indicate which hand is supposed to play which stave. This makes learning it quite tedious and inconvenient.

[phil13]

If there was one piece I wouldn't want to hear anymore, it'd have to be Schoenberg's Piano Suite Op.25. I CAN'T STAND it. I realize that it does have some ingenious built into it, it's just not for me.

( *Whispers* For those of you slamming Chopintod, this is a disclaimer. I realize that Schoenberg was an innovative composer trying to re-invent music, and that many people like it. I just do not like it at all.)

And I have nothing to comment on the OC because I've never heard it before.

Phil

[ahinton]

If there is anything I dislike about the amount of staves Sorabji uses, it's the fact that he doesn't indicate which hand is supposed to play which stave. This makes learning it quite tedious and inconvenient.

This is precisely why Jonathan Powell has seen fit to reset certain passages in it; SWorabji's presentation is usually good sense when one is merely reading the score with one's eyes and mind's ear but, as you rightly imply, the "klavierfaktur" issue suffers as a consequence and Jonathans' solutions to the passages in question have accordingly been very much geared to making those pats of the work easier for the hands to read/ In fact, in observing this, you have reminded me to contact Jonathan to ask him for copies of those pages, for it would be good to have them as replacements fopr the originals in the copy of the publication that we supply.

Best,

Alistair

[jeremyjchilds]

Rondo a Capriccio

[chopintod]

I would live happily if i never heard the fantasy impromptu again.

Lots of people seem to get worked up when the OC gets mentioned.

I have yet to listen to it as it is beyond my listening capabilities and i don't think it would do it justice to listen to it in 8 sittings.

Very enjoyable thread.

Uh-oh, thalbergmad....I just performed the fantasie-impromptu; it's one of my favorite pieces....

I feel a need to explain to you in great detail why this piece is clearly the most ingenious piece composed in the history of mankind.   

I like that smilie.   

Terry




 

[jeremyjchilds]

Uh-oh, thalbergmad....I just performed the fantasie-impromptu; it's one of my favorite pieces....

I feel a need to explain to you in great detail why this piece is clearly the most ingenious piece composed in the history of mankind.   

I like that smilie.   

Terry

 

You say that you don't want to be made fun of , then you say that the fant imp is the most ingenious piece composed...

You realize that you are comparing with the goldberg variations...

People will correct me if I am wrong...but I remember hearing somewhere that Chopin disowned his fant imp...

I think that the fant imp is candy music...it's fun but it doesent hold together really well...it kind of sounds like two random songs in one...

[phil13]

You say that you don't want to be made fun of , then you say that the fant imp is the most ingenious piece composed...

You realize that you are comparing with the goldberg variations...

Dude, he was kidding. He's poking fun at all these people who attacked him for disliking the OC (although it might have been better to not choose that first title, Terry. Imagine how you would respond if someone did the same thing to anything by Chopin- oh wait! Someone did!)

Goldberg variations are the greatest piece by anybody before Beethoven IMO, though. But they're very different from Chopin and those after him, so you can't compare them.

Phil

[chopintod]

Yeah, I was joking.  That's what all the   's were for.

 

I realize that the Fant-Imp isn't the most logically composed, most excellent piece ever or anything.  I also know that Chopin hated it (well, not sure if he hated it per se, but he didn't like it); that's why it's Opus Posthumous.

Still fun to lay though.

EDIT: lay?? haha!  I meant play.

 

Phil knows why the  's are here now.

GO CUTE GIRLS WHO LIKE TO GET COFFEE WITH YOU EVEN WHEN THEY MET YOU 5 MINUTES BEFORE!!!

I LOVE CUTE GIRLS!!

 

Terry

[thierry13]

I feel a need to explain to you in great detail why this piece is clearly the most ingenious piece composed in the history of mankind.   

Urm, Chopin himself tought this composition as inferior. He didn't even want it to be published. So, I still like it, and I think it's good piece... definately not the most ingenious piece.

[thierry13]

By the way, I would remove pictures at an exhibition. Arg. The first movement is the most annoying thing i've ever heard of my life.

[bachelssohn]

I'd definitely wouldn't miss the OC if I never heard it again.
I'm not gonna say it's bad, or it's not musical, or unplayable; I just don't like it.

[chopintod]

I'd definitely wouldn't miss the OC if I never heard it again.
I'm not gonna say it's bad, or it's not musical, or unplayable; I just don't like it.

Run, run far far away, and never come back!  AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

HERE COME THE RIOTERS!!!

Terry

[ahinton]

Run, run far far away, and never come back!  AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

HERE COME THE RIOTERS!!!

Terry

I'm not quite sure what that means but, in more general terms, there must be far more such pieces than there are people who don't want to hear them again, regardless of what they may be or who their composers are.

The only difference I can perceive here is the extent to which anyone may at times be forced to listen to all or parts of pieces which they would rather not hear again; in this case, of course, no one who does not like listening to OC needs to do so, whereas there are certain works by other composers which one may encounter frequently while waiting on the phone to speak to someone, being elevated in an elevator, or in a retail environment, airport, or whatever - or maybe when one is obliged to teach such a piece or listen to it in a competition or audition environment -  irrespective of whether one may "want" to hear them. Other than in such circumstances as these, it would seem difficult to ascribe any genuinely informative importance to each individual's personal preferences or otherwise at any given time, unless some kind of majority view on certain pieces happens to emerge from an enquiry such as this one (hardly a likely scenario, I would imagine).

Best,

Alistair

Apart from discussion of that

[dinosaurtales]

Well, now my curiosity is peaked.  I know nothing about Sorabji, or O.C., but now I am dying to hear it, and get the music, if for no other reason that to see what all the fuss is about!  I think OC gets as much air time as La Campanella! 

[xvimbi]

Well, now my curiosity is peaked.  I know nothing about Sorabji, or O.C., but now I am dying to hear it, and get the music, if for no other reason that to see what all the fuss is about! 

As far as I can tell, the score that is floating around is riddled with errors, so it doesn't really represent the piece. You'd have to buy a proper version ($$$). And, the recordings that are available apparently completely butcher the piece. So, at the moment, the piece cannot properly be judged and evaluated. Even if you had a good score, you'd have to play the piece yourself to find out more about it. Good luck with that. What concerns me, proper discussion of the OC must be deferred until one has a good score AND a good recording. Everything up until now seems to be rather malinformed guesswork. But I might be wrong.

[chopintod]

Well, now my curiosity is peaked.  I know nothing about Sorabji, or O.C., but now I am dying to hear it, and get the music, if for no other reason that to see what all the fuss is about!  I think OC gets as much air time as La Campanella! 

Check out this topic: (has pieces of the song played by a computer, thanks to John Carey)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,12002.0.html

Or here: (general information on Sorabji)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,7782.0.html

What about here: (discussion about finding Sorabji scores)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11843.0.html

Try here too: (discussion concerning OC recordings)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11314.0.html

There are many other places to find information here; do a search on Sorabji if you want more information.

Terry

[ahinton]

As far as I can tell, the score that is floating around is riddled with errors, so it doesn't really represent the piece. You'd have to buy a proper version ($$$). And, the recordings that are available apparently completely butcher the piece. So, at the moment, the piece cannot properly be judged and evaluated. Even if you had a good score, you'd have to play the piece yourself to find out more about it. Good luck with that. What concerns me, proper discussion of the OC must be deferred until one has a good score AND a good recording. Everything up until now seems to be rather malinformed guesswork. But I might be wrong.

Not "wrong", exactly, but it is fair to say that the score is by no means a mess; it has proved satisfactory for Mr Powell to use as text from which to prepare his performances so, although it is not ideal, it serves well as a legible document which is 98+% accurate. Had the composer's "working copy" publication been as error-ridden as some people seem to assume it to be, we would not even have thought of supplying it; as it is, we have supplied hundreds of them over the years, including many to those who have the existing recordings and no one has complained to us so far. Of course we would like a brand new edition, but in the editorial work that we have encouraged, we have tended to prioritise those works which have previously existed only in ms. form - a sensible stance, we think.

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

Check out this topic: (has pieces of the song played by a computer, thanks to John Carey)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,12002.0.html

Or here: (general information on Sorabji)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,7782.0.html

What about here: (discussion about finding Sorabji scores)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11843.0.html

Try here too: (discussion concerning OC recordings)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,11314.0.html

There are many other places to find information here; do a search on Sorabji if you want more information.

Terry

Fine on all counts - but, better still, why not just get the information from once source by writing to us at
sorabji-archive@lineone.net

Best,

Alistair

[JCarey]

Everything up until now seems to be rather malinformed guesswork. But I might be wrong.

Well, I have studied the score extensively, and have even entered movements of it into my computer to hear what it sounds like. So I have a pretty good idea as to what it's like.

dnosaurtales, some time, I might make a thread dedicated to my computer's recordings of the OC. Then you can hear what it's like.

In the meantime, you should check out Sorabji's other music, all of which is available on Amazon.com. Here is what I recommend:


In the Hothouse -

You don't even need to buy a CD to listen to this. Go here - https://www.sorabji.com/sound/piano/hothouse.ram. This is typical of Sorabji's slower, dreamier music.

Fantasie Espagnole -

I suggest you listen to this before anything else by Sorabji. It is almost like Debussy/Ravel, yet it also gives one a faint idea of what Sorabji's general style is. The themes are catchy, something that isn't really true of his later works.

Le Jardin Parfume -

This is arguably one of the beautiful pieces I've ever heard. Every time I listen to it, I feel like I'm in another world. I can't even describe the beauty of this piece, so I'll leave it to you. I doubt you'll be disappointed. Also it's based on the erotic text The Perfumed Garden, which is, by itself, an interesting read.

Gulistan -

Another nocturne. Beauty melodies throughout.

Sonata #1 -

A beautiful piece, but it takes a bit of getting used to. It's a lot like late Scriabin.


After you've listened to these, then you can move on to:


Toccata #1 -

Very beautiful, not a typical toccata. It has the same atmosphere as certain movements of the OC.

Sonata #4 -

Over two hours long, but incredibly beautiful. I suggest you listen to this last, however, because you might not like it if you aren't aquainted with Sorabji's style.

https://www.michaelhabermann.com/sounds/_index.html

Two fascinating interviews with pianist, Michael Habermann, about Sorabji and his music.

Enjoy,
John Carey

[JCarey]

Or here: (general information on Sorabji)
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,7782.0.html

Haha, oh yes, that was my topic, back when I was still "Ludwig Van Rachabji".

Ahh, memories.

[prometheus]

Fantasie Espagnole, Le Jardin Parfume and Gulistan sound very different from the sonatas I know and from OC.

Those first three are very impressionistic while the OC is a mix of Bach, Schoenberg and Scriabin (or maybe (Busoni+Reger+X-factor)^2 ). The impressionistic music sounds, like Nightscape somewhere said, like a mix of Scriabin, Ravel and Schoenberg, which is still quite different.

The sonatas sound a lot more like OC, not impressionistic. I think most people that love piano will and are willing to explore music like this will like the impressionistic/dreamy pieces. They may still be unpractically long and longwinded though. The OC is relatively a rather blunt display of the mastery of baroque forms. It has some of the most amazing fugues in the history of music.

So there is a big difference between those pieces as far as I am concerned. And I have the feeling that his songs for soprano are going to be entirely different from these two styles too, though this is pure speculation since I do not know anything about them. Maybe Alistair can tell us something about those works.

I heard Sorabji is also a great orchestrator. Still so much to be discovered here.