Attempting Sorabji

[hwhat06]

So I was listening to some Sorabji and I was wondering what a good first piece would be. I'm at the advanced level but some of the pieces that I heard were crazy. So one of his easier pieces would probably be good, unless his easier pieces are just to easy. Well, any suggestions would be great. If you all think that Sorabji pieces should be left unplayed, then please suggest a good modern piece other than Prokofiev. I'm tired of Prokofiev. Thanks

[jre58591]

i dont think there are many "playable" pieces by sorabji. i cant give as great an answer as alistair can, but ill try anyways. maybe take a look at the pastiches. oddly enough, there is one on youtube, played by sandro russo (the one after bizet). however, even those are really difficult. the only thing to do is to get the sheets and try them for yourself.

[_____]

I flicked through the Gulistan score a few times, attempted to sight read parts at random. The piece intrigues me for reasons I can't figure out.

But... no.

[soliloquy]

ahaha am also flicking through Gulistan.


Anyway....... everyone says "In the Hot House" is Sorabji's easiest piece, although I don't really think it's a very good piece of music.  Check out his Quasi-Habanera Op. 8 or his In the Light of Harpsichord technique, both recorded by Habermann, and conveniently on the same disc even :O  There are also several late pieces that are very short in length you should check into, and some of his large-scale works have movements that are entirely doable, like the 100 Transcendental Studies, the Symphonic Variations (good luck with the score on that though) and even the Opus Clavicembalisticum (first movement).  There are also some very-difficult-but-playable pieces that will be more rewarding if you're up to it (if you're BORED with Prokofiev maybe you are so might as well mention them) like the Sonata No. 1 or the Prelude, Interlude et Fugue.  There are also some transcriptions that aren't as nasty as his original works on stuff by Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov etc.

[ahinton]

ahaha am also flicking through Gulistan.


Anyway....... everyone says "In the Hot House" is Sorabji's easiest piece, although I don't really think it's a very good piece of music.  Check out his Quasi-Habanera Op. 8 or his In the Light of Harpsichord technique, both recorded by Habermann, and conveniently on the same disc even :O  There are also several late pieces that are very short in length you should check into, and some of his large-scale works have movements that are entirely doable, like the 100 Transcendental Studies, the Symphonic Variations (good luck with the score on that though) and even the Opus Clavicembalisticum (first movement).  There are also some very-difficult-but-playable pieces that will be more rewarding if you're up to it (if you're BORED with Prokofiev maybe you are so might as well mention them) like the Sonata No. 1 or the Prelude, Interlude et Fugue.  There are also some transcriptions that aren't as nasty as his original works on stuff by Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov etc.

Thre is little if anything to add to this excellent advice. The only observations I would make here are as follows (and please forgive any repetition in those that partly echo "soliloquy" here).

Many of the Frammenti Aforistichi (there are three sets, respectively of 104, 20 and 4) are simply so very aphoristic that, beyond mere intriguing gestural suggestion, they don't give a great deal of idea about what Sorabji is like when he really gets going; each needs to be performed as a complete set to make any real sense. The Ravel transcriptions (two of the Rapsodie Espagnole)are very difficult in places - occasionally impractically so (which is uncharacteristic of Sorabji); his other transcriptions - the two Bach ones from the 1940s, the Three Pastiches (1922) and Pasticcio Capriccioso (1933) and finally that of the closing scene from Strauss's Salome are all better and, although none is at all easy to play, their difficulties are never superhuman. The First Sonata is also a good choice - no walk in the park for the pianist, but a fine, if inevitably immature, piece nonetheless. In the Houthouse is fine as far as it goes, but its principal significance is that of a brief hint at the kind of far more elaborate noctural piano pieces he was later to compose. Two brief works not mentioned by "soliloquy" from the 1920s are the Fragment: Prelude and Fugue and Fragment, neither of which is especially difficult. If one is looking for a substantial (though not enormous) work of mediunm difficulty (in specifcally Sorabjian terms of difficulty, that is!), his unfinished Passacaglia in the completion by Alexander Abercrombie could be a good starting point. For shorter works that are not of transcendental difficulty, I suggest the two pieces based on stories of the supernatural by M R James - Quaere Reliqua Hujus Materiei Inter Secretiora and St Bertrand de Comminges (both from the early 1940s) and his final major work of all, Passeggiata Arlecchinesca (1981-82). I'd be inclined to steer well clear of Le Jardin Parfumé, Djami and especially Gulistan initially - wonderful as they all are - because they are extremely difficult and strenuous to play intelligently at the almost exclusively low dynamic levels that they explore - though they're well worth the trouble for the more experienced Sorabji pianist. Last but not least, let's not forget dear old Fantaisie Espagnole!...

Best,

Alistair

[dnephi]

quare reliqua something is a good suggestion, a programmatic piece.

I recommend TE #99.  :p

[ahinton]

quare reliqua something is a good suggestion, a programmatic piece.

I recommend TE #99.  :p

I just wrote that in my post immediately above!

Best,

Alistair

[hwhat06]

I never thought I would get so many answers. Well I was looking through some Sorabji pieces, and you are very right. They are not too playable. I really like the surrealism of Ravel and the impressionistic style of Debussy, but I am looking for something atonal for a few modern pieces for my repertoire. Please keep suggesting! Thanks.

Will

[mephisto]

I do not think Sorabji is atonal - Alistar can probably answer to that.

[dnephi]

I just wrote that in my post immediately above!

Best,

Alistair

Well I had another source to back me up, so it strengthens you.  Thanks, I was aware.

However, you did not suggest TE #99, which I did.

[ahinton]

I do not think Sorabji is atonal - Alistar can probably answer to that.

Of course I will! - and of course he wasn't!

By the way, I've just listened through Jonathan Powell's new CD of Concerto per suonare da me solo. The playing is utterly stunning, even by his exalted standards - and, although this three movement work clocks in at little more than an hour, it is probably one of his most difficult pieces to bring off successfully, so anyone seeking some Sorabji that's not actually transcendentally difficult might do well to put this piece at or near the very back of the list to try, although it is undoubtedly one of his more amenably attractive works to listen to.

Best,

Alistair

[soliloquy]

I never thought I would get so many answers. Well I was looking through some Sorabji pieces, and you are very right. They are not too playable. I really like the surrealism of Ravel and the impressionistic style of Debussy, but I am looking for something atonal for a few modern pieces for my repertoire. Please keep suggesting! Thanks.

Will

Sorabji's music is incredibly tonal; sometimes to the degree of fault.  Maybe you meant to say dissonant?  If you're just looking to add a couple modern pieces to your repertoire I would say that Sorabji may not be the composer to start with (may say?).  If you like the impressionistic yet violent style, look at some of the Futurists like Mosolov, Roslavets, Lourie, Rothberg, Ornstein, Protopopov or even late Scriabin etc.  There is a very nice piece by Yves Prin called Ballade pour Frederic that is post-impressionist you may be interested in also.

[ahinton]

Sorabji's music is incredibly tonal; sometimes to the degree of fault.

Do you mean to suggest that the espousal of tonality is somehow in principle "faulty"?

Best,

Alistair

[soliloquy]

Do you mean to suggest that the espousal of tonality is somehow in principle "faulty"?

Best,

Alistair

Not in principle.  Ever eaten too much ice-cream?

[ahinton]

Not in principle.  Ever eaten too much ice-cream?

No, I didn't think you did, really (I was joking, after all). Too much ice-cream? Well, I don't know how much is too much, but I do know that I'd not want specificallty to equate ice-cream with tonal expression...

Best,

Alistair

[houseofblackleaves]

How about the Fantasianettina? (Or however it's spelled....)

[Etude]

Fuga I from the OC is fairly straightforward until you get to the bit on 4 staves.