the music of K.S. Sorabji

[ahinton]

A colleague in Germany tells me that this CD is already available there, from which information I can only conclude that release dates are different in different countries.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Trust the Germans to get it first.

Not satisfied with every sun lounger in the World, they now get the Sorabji first as well.

Thal

[gep]

A colleague in Germany tells me that this CD is already available there, from which information I can only conclude that release dates are different in different countries.

Best,

Alistair

I have seen the CD on the jpc website (release date 17/7 I think), but it is not yet on the BIS site. Does that colleague actually have the CD? Else it's perhaps as yet only available to (pre)order, not yet to have.

Not satisfied with every sun lounger in the World, they now get the Sorabji first as well.

I detect some envy?
Lounging in the sun with some Sorabjian nocturne music in my ears, aahhhh, bliss.. (bliss, that is, not Bliss!)

gep

[ahinton]

I have seen the CD on the jpc website (release date 17/7 I think), but it is not yet on the BIS site. Does that colleague actually have the CD? Else it's perhaps as yet only available to (pre)order, not yet to have.

Yes - and he's listened to it, as you'll discover if you look at the forum!...

Best,

Alistair

[pies]

hintawn, what do you think of Noda's interpretations of Leon's works?

[pies]

a

[ahinton]

thanks for the Rosario score

You're welcome.

Best,

Alistair

[pies]

a

[ahinton]

Looking through the score, I realized how much crazier the piece actually is than I originally thought.  I have no idea how Powell can manage to play stuff like this.  I'm a horrible pianist. 

I wouldn't worry too much about that, if I were you; most of us are arguably "horrible pianists" compared to Jonathan Powell (except people like me, that is - but that's only because I'm not a pianist at all). Jonathan has undoubtedly taken to Sorabji's piano music like a duck to water and seems to be wholly unfazed by whatever Sorabji throws at him, although he has admitted that Concerto per suonare da me solo holds the most challenges and risks in the shortest space of time of any Sorabji work that he has yet played - and he finds Opus Clavicembalisticum a particularly demanding piece - although neither fact has prevented him from giving spectacularly fine performances of them; his substantial series of Sorabji recordings already include the concerto and he will doubtless also record OC once the new edition has been prepared (it's currently under way).

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

For those living in the vicinity of the beautiful old Dutch provincial capital of Maastricht (that would be 95% Germans, Belgians, Frensh and possibly Swiss too):

On Sept 18-19-20 this year there will be (again) the Musisacrum Festival in Maastricht, featuring lots of concerts in lots of places. Why post this here? Well American pianist Bobby Mitchell will give two concerts (sep19 and sep20) featuring (a.o.) Sorabji's Jardin Parfumé. Admission €5.

Info: www.musicasacramaastricht.nl

The site is most in Dutch, but there's a contact button too so I think they may understand Enlish too (plus some other languages I guess).

For those interested!

gep

[lontano]

Sorabji's music is not atonal. I have no idea from whom you may have heard otherwise, but whoever it was had, like yourself, presumably heard none of it.

Best,

Alistair

When asked I generally say Sorabji is mostly modal and leave it at that (if they don't know what modes are I just advise they look it up, and learn something in the process, or further confuse them  ).

Lontano

[lontano]

As I have said before (and I am none the wiser since I did so), I cannot at this point give you or anyone else release dates for the remainder of this series. For the record, Vol.II is due out in September this year, Vol.III and part of Vol.IV has already been recorded and the entire series will likely stretch to a total of six CDs.

Best,

Alistair

Sorry if this is a repeat, but Vol.2 of the Transcendental studies has been available in the states for a few weeks now. I bought it from www.recordsinternational.com for $22, but it might be available elsewhere for a bit less. It's another amazing set of performances of very difficult music. The study #36 is a "Prelude & Fugue" (Mano sinistra sempre sola) that is brilliant display for the l.h..

Fredrik Ullen never ceases to amaze.

Lontano

[ahinton]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but Vol.2 of the Transcendental studies has been available in the states for a few weeks now. I bought it from www.recordsinternational.com for $22, but it might be available elsewhere for a bit less. It's another amazing set of performances of very difficult music. The study #36 is a "Prelude & Fugue" (Mano sinistra sempre sola) that is brilliant display for the l.h..

Fredrik Ullen never ceases to amaze.

Lontano

It is a repeat, actually(!), but no matter; I think that this CD is now more generally available anyway. I could not agree more with your remark about Fredrik Ullén!

Best,

Alistair

[retrouvailles]

I just wish Fredrik Ullén would update his website about the new recordings! Also, it would be nice if all of those samples of the Sorabji etudes would be reposted on his site.

[ahinton]

I just wish Fredrik Ullén would update his website about the new recordings! Also, it would be nice if all of those samples of the Sorabji etudes would be reposted on his site.

Yes, indeed - I don't know what's happening about that site (other than far too little); I'll drop him a line and ask about that (and thanks for the unwitting but useful reminder to do so). Apparently, he's currently preparing Evryali; that should keep even him well preoccupied for abit...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Apparently, he's currently preparing Evryali;

Preparing it for what??

Thal

[gep]

Preparing it for what??

Thal

Serving it hot and tasty, what else!?

[ahinton]

Preparing it for what??

What is it that prompts you to ask questions to which you know well the answer before asking them? It seems to be quite a Thalibanistic trait...

Best,

Alistair

[minor9th]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but Vol.2 of the Transcendental studies has been available in the states for a few weeks now. I bought it from www.recordsinternational.com for $22, but it might be available elsewhere for a bit less. It's another amazing set of performances of very difficult music. The study #36 is a "Prelude & Fugue" (Mano sinistra sempre sola) that is brilliant display for the l.h..

Fredrik Ullen never ceases to amaze.

Lontano

My copy arrived today--yet more jaw-dropping virtuosity from Ullen. I only wish BIS had issued it in SACD. (The standard CD sounds great, but SACD provides an extra measure of realism, especially when heard over a multi-channel system.)

[lontano]

My copy arrived today--yet more jaw-dropping virtuosity from Ullen. I only wish BIS had issued it in SACD. (The standard CD sounds great, but SACD provides an extra measure of realism, especially when heard over a multi-channel system.)

In the early days of digital music, when CD standards were being argued over and eventually set, the next step for "state of the art" was pioneering the controversial idea of "over-sampling" (to catch more music than the ear can hear, just to make sure you got it all  ), and that was fine for quite some time. Then the power (but limited storage) of the modern PC and the film arts industry discovered a way to strip all those "extra bits (and then some)" of the finest digital recordings down to very manageable file size, and the MP3 revolution was born, and more recently, the same path to the future of video, has created "an acceptable minimization of all audio/video arts" for the latest generation (and their ever-shrinking a/v toys). It's been quite a ride. 

So it both amuses and leaves me with hope when I hear people still living in the maximized world of the audiophile (in which I once lived and worked). For the most part I believe my ears are still good, and I hope I may one day have the chance to hear what a true SACD CD sounds like, but I have no money for the hardware, and like Blu-Ray video, it will be a while before I ever get to see what all the fuss is there as well (I bought my first HDTV (26" LCD) just last week).

So I wish you well in your (likely slow and frustrating) search for SACD recordings of Sorabji, etc before the entire concept of audio/video-philia becomes as antiquated as the 78rpm records from which I first learned to love the "Moonlight" sonata (Paderewski performing)!   

L.

[minor9th]

In the early days of digital music, when CD standards were being argued over and eventually set, the next step for "state of the art" was pioneering the controversial idea of "over-sampling" (to catch more music than the ear can hear, just to make sure you got it all  ), and that was fine for quite some time. Then the power (but limited storage) of the modern PC and the film arts industry discovered a way to strip all those "extra bits (and then some)" of the finest digital recordings down to very manageable file size, and the MP3 revolution was born, and more recently, the same path to the future of video, has created "an acceptable minimization of all audio/video arts" for the latest generation (and their ever-shrinking a/v toys). It's been quite a ride. 

So it both amuses and leaves me with hope when I hear people still living in the maximized world of the audiophile (in which I once lived and worked). For the most part I believe my ears are still good, and I hope I may one day have the chance to hear what a true SACD CD sounds like, but I have no money for the hardware, and like Blu-Ray video, it will be a while before I ever get to see what all the fuss is there as well (I bought my first HDTV (26" LCD) just last week).

So I wish you well in your (likely slow and frustrating) search for SACD recordings of Sorabji, etc before the entire concept of audio/video-philia becomes as antiquated as the 78rpm records from which I first learned to love the "Moonlight" sonata (Paderewski performing)!   

L.

Thanks. "O.C." in multi-channel SACD would be a dream come true! I've had a standard 2-channel SACD player for three years, and I just recently converted to a multi-channel player and requisite surround equipment/speakers. The difference is night and day! 2-channel SACD sounds significantly warmer and fuller than standard CD sound, and the multi-channel opens things up even more. Now, standard CDs sound rather flat and sterile, but I know CDs in general are a dying breed, much less SACD. I plan to purchase all that I can afford so I'll have a well-stocked library.

[gep]

For those interested, this comes from Tellef Johnson:

www.opusarchimagicum.com
On November 19, 2009, the website www.opusarchimagicum.com will go “live.”
The purpose of the site is to celebrate Kaikhosru Sorabji, the composer, and one of his
most unusual, striking, and volcanic major compositions. As Sonata V (OPUS
ARCHIMAGICUM) is relatively unknown, having only been typeset only this year, the
website intends to get people acquainted with a work that has just as much potential for
equal parts admiration and notoriety as Sorabji’s OPUS CLAVICEMBALISTICUM,
which had the benefit of being published and therefore available to the public for study
since the 1930s.
Featured on the website is:
Major recorded excerpts from the work itself:
-The entire movement 2 (5:49) – “Presto: Sotto Voce Inquieto”
-Three excerpts from Movement 3 – “Punta D’Organo” [one of the most haunting ‘drone
pedal’ movements in the Sorabjian output]
-Numerous excerpts from Movement 7 – “Preludio”
-Many excerpts from Movement 8 – “Preludio Corale sopra Dies Irae”
-Entire Movement 9 – (3:20) “Cadenza”
-The concluding finale of “Fuga cinque a tre soggetti”( movement 10) and the work itself.
Original conceptual artwork from the upcoming recording itself.
A series of essays straddling diverse concerns that ultimately knit together to
explain the significance of “Sonata V - Opus Archimagicum” in Sorabji’s middleperiod
and why it stands as one of the most unique and structurally successful of his
multi-movement works.
- “Sorabji’s Piano Sonatas”
- “Sorabji and the Occult”
- “Sorabji and Dies Irae”
- “Sorabji and Bach”
- “Motivic development in Archimagicum”
- “Opus Clav, Opus Arch and Beyond”
- “The Tarot”
- “The Archmage”
- “Sorabji’s Dedication (BroMAGE)”
- “Sorabji and Busoni”
- “Sorabji and the Fugue”
- “Sorabji and the Multi-movement Mechanism and its Techniques”
- A number of hidden “easter eggs” that will require a little more investigative
forethought than just random clicks (and in the spirit of the tarot itself):
- Sorabji Piano Sonata No. 2 (studio premiere recording!!!)
- Video interview with Tellef Johnson
- Previously unseen video footage of Johnson playing excerpts from Sorabji’s Piano
Sonata No. 3, and “Punta d’Organo” from Opus Archimagicum.
- Information about the upcoming audio release of the entire OPUS
ARCHIMAGICUM, spanning six hours, scheduled for release in summer 2010 from
TOR MUSIC in a variety of audio formats new and old: Digital Download, CD,
BluRay, DVD-R/A.
- Information about upcoming, “surprise” premiere performances of
Archimagicum’s Parts 1,2,3 as T. Johnson’s directorial-film career schedule will
allow!
- And constant updates and hopefully other interactive Sorabji related media and
input from admirers and scholars of Sorabji as time moves on.

all best,
gep

[thalbergmad]

I think this is the piece that Alistair showed me when i visited the Archive a few days ago. 348 pages beautifully typeset into a modern Edition.

How someone is capable of doing that is beyond me. Perhaps his cat did it.

Thal

[gep]

I think this is the piece that Alistair showed me when i visited the Archive a few days ago. 348 pages beautifully typeset into a modern Edition.

Say what???
Well, well, well Thal, I'm most pleasantly surprised! You naughty man, you've been a secret admirer of KSS's music after all!
The edition is 434 pages I think?

How someone is capable of doing that is beyond me.

Indeed...
Now think of someone doing the Jami Symphony, or Messa Alta Sinfonica, or the complete Piano symphonies, or the complete Organ symphonies. All are underway. And then  there are the people who play it!
Wow indeed!

Perhaps his cat did it.

It is a very intelligent looking specimen, yes...

gep

[thalbergmad]

Say what???
Well, well, well Thal, I'm most pleasantly surprised! You naughty man, you've been a secret admirer of KSS's music after all!

Not yet. At the moment i am just an admirer of the people who give their time for nothing to make this music available in modern editions. Not to mention the man who distributes these works extremely cheaply compared to many other publishers.

Anyone with a horse can visit the Sorabji Archives and i am sure Alistair would love to give them a tour.

Thal

[ahinton]

Not yet. At the moment i am just an admirer of the people who give their time for nothing to make this music available in modern editions. Not to mention the man who distributes these works extremely cheaply compared to many other publishers.

Anyone with a horse can visit the Sorabji Archives and i am sure Alistair would love to give them a tour.

OK, I accept that our present location is relatively remote but fortunately the horse is not mandatory for the purpose of accessing it - which is most fortunate, considering how few people that might want to do so happen to own horses!...

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

Not yet.

Two words pregnant with possibillities...

At the moment i am just an admirer of the people who give their time for nothing to make this music available in modern editions.

Hearhear! And how much time!

Not to mention the man who distributes these works extremely cheaply compared to many other publishers.

Indeed so! And do not forget the man's unwavering willingness to help and advise or, for that matter, respond to questions and such! Something unfortunately rather rare. Even "sod off" is apparently too much effort for quite a few people or organisations who depend on people having an interest. Strange...

gep

[gep]

Quite possibly all those who are interested already know, and those who don't know don't care, but I just have to post this: 2010 IS GOING TO BE ONE AWEINSPIRING SORABJI-YEAR!

There, I've said it!

THIS SUMMER:
1. First (complete) performance of Sequentia Cyclica by Jonathan Powell
2. Two (= 2) complete performances (including WPP) of the Second Organ Symphony by Kevin Bowyer
3a. Issue (CD) of Tellef Johnson's recording of Sonata V - Opus Orchimagicum WITH additional CD with bits and pieces from other Sorabji works on similar subjects.
3b. Issue (DVD) of Tellef Johnson's peformance of Sonata III.

(everything "if all goes as planned" of course!)

Totalling some 20+ hours of unheard Sorabji music (Yeah, yeah, I know, JP has played quite a bit from SecCyc to small but very lucky audiences, and KB has played a "working performance" of OSII). I would not know any modern composer who has had some much new music presented in one year (excepting possibly Philip Glass).

me happy......

All best,
gep

[retrouvailles]

I would not know any modern composer who has had some much new music presented in one year (excepting possibly Philip Glass).

If I were to count the works on my fingers, then yes, I could think of many more, but going by the performance time, Sorabji wins of course!

[thalbergmad]

Is there a date for the Organ Symphony yet??

Thal

[ahinton]

Is there a date for the Organ Symphony yet??

Assuming you to mean the Second Organ Symphony, then yes - three such, in fact. The world première takes place on 6 June 2010 at Glasgow University Memorial Chapel, the next performance occurs on 20 June 2010 at het Orgelpark, Amsterdam as part of this year's Holland Festival and a further performance of the first movement only will be given in York Minster on 31 July 2010. Another performance of the Toccata alone from the symphony's finale may occur in August and there is also a possibility of a performance of the First Organ Symphony in October, but neither of these last two has yet been confirmed.

Jonathan Powell may possibly give a performance of Part III of Sequentia Cyclica in London before giving the world première of the complete work in Glasgow in the University Concert Hall on 18 June 2010 but this, too, has yet to be confirmed.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Jolly good, sounds like a trip to Amsterdam is in order.

I'll book me tickets.

Thal

[ahinton]

Jolly good, sounds like a trip to Amsterdam is in order.

I'll book me tickets.

You do that and go to the performance and you will likely have the added bonus of meeting up with gep!

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

You do that and go to the perforamcne and you will likely have the added bonus of meeting up with gep!

Best,

Alistair

Now, now, Alistair, I'm not only rather surprised you seem so determined to scare Thal from coming to that concert, but rather shocked that you use so crass means! Really, you should give some rather more subtle hint first, like lighting a match close to Thal's score collection while commenting on the burnabillity of old paper, or pointing a bazooka at his head while "what does this knob do?"!

Oh, admission is only €12,50, or ±GPB11!

gep

[thalbergmad]

You do that and go to the performance and you will likely have the added bonus of meeting up with gep!

Changed me mind.

Going to Glasgow

[ahinton]

Changed me mind.

Going to Glasgow

Is there a particular reason for your sudden decision to switch venues? And might you divulge it if so?

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Well, the last time I went to Amsterdam, i did something that i should not have and that i would rather not be tempted to do again.

Thal

[ahinton]

Well, the last time I went to Amsterdam, i did something that i should not have and that i would rather not be tempted to do again.

Well, we no more need to know what that was than you will either feel like telling us or have to do whatever it was again just because you happen to be in Amsterdam at the time, but the real purpose behind my question was to ascertain why you suddenly decided to travel to the Glasgow performance instead just because I happen to have mentioned that you'd be able to meet gep if you attended the Amsterdam one, so what I'm asking now is whether you might be discouraged from attending even the Glasgow one when you discover that you'll be able to meet me there?(!)...

Best,

Alistair

[gep]

Well, the last time I went to Amsterdam, i did something that i should not have and that i would rather not be tempted to do again.

Thal

Innocently walking into the area of negotiable affacetion?
Innocently walking into a coffee shop because you want coffee (that's a mistake made by more foreigners!).
Walking into a well equipped music shop thick with romantic piano scores without enough money?

[ahinton]

Innocently walking into the area of negotiable affacetion?

Sorry, gep; what's "affacetion"?

.
Walking into a well equipped music shop thick with romantic piano scores without enough money?

Ah, that's probably it!

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Innocently walking into the area of negotiable affacetion?

Innocently requesting room service.

Thal

[ahinton]

Innocently requesting room service.

Well, there's surely nothing inherently wrong with requesting it, is there? (in the sense that it is not in and of itself the same thing as subsequent partaking of the service accordingly provided) - and surely not sufficiently so in any case as to warrant a decision not to travel to Amsterdam for such a monumental and historic event which would in any case leave you little time with which to order and partake of such service?

Best,

Alistair

[pianist7]

Could someone please explain the musicality of his pieces? They put me at a loss.

[thalbergmad]

You would be better off listening to it as reading the forthcoming responses would probably take longer.

Thal

[pianist7]

maybe true

[mephisto]

Could someone please explain the musicality of his pieces? They put me at a loss.

What is music to you?
What is musicality to you?
What kind of music do you like?
What kind of music do you know?

These are all importent questions if someone would be able to "explain the musicality" of Sorabji's music to you.

How could I tell someone who thinks Mozart is dull and boring that he isn't? Most likeley they have a good reason for not liking him. You may also have a good reason for not liking Sorabji.

When that is said if you want to like Sorabji's music I would advice you to listen to some of his obvious influences and some of the composers he liked a lot.

The way I see it this includes:
Bach (he uses a lot of counterpoint in many of his pieces)
Chopin
Liszt
Alkan
Busoni
Reger
Rachmaninov
Scriabin (and others like him)
Medtner
Szymanowski
Busoni


And even if he may not have known their music ( I honestly don't know) I would reccomend:
Feinberg
Roslavets

Debussy and Ravel would probably also make his music more sensible to you.
Myaskovsky and others.

[gep]

Jolly good, sounds like a trip to Amsterdam is in order.

I'll book me tickets.

Thal

For some reason it seems I have been unable to spot you among the audience. Pity! Still, I hope you did like the performance of Organ Symphony II as much as I did!

gep

[ashtoreth]

I'm sorry. I really didn't know where to put this query. I'm new to Piano Street but was a member of the Sorabji Archive forum before it got a virus and so I'm here instead now. A quick question (and perhaps you could answer this one for me Alistair): is there any way of sending a private message to Dr. Simon Abrahams, Sorabji editor extraordinaire? Perhaps he's a member of this forum, in which case could he make himself known in a PM? Many thanks

[ahinton]

I'm sorry. I really didn't know where to put this query. I'm new to Piano Street but was a member of the Sorabji Archive forum before it got a virus and so I'm here instead now. A quick question (and perhaps you could answer this one for me Alistair): is there any way of sending a private message to Dr. Simon Abrahams, Sorabji editor extraordinaire? Perhaps he's a member of this forum, in which case could he make himself known in a PM? Many thanks

The forum is now back at last - why not try there?

Best,

Alistair

[ashtoreth]

Aha! This is excellent news indeed! I checked it yesterday but it must've been re-activated after that. Woohoo! Thanks Alistair for letting me know