SORABJI -- Fantaisie Espagnole (1919)

[JCarey]

Hi all! It's been quite some time since I've posted here, but it struck me recently that with all the discussion regarding the elusive Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji on this forum throughout the years, virtually no one here has posted recordings of themselves performing his works; I believe this to be incredibly unfortunate, considering the volume of outstanding pianists that have shared their recordings on this forum. I posted a recording of myself playing both "In The Hothouse" and "Toccata" from Sorabji's early work Two Pieces about three years ago, and I've just discovered that that was the last time the Audition room has had a Sorabji post!

This is one of my favorite pieces by Sorabji, and I often use it as an example of one of the composer's most melodious and accessible works to those who are skeptical about his music. Despite being an early work that differs stylistically from the majority of his music to a significant extent, it nevertheless contains some of the best elements of Sorabji's music that continued to be staples of his style for years to come: an incredibly rich and original harmonic language that defies analysis, a free and improvisatory sense of form and pacing, strong elements of exoticism, and of course, moments of great complexity and dazzling virtuosity. Many who question Sorabji's abilities as a composer rarely doubt he's capable of creating truly wonderful music after hearing this piece.

As far as note accuracy is concerned, I believe there to be very few noticeable mistakes overall. However, since this was my first attempt at playing this work live (and I had only seriously begun to practice it about three months prior to the performance) some of the faster sections were not completely committed to my muscle memory; thus, this performance is not quite as fluid as it should be in the more difficult passages. However, I believe this performance to be a mostly accurate rendering of the work.

I hope you enjoy my recording; please don't hesitate to check out the rest of my YouTube channel if you have the chance, which contains a few other live performances I've given as well as quite a few of my original compositions (which can also be found on my website, along with the rest of my works -- www.johncareycomposer.com).

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I'm a big fan of Sorabji and I think you did a pretty solid job on this.

Thanks for posting.

[orangesodaking]

Wonderful. I like this piece and you did a very good job with it. Keep up the good work!!

I'll probably do Sorabji's Hindu Merchant Song Pastiche sometime down the line.

[JCarey]

Thank you both for your feedback; I'm thrilled to know that my performance appealed to you, especially since you are probably both familiar with the work. Hopefully some time in the not-too-distant future I will release another recording with significantly better audio quality; sadly, many lines and harmonies (especially in the lower register) become very muddy, especially after I compressed the file for YouTube. Glad to know this did not significantly detract from your enjoyment of the piece!

I'll probably do Sorabji's Hindu Merchant Song Pastiche sometime down the line.

Please do! That piece is gorgeous (and also quite accessible for most audiences), and more people should have the opportunity to hear this music!

I have also found that learning Sorabji's music is perhaps the best thing I have ever done for my technique as a pianist. I can honestly say that, after learning this piece, the 1920 Toccata, In the Hothouse, Quasi Habanera, and about half of the Sonata No. 1 (which I will surely post a recording of here when I find a good opportunity to program it), I now find virtually no piece in the standard repertoire intimidating... which is, needless to say, a wonderful feeling!

And the best thing about learning Sorabji's music is... it's REALLY fun. Not just to perform either; it's probably some of the must enjoyable music (for me at least) to practice as well. Perhaps it's the sense of accomplishment that accompanies every small triumph, or maybe its just the fact that it's refreshing to play something that is so different from the majority of other piano repertoire. Whatever the reason, practicing Sorabji's music is not nearly as tedious or frustrating as one might expect by looking at the scores; the music actually fits under the hands a lot easier than one would initially think. If there's anything that might be annoying for many pianists, it's the fact that Sorabji scores almost never provide fingerings, which sometimes can take quite a bit of time to work out.

Anyway, I guess my point is: if you've ever considered learning a Sorabji piece but have found yourself putting it off continuously, please don't hesitate to at least give it a try. You might find (as I did) that, with the right attitude, it's not nearly as daunting as you once thought it to be.

Thanks again for listening. Any further feedback is greatly appreciated!

[orangesodaking]

I'm worried I would get too frustrating trying to learn it, because my sight-reading skills are not excellent (I work on it and it has improved a lot, but still not where I want it).

But I'll take your word for it and try to make time down the road to try some of it.

[furtwaengler]

Great and fantastic achievement! You should not be so surprised there's not much Sorabji posted hear, as his music is such a money and time investment. I don't own a single score.

It is a pity the recording didn't get the dynamic contrasts.

[ahinton]

Great and fantastic achievement! You should not be so surprised there's not much Sorabji posted hear, as his music is such a money and time investment. I don't own a single score.

It is a pity the recording didn't get the dynamic contrasts.

It's certainly a time investment but not perhaps quite the financial one that you appear to imply; as of June last year, we have been issuing all of Sorabji's music and published literary writings as .pdf files as well as hard copies on paper and the principal reason for taking the decision to do this was cost for the purchaser - for example, it costs us more than £50 (c.$75) merely to mail a copy of the typeset edition of 100 Transcendental Studies to anywhere outside Europe. To give an example, we supply Opus Clavicembalisticum to anywhere within UK for £60 (and rather more to supply it elsewhere) whereas, in .pdf format, we charge £15; to give another, almost all Sorabji scores of less than 50 pages in total are supplied as .pdf files for £5 each. Details will be found at www.sorabji-archive.co.uk.

Congratulations indeed to John on his traversal of one of the most immediately attractive pieces from Sorabji's early years; keep up the good work! Yes, better audio quality would be a blessing and a better piano likewise, but be not discouraged! - and perhaps at some point you might care to have a look at the work's later (1933) "big brother", the Fantasia Ispanica, a multi-movement work of around an hour's duration but still shot through with the kinds of attractive and appealing Hispanicism that abound in Fantaisie Espagnole (there's a typeset score and a splendid recording of this by Jonathan Powell).

Fantaisie Espagnole is dedicated to one of Sorabji's most longstanding friends, Norman Peterkin (1886-1982); when, in 1946, Sorabji dedicated his Concerto per suonare da me solo to him, he did so, as he put it, to "take away the taste of that insipid baby-piece" (by which he meant Fantaisie Espagnole. Fantaisie Espagnole is not, however, to be underestimated and, on one of my regular visits to the composer in the latter 1970s, I could hear him practising it with not inconsiderable verve as I arrived; once in the house, he said "do you know, it's almost 60 years old now but it's really not bad!"...

One other discouraging factor used to be that most of Sorabji's scores were available only in the form of copies of the autograph ms. (and some of these are far from legible), but this is no longer the case; a fair number of them have now been edited and are presented either in neat handwritten format or (as is the case with the all the more recent editions) in typeset form (sample pages from all of his scores can be seen on the website).

Anyway, it's good to hear of your findings, John; anything that might encourage people to practise Sorabji and derive palpable benefit from it can only be a good thing!

Best,

Alistair

[JCarey]

Thank you for your feedback!

It is a pity the recording didn't get the dynamic contrasts.

Yes, this is quite unfortunate. It's quite amazing to me that the recording device did not seem to capture even the slightest variation in volume or timbre... and then, of course, the additional compression I had to apply to make this feasible to upload further exacerbated the problem.

It's certainly a time investment but not perhaps quite the financial one that you appear to imply; as of June last year, we have been issuing all of Sorabji's music and published literary writings as .pdf files as well as hard copies on paper and the principal reason for taking the decision to do this was cost for the purchaser - for example, it costs us more than £50 (c.$75) merely to mail a copy of the typeset edition of 100 Transcendental Studies to anywhere outside Europe. To give an example, we supply Opus Clavicembalisticum to anywhere within UK for £60 (and rather more to supply it elsewhere) whereas, in .pdf format, we charge £15; to give another, almost all Sorabji scores of less than 50 pages in total are supplied as .pdf files for £5 each. Details will be found at www.sorabji-archive.co.uk.

Congratulations indeed to John on his traversal of one of the most immediately attractive pieces from Sorabji's early years; keep up the good work! Yes, better audio quality would be a blessing and a better piano likewise, but be not discouraged! - and perhaps at some point you might care to have a look at the work's later (1933) "big brother", the Fantasia Ispanica, a multi-movement work of around an hour's duration but still shot through with the kinds of attractive and appealing Hispanicism that abound in Fantaisie Espagnole (there's a typeset score and a splendid recording of this by Jonathan Powell).

Fantaisie Espagnole is dedicated to one of Sorabji's most longstanding friends, Norman Peterkin (1886-1982); when, in 1946, Sorabji dedicated his Concerto per suonare da me solo to him, he did so, as he put it, to "take away the taste of that insipid baby-piece" (by which he meant Fantaisie Espagnole. Fantaisie Espagnole is not, however, to be underestimated and, on one of my regular visits to the composer in the latter 1970s, I could hear him practising it with not inconsiderable verve as I arrived; once in the house, he said "do you know, it's almost 60 years old now but it's really not bad!"...

One other discouraging factor used to be that most of Sorabji's scores were available only in the form of copies of the autograph ms. (and some of these are far from legible), but this is no longer the case; a fair number of them have now been edited and are presented either in neat handwritten format or (as is the case with the all the more recent editions) in typeset form (sample pages from all of his scores can be seen on the website).

Anyway, it's good to hear of your findings, John; anything that might encourage people to practise Sorabji and derive palpable benefit from it can only be a good thing!

Best,

Alistair

Thank you for your comments Alistair. I think providing the scores in .pdf format was an outstanding idea; I really hope that The Sorabji Archive has enjoyed an increase in sales since this decision was implemented! I know there are quite a few scores I've had my eye on for a while that I happily realized I could afford once they were offered in .pdf format. Hopefully this will encourage more individuals to not only explore this incredible music, but also typeset the scores currently available only in ms.

By the way, I've recently developed an intense desire to typeset one of Sorabji's pieces myself, and would love some advice on the matter... for example, which scores (if any) do you feel are of high priority to be typeset right now (that are not already being tended to, of course). I am also open to producing a new edition of a previously existing typeset score if that would be helpful. I started working on Sorabji's Piano Concerto No. 2 (meaning the one from 1917), but ceased work on the project when it occurred to me that there would probably be relatively little interest in this work without the existence of the orchestral parts. If you think this conclusion is wrong and there would be at least some value in having this work typeset, however, I will gladly get back to work. I can post a snippet or two of some of the work I've already done if anyone is interested.

[ahinton]

Thank you for your comments Alistair.

You're very welcome.

I think providing the scores in .pdf format was an outstanding idea; I really hope that The Sorabji Archive has enjoyed an increase in sales since this decision was implemented! I know there are quite a few scores I've had my eye on for a while that I happily realized I could afford once they were offered in .pdf format. Hopefully this will encourage more individuals to not only explore this incredible music, but also typeset the scores currently available only in ms.

One can but hope! The preference to have them in paper format still persists and, to some extent, I can well understand that; however, it is still far cheaper for people to print off .pdf files and have them bound as we do here than to buy scores and have to pay exorbitant mailing charges, especially in the case of scores being sent to addresses outside Europe.

By the way, I've recently developed an intense desire to typeset one of Sorabji's pieces myself, and would love some advice on the matter... for example, which scores (if any) do you feel are of high priority to be typeset right now (that are not already being tended to, of course). I am also open to producing a new edition of a previously existing typeset score if that would be helpful. I started working on Sorabji's Piano Concerto No. 2 (meaning the one from 1917), but ceased work on the project when it occurred to me that there would probably be relatively little interest in this work without the existence of the orchestral parts. If you think this conclusion is wrong and there would be at least some value in having this work typeset, however, I will gladly get back to work. I can post a snippet or two of some of the work I've already done if anyone is interested.

Please do. Please also write to me direct at sorabji-archive@lineone.net about this. Piano Concerto No. 2 (which is known to exist only in a 2-piano version, as you no doubt realise) is currently being edited by someone else. Details of the scores which have already been edited are in the brochure on the archive website but I can send you a copy directly via email to save you looking these up. As you will see, most of the piano music has been taken care of other than some of the really massive pieces and a few of these are already in progress anyway, but we can discuss this.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

Welcome back old chap. 6 1/2 years is too long a break.

Luv

Thal

[JCarey]

Hey there Thal! Yes, that is a somewhat extreme length of time to disappear, but I decided that if I really wished to achieve what I aspired to artistically and professionally, it was necessary to put my ego aside and, in a manner of speaking, conform to the ways of "the system"... that is, pursuing a degree in composition, in less dramatic terms.

Fortunately, this ended up being one of the best decisions of my life! I've become more prolific than ever and have finally developed the musical "voice" that I've been envisioned for many years. As I seem to remember you enjoying the earlier works I posted 6+ years ago, I'd love to know what you think of my more recent endeavors. They are decidedly less conservatively Romantic than my earlier output, but they are nevertheless still in a style that I think you would find relatable. The Viola Concerto is my finest achievement to date, but if you're looking for something in a more traditionally tonal idiom, check out my https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yziRvrst_L4[/youtube]"]Fantasy for Two Pianos, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wYDR4ABKmg[/youtube]"]Violin Sonata, or Sonata for Cello and Harp.

[thalbergmad]

I will check these out old chap.

It sounds like your break was a good idea. I have found that typing crap into this place is not really musically productive. I tried to leave once but only lasted 3 months.

Thal

[davidjosepha]

Ah, so this is the music everyone always gets in a tizzy over. Very nice performance! I found it very fun to listen to. Although the sheet music looks quite insane, it doesn't actually sound anywhere near as weird as most people here make it sound, although perhaps that's because you selected, as you said, one of his more accessible works. Very nice performance, I hope you can record it again with better audio at some point. Still, very nice.

[JCarey]

Ah, so this is the music everyone always gets in a tizzy over. Very nice performance! I found it very fun to listen to. Although the sheet music looks quite insane, it doesn't actually sound anywhere near as weird as most people here make it sound, although perhaps that's because you selected, as you said, one of his more accessible works. Very nice performance, I hope you can record it again with better audio at some point. Still, very nice.

Thank you, thank you! You are right in concluding that this piece is not indicative of the astonishingly complex works he would later compose (many of which exceeding three hours in length).

Sonata No. 5:



Opus Clavicembalisticum:





Gullistan:



Which is not to say, of course, that Sorabji became incapable of composing "simple" music, as this passage from Opus Clavicembalisticum illustrates:



Sections such as this contain some of Sorabji's most gorgeous and ethereal music, and the contrast between these two extremes is one of the major aspects of Sorabji's music that makes it so incredibly powerful.

So, to address your original point, though Fantaisie Espagnole is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, when compared to the majority of Sorabji's later output the difficulties are rather miniscule. I hope to someday learn one of Sorabji's major works (of which the solo concerto, with it's modest length of one hour, seems to be the most likey candidate), but I do intend to learn a good portion of his smaller scale works before even considering such a feat.

[ahinton]

Thank you, thank you! You are right in concluding that this piece is not indicative of the astonishingly complex works he would later compose (many of which exceeding three hours in length).

Sonata No. 5:



Opus Clavicembalisticum:





Gullistan:



Which is not to say, of course, that Sorabji became incapable of composing "simple" music, as this passage from Opus Clavicembalisticum illustrates:



Sections such as this contain some of Sorabji's most gorgeous and ethereal music, and the contrast between these two extremes is one of the major aspects of Sorabji's music that makes it so incredibly powerful.

So, to address your original point, though Fantaisie Espagnole is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, when compared to the majority of Sorabji's later output the difficulties are rather miniscule. I hope to someday learn one of Sorabji's major works (of which the solo concerto, with it's modest length of one hour, seems to be the most likey candidate), but I do intend to learn a good portion of his smaller scale works before even considering such a feat.

For some reason, the files that you've posted do not display. I should perhaps also point out that, whilst there are indeed some lengthy and complex works by Sorabji, Gulistan isn't one of them! - it's complex texturally much of the time, for sure, but it plays for only around 35 minutes and has been recorded three times (by Michael Habermann, Charles Hopkins and Jonathan Powell).

The issues of the length, complexity and difficulty of Sorabji's works and the cost of acquisition of their scores clearly continue to exercise some people still and therefore deserve to be put into proper perspective in order that such people are less discouraged by it; with this in mind, I will shortly prepare some notes on this and post them in the Repertoire section.

Best,

Alistair

[davidjosepha]

For some reason, the files that you've posted do not display.

He tried to embed .tiff files, which is an image type that apparently cannot be embedded on these forums. If you haven't realized this already, and would like to see them, you can view them at...
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji1.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji2.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji3.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji4.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji5.tiff
You may have to download them in order to view them.

[ahinton]

He tried to embed .tiff files, which is an image type that apparently cannot be embedded on these forums. If you haven't realized this already, and would like to see them, you can view them at...
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji1.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji2.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji3.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji4.tiff
https://johncareycomposer.com/sorabji5.tiff
You may have to download them in order to view them.

Thank you very much for this. I didn't have to download them, actually; I could simply view them.

Best,

Alistair

[JCarey]

For some reason, the files that you've posted do not display. I should perhaps also point out that, whilst there are indeed some lengthy and complex works by Sorabji, Gulistan isn't one of them! - it's complex texturally much of the time, for sure, but it plays for only around 35 minutes and has been recorded three times (by Michael Habermann, Charles Hopkins and Jonathan Powell).

The issues of the length, complexity and difficulty of Sorabji's works and the cost of acquisition of their scores clearly continue to exercise some people still and therefore deserve to be put into proper perspective in order that such people are less discouraged by it; with this in mind, I will shortly prepare some notes on this and post them in the Repertoire section.

Best,

Alistair

I did not mean to suggest (though I can certainly see how my above post might be misconstrued in such a manner) that Gullistan is in any way especially difficult, lengthy, or complex when compared to Sorabji's catalogue of piano works as a whole. However, I do think (though I don't play the piece myself, making my comments here mostly speculative) that it is in a different category of difficulty than most of his other pieces under 40 minutes in length. As far as I can see, the real challenges in this work are related to the fact that it contains such complexity (nearly every page of Gullistan is as dense and intricate as the example I posted, with a few exceptions), yet rarely exceeds the dynamic level of piano; then, within that very narrow dynamic range, the pianist must then bring out the melodies and countermelodies above all the other "business," and shape and interpret them in an expressive manner. It is true that this could perhaps be said of all of Sorabji's nocturne-type works, but I do believe that Gullistan is (barring those found within the context of a larger work, such as the second movements of the 4th sonata or "Concerto per suonare da me solo") Sorabji's most difficult and densely-layered work within this genre. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; perhaps I'm overestimating the difficulty of this work.

I suppose my main would be that, in terms of works I would recommend to pianists who mistakenly think that all of Sorabji's music is inhumanly difficult to the point where only a handful of pianists in the world could ever hope to play it, Gullistan would not be a work I would even remotely consider suggesting.

[ahinton]

I did not mean to suggest (though I can certainly see how my above post might be misconstrued in such a manner) that Gullistan is in any way especially difficult, lengthy, or complex when compared to Sorabji's catalogue of piano works as a whole. However, I do think (though I don't play the piece myself, making my comments here mostly speculative) that it is in a different category of difficulty than most of his other pieces under 40 minutes in length. As far as I can see, the real challenges in this work are related to the fact that it contains such complexity (nearly every page of Gullistan is as dense and intricate as the example I posted, with a few exceptions), yet rarely exceeds the dynamic level of piano; then, within that very narrow dynamic range, the pianist must then bring out the melodies and countermelodies above all the other "business," and shape and interpret them in an expressive manner. It is true that this could perhaps be said of all of Sorabji's nocturne-type works, but I do believe that Gullistan is (barring those found within the context of a larger work, such as the second movements of the 4th sonata or "Concerto per suonare da me solo") Sorabji's most difficult and densely-layered work within this genre. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong; perhaps I'm overestimating the difficulty of this work.

I suppose my main would be that, in terms of works I would recommend to pianists who mistakenly think that all of Sorabji's music is inhumanly difficult to the point where only a handful of pianists in the world could ever hope to play it, Gullistan would not be a work I would even remotely consider suggesting.

All your points are entirely fair; Gulistān (sp.!) is indeed intricate, complex and difficult, for the very reasons that you mention; it just isn't a multi-hour piece and can (and indeed has) been programmed as one half of a recital. Compared to Djami or Le Jardin Parfumé, it presents infinitely greater challenges, although a similar extended nocturne-like piece from shortly before Gulistān is The Garden of Iran from the Symphonic Variations also does so in the ways in which it seems to anticipate some of the kinds of elaborate multi-layered ornamentation and melismata of Gulistān (and is barely shorter, I'd guess).

Best,

Alistair

[JCarey]

All your points are entirely fair; Gulistān (sp.!) is indeed intricate, complex and difficult, for the very reasons that you mention; it just isn't a multi-hour piece and can (and indeed has) been programmed as one half of a recital. Compared to Djami or Le Jardin Parfumé, it presents infinitely greater challenges, although a similar extended nocturne-like piece from shortly before Gulistān is The Garden of Iran from the Symphonic Variations also does so in the ways in which it seems to anticipate some of the kinds of elaborate multi-layered ornamentation and melismata of Gulistān (and is barely shorter, I'd guess).

Best,

Alistair

Yikes! Thanks for pointing out that spelling error... I've honestly spelled it like that for years and not once has anyone corrected me!!

Are there any plans for the Symphonic Variations to be performed/recorded? I've heard the computerized rendition of the orchestral arrangement by Alberto Vignani and find the piece to be quite interesting (and considerably less densely textured in terms of orchestration that his other symphonic works) and would love an opportunity to hear either version in its entirety.

[ahinton]

Yikes! Thanks for pointing out that spelling error... I've honestly spelled it like that for years and not once has anyone corrected me!!

Are there any plans for the Symphonic Variations to be performed/recorded? I've heard the computerized rendition of the orchestral arrangement by Alberto Vignani and find the piece to be quite interesting (and considerably less densely textured in terms of orchestration that his other symphonic works) and would love an opportunity to hear either version in its entirety.

Sadly, there are no such plans at the moment. Even the orchestral version (which only traverses some of the variations in the original set for piano solo) is a 540 page score; the original version probably needs at least nine hours to perform it. To date, apart from a couple of performances in Frankfurt of Sorabji's short early piece Chaleur and the Fifth Piano Concerto played by Donna Amato and Netherlands Radio SO, none of Sorabji's orchestral scores has yet made it to the concert hall. As of a few weeks ago, however, there is a new typeset edition of the score and parts of the former by Frazer Jarvis who is now putting the finishing touches to an edition of another short Sorabji piece, Opusculum (1923). Some time ago, there was a possibility that Jonathan Powell might première Sorabji's Piano Concerto No. 7 (a three movement work of around 25 minutes' duration that calls for a small orchestra) but this has yet to bear fruit.

Best,

Alistair

[furtwaengler]

It's certainly a time investment but not perhaps quite the financial one that you appear to imply; as of June last year, we have been issuing all of Sorabji's music and published literary writings as .pdf files as well as hard copies on paper and the principal reason for taking the decision to do this was cost for the purchaser - for example, it costs us more than £50 (c.$75) merely to mail a copy of the typeset edition of 100 Transcendental Studies to anywhere outside Europe. To give an example, we supply Opus Clavicembalisticum to anywhere within UK for £60 (and rather more to supply it elsewhere) whereas, in .pdf format, we charge £15; to give another, almost all Sorabji scores of less than 50 pages in total are supplied as .pdf files for £5 each. Details will be found at www.sorabji-archive.co.uk.

I must not let time go too far before apologizing about my ignorance (not to mention my spelling...hear, here). I am pleased that this pdf option is available.  

[JCarey]

Sadly, there are no such plans at the moment. Even the orchestral version (which only traverses some of the variations in the original set for piano solo) is a 540 page score; the original version probably needs at least nine hours to perform it. To date, apart from a couple of performances in Frankfurt of Sorabji's short early piece Chaleur and the Fifth Piano Concerto played by Donna Amato and Netherlands Radio SO, none of Sorabji's orchestral scores has yet made it to the concert hall. As of a few weeks ago, however, there is a new typeset edition of the score and parts of the former by Frazer Jarvis who is now putting the finishing touches to an edition of another short Sorabji piece, Opusculum (1923). Some time ago, there was a possibility that Jonathan Powell might première Sorabji's Piano Concerto No. 7 (a three movement work of around 25 minutes' duration that calls for a small orchestra) but this has yet to bear fruit.

Best,

Alistair

It's a shame that none of the concerti (with the exception of the fifth) have been performed. I did get a chance to hear a recording of Amato playing the fifth concerto, and I found it to be an incredibly lush and dramatic piece with some truly wonderful moments. Despite their alleged immaturity, I must say that I am fascinated by the first four concerti, and would love an opportunity to hear them as well... it's a shame that most professional orchestras wouldn't even consider learning such difficult works by a relatively unknown composer. Hopefully, through encouraging more musicians to learn Sorabji's music, we can eventually make future performances of all of his pieces a reality. When one considers the DRAMATIC increase in performances and recordings of Sorabji's works (including ones that many thought would NEVER be heard, such as "Sequentia Cyclica...") and the comparatively vast amount of attention he has received in just the past two decades, the future seems very bright indeed!

[ahinton]

It's a shame that none of the concerti (with the exception of the fifth) have been performed. I did get a chance to hear a recording of Amato playing the fifth concerto, and I found it to be an incredibly lush and dramatic piece with some truly wonderful moments. Despite their alleged immaturity, I must say that I am fascinated by the first four concerti, and would love an opportunity to hear them as well... it's a shame that most professional orchestras wouldn't even consider learning such difficult works by a relatively unknown composer. Hopefully, through encouraging more musicians to learn Sorabji's music, we can eventually make future performances of all of his pieces a reality.

It is indeed a shame, although at least the scores of these works can all be obtained and perused. Those first four are all three-movement works and the single-movement fifth is quite a departure from all of them in many ways; oddly, nos. 6 and 7 which followed no. 5 at but a short distance in time are each also three-movement works closer in spirit to the first four and a handful of superficial commonalities between nos. 2, 3, 4, 6 & 7 are curious, especially given the quite different no. 5 and the stylistic and technical developments in the other works that Sorabji was writing up to the completion of no. 7. Nos. 3, 6 & 7 call for a small orchestra whereas 1 & 4 require a very large one and 5 is scored for a conventional full symphony orchestra; we do not know the forces required for no. 2 as no full socre of it is known to exist (it is curently available only in a 2-piano reduction that is currently being edited and typeset). Concertos 1-4, 6 & 7 are relatively uimmature works but well worth exploring for all that, especially given the extent to which Sorabji felt drawn to the medium of piano and orchestras opf various sizes during the first decade or so of his compositional career.

When one considers the DRAMATIC increase in performances and recordings of Sorabji's works (including ones that many thought would NEVER be heard, such as "Sequentia Cyclica...") and the comparatively vast amount of attention he has received in just the past two decades, the future seems very bright indeed!

It could always be brighter(!) but, yes, of course, we have vastly greater access to his work today, in terms both of recordings, broadcasts and performances and also of scores, increasing numbers of which are being edited and typeset.

Best,

Alistair