is there ne way to get my hands on the opus clavicembalisticum ?

[pianoboi666]

i would like to start this piece very much and would like to know where to get it.  and also where can i hear a recording of it?

[lenny]

i would like to question your motives, your sanity, and your seriousness

[Brian Healey]

The only way to get it is to order it from the Sorabji archive. Some people have said they have found it on other sites by trading with other people, but nobody here has it to my knowledge. Lots of people have asked for it with no luck. Provided that you are serious about playing the piece, you should order an original manuscript anyway. But seriously, for the love of God............


WHY??


Peace,
Bri

[Ludwig Van Rachabji]

I have it. I got it from www.pianofiles.com. Just email somebody there who has it. But be prepared to trade something of your own, because most people there will not give you something without getting something in return.

[Brian Healey]

I have a funny feeling that pianoboi666 is actually our old friend luda888, just with a different username.


Maybe not.....


Peace,
Bri

[Da Bachtopus]

It stikes me as ironic that Sorabji wanted the piece to be for "serious musicians and serious listeners ONLY" yet for the most part it's approached as a novelty.

If you want to hear it, try to find the recording in a library - you may quickly come to regret your £40 investment!

[lenny]

The only way to get it is to order it from the Sorabji archive. Some people have said they have found it on other sites by trading with other people, but nobody here has it to my knowledge. Lots of people have asked for it with no luck. Provided that you are serious about playing the piece, you should order an original manuscript anyway. But seriously, for the love of God............


WHY??


Peace,
Bri

i have it, and i gave nothing

i guess i just have kind friends


and yes, its a waste of money to buy

[pianoboi666]

interesting responses. first off I am insane, I have heard bits and pieces of it, and i like it.  and also I have seen many of u discussing this piece, and it intrigues me.  As for Brian Haley, I have no idea who this luda888 person is but I am new to this forum, posting wise newayz, i have been reading the forum for quite some time now.


Dan

[willcowskitz]

Somehow I believe that a 4 hours long work's "message" can't be understood by hearing "bits and pieces" of it. Also, I think its pretty safe to claim that majority of people so greatly inspired by and then motivated to play Opus Clavicembalisticum are looking to play "the hardest piece in the world", not "the most beautiful piece in the world."

Anyhow, I've only got the first prelude or so as PDF if you don't have it already.

[Brian Healey]

Well, I guess there's no rule that says you have to play the whole thing. I've listened to the whole thing before (not at once), and even though I really liked it, it would be quite a challenge to sit through it for four and a half hours. The piece has movements, so why not play selections? People extract movements from larger pieces all the time. Just an idea.


Hasta la vista,
Bri

[SteinwayTony]

i would like to question your motives, your sanity, and your seriousness

Well said.

Don't waste your time.

[Etude]

i would like to start this piece very much and would like to know where to get it. and also where can i hear a recording of it?

If you really want the score for Opus Clavicembalisticum you should buy the manuscript copy from the Sorabji archive, the printed edition is full of errors.  I am about to begin saving up the £60 for it. 

I have no idea of the legibility of the manuscript, but if it can be read at all, it should be more reliable than the printed edition which frankly is a waste of paper.

If you want to bother wasting money on a recording go to www.amazon.com and order either Geoffrey Douglas Madge's recording, or John Ogdon's recording.  Both are said to be terrible, but it's unfortunately all we have at the moment, so please use whichever recording you buy as a rough guide only. 

You can hear some one-minute samples of Madge's Opus Clavicembalisticum at https://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2000/06/ppsorab1.htm but you will need realplayer.

I have also come across an incomplete list of errors found in Opus Clavicembalisticum here.
 
good luck! 

[allchopin]

I think I can help -
ftp://64.229.112.249
Click on upload and you should find the full score there.

Good luck.

[SteinwayTony]

Oh, you just had to post the score!  See, now you got me all curious.  Thanks for the score, allchopin!

 

[lostinidlewonder]

Urrg i just looked at the sheet music and i cant even read it lol. What the hell is this lol. Im so interested thanks for posting the sheet for it. We shoudl all try to make a complete recording of it. play parts each eheh. what do you think??? anyone willing to do bits? lol

[SteinwayTony]

Dream on; this makes Mahler look like Chopsticks.

Except, you know, Mahler wrote...good music.

[lenny]

sorabji wrote good music, and this isnt his greatest

actually if youre looking to learn the hardest piece, soranji also wrote a 9 hour work thats, as youd imagine, twice as hard.

[opusclavicem]

sorabji wrote good music, and this isnt his greatest

actually if youre looking to learn the hardest piece, soranji also wrote a 9 hour work thats, as youd imagine, twice as hard.

but thats with orchestra isn't it?

[soliloquy]

Dream on; this makes Mahler look like Chopsticks.

Except, you know, Mahler wrote...good music.

FUCKKKKK da azserbic vit of da zteinvaytonah makes a ghoztly reappearance

[soliloquy]

but thats with orchestra isn't it?

No, the Symphonic Variations do not actually include an orchestra.  Also, the Opus Archimagicum is more difficult than the OC, and the Sequentia Cyclica Super "Dies Irae" ex Missa pro Defunctis is both longer and more difficult.

[indutrial]

Symphonic Variations is 484 pages of manuscript and approximately 9 hours in length. Sorabji did arrange the first 25% of this piece for piano/orchestra.

None of his piano "symphonies" require orchestras either. Interestingly enough, he's got eight piano concertos and several piano/orchestra works that don't seem to have come under the same scrutiny that his solo works usually receive.

[opusclavicem]

 Interestingly enough, he's got eight piano concertos and several piano/orchestra works that don't seem to have come under the same scrutiny that his solo works usually receive.

Thats a good thing right??

[indutrial]

Thats a good thing right??

Um, not really. I'm sure they are every bit as interesting as the other works from the same period. Ideally, all of his work will someday be typeset and widely available. I don't think it's ever necessary for the work of a well-regarded composer to stay off the radar.

[opusclavicem]

Um, not really. I'm sure they are every bit as interesting as the other works from the same period. Ideally, all of his work will someday be typeset and widely available. I don't think it's ever necessary for the work of a well-regarded composer to stay off the radar.

true

[ahinton]

No, the Symphonic Variations do not actually include an orchestra.

True but also not true. The work exists in two versions; one for piano and the other for piano and orchestra. The solo one came first. It appears that, at the time Sorabji began it, he had intended to write a work for piano and orchestra but in the end it came out as a work for piano solo. He later revisited it and created a different work for piano and iorchestra comprising an orchestral introduction followed by the theme and selected variations form the earlier work, this time for piano and orchestra. Both versions are currently being typeset.

Also, the Opus Archimagicum is more difficult than the OC, and the Sequentia Cyclica Super "Dies Irae" ex Missa pro Defunctis is both longer and more difficult.

Is that true. Who can say? Only a pianist that has played all three, I imagine - and, to date, there is no such pianist. Both of those works are indeed longer than OC but their respective levels of difficulty for the performer will inevitably vary from pianist to pianist. Perhaps they are harder than OC; I wouldn't like to conjecture, really.

Best,

Alistair