Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji 14 august 1892 15 october 1988 born leon dudley sorabji was an english composer, music journalist, and pianist. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji british composer britannica. As a homosexual and feeling alienated from english society, he was. Pastiche for piano on kaikhosru shapurji sorabji op. A fair amount of inaccurate information about his life and music has been written, largely because of his insistence on privacy and his reluctance to divulge information about himself. Dissertation prepared for the degree of doctor of musical arts. He was one of the 20th centurys most prolific piano composers. Opus clavicembalisticum isnt actually the longest piano work in existence sorabji wrote several longer, but so far they havent been performed or recorded. Vladimir horowitzs piano paraphrases based on bizets opera. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use. This study focuses on a comparative analysis of two piano paraphrases. Frivolous variations with an anarchic, heretical, and perverse fugue. His magnum opus, the opus clavicembalisticum, still inspires awe and not a little fear in the hearts of all sane pianists, and remains his most infamous work geoffrey douglas madge recorded this on bis cd10624. S piano music habermann kaikhosro shapurji sorabji is known as a composer whose pursuit of extremes resulted in vast works such as his opus clavicembalisticum which, for many years, was acknowledged as the worlds longest nonrepetitive piano work.
As a composer and pianist, sorabji was largely selftaught, and he distanced himself from the main currents of contemporary musical. In terms of general technical difficulty, the easiest of sorabjis piano works are in chronological order but in no particular order of difficulty sonata no. The closing four pages are as cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything ive ever done the harmony bites like nitric acid, the opus clavicembalisticum clavice,balisticum like the mills of god petersburg and, inhe embarked on a tour with it to include. She studied for a law degree at somerville college, oxford, 188993, the first woman to sit the law exams in the country. Only the piano part written 193031 was completed, yet it is one of sorabjis longest piano compositions of all and has been described as selfsufficient. Rightclick to download high resolution sample page. I play pastiche on the hindu merchants song from sadko by rimskykorsakov from three pastiches for piano kss31 composed by kaikhosru shapurji sorabji. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji, original name leon dudley, born aug. Oct 24, 2018 unsourced material may clavicembalusticum challenged and removed.
Aug 25, 2010 that said, copies of all of his scores and known published literary writings are available from the sorabji archive in uk, either in paper form or as. Kaikhosru sorabji symphonic variations for piano and. There are traces of the lateromantic harmonic language. As with habermanns previous three sorabji discs, the present recital offers several sides of the composer. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji, eccentric english composer known for his complex musical works combining free rhythms, elements of asiatic melodic construction, and european polyphonic structures. It is also, thanks to the promethean commitment of john ogden, the most accomplished and convincing of the.
Cornelia sorabji was an indian parsee christian who is seen as indias first female barrister although she was never technically called to the english bar. You can hear jonathan powell play some of them, with much more sorabji besides, at the links below. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji free downloadable sheet music. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Reproductions of manuscripts in printed sources and library. The work bearing the name symphony ii for piano, large orchestra, organ, final chorus, and six solo voices was intended as an orchestral work. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji was one of the great individuals of music. That said, copies of all of his scores and known published literary writings are available from the sorabji archive in uk, either in paper form or as. He wrote millions of notes, mostly for solo piano on anything up to seven staves, and most of them are still unheard.
But this composer is famously expansive, in method and timescale. Permalinks to images in public collections are given when applicable using tag image. List of compositions by kaikhosru shapurji sorabji wikipedia. Unsourced material may clavicembalusticum challenged and removed. But it seems to me that that the heights to which sorabji takes what scriabin left behind, renders the latter something of a humble footnote. Dudley was of parsi, sicilian, and spanish descent and spent most of his life in england. Despite standing first in university examinations at the deccan. There are traces of the lateromantic harmonic language characterizing sorabjis earliest keyboard essays imagine cyril scott or arnold bax with extra padding, but the fourth sonatas polytonal, polytextural, polyeverything surface style is more in keeping with the composers subsequent largescale piano opus, the betterknown opus. At just short of five hours in length this is by no means kaikhosru sorabjis 18921988 shortest solo piano work, but it is, for better or worse, the longest for which we have a recording available.
Doctor of musical arts performance, december 2014, 37 pp. Born to an english mother and a parsi indian father, sorabji expressed a sense of otherness early in his life. Only two pianists have essayed the complete oc as its known in the trade since the composer premiered it in 1930. His name, on his birth certificate, is dudley sorabji, but he changed it to kaikhosru shapurji sorabji, and under that name has published 15 compositions and two books of musical essays, has written musical criticisms for the english weekly and the new age. Comparative analysis of the musical distortion in kaikhosru. Michael habermann made the first, and in many respects the best commercial recordings devoted to kaikhosru sorabjis ridiculously difficult and overwrought piano works. Piano transcriptions of ravel bach chopin, an album by kaikhosru sorabji on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. Paper copies or pdf files of all of sorabjis manuscripts can be obtained from the sorabji archive. Opus clavicembalisticum by kaikhosru sorabji on spotify.
Sep 23, 2017 i play pastiche on the hindu merchants song from sadko by rimskykorsakov from three pastiches for piano kss31 composed by kaikhosru shapurji sorabji. Free download or read online manuneethi sadhagam tamil pdf book from the category of alphabet m. Ernest christopher dowson 18671900, spleen, in the poems of ernest dowson, with a memoir by arthur symons, four illustrations by aubrey beardsley and a portrait by william rothenstein london and new york. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji 18921988, the englishparsee composer, will probably always be remembered for his pursuit of extremes. Michael habermann made the first, and in many respects the best commercial recordings devoted to kaikhosru sorabji s ridiculously difficult and overwrought piano works. He completed over 100 pieces between 1915 and 1984. In contrast to sorabjis first three singlemovement piano sonatas, the 1929 sonata no. Symphonic variations for piano and orchestra solo piano version after chopins sonata no. These compositions idiomatically distort the original material in a manner that was not explored up to the moment of their respective conception. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji 18921988 did write miniatures. Kaikhosru sorabji albums, pictures naxos classical music.
Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji was one of the most interesting figures among classical composers of the twentieth century. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji was born leon dudley sorabji in chingford, essex now greater london. Several of his works are of extraordinary length and difficulty, making them inaccessible to many pianists. Opus clavicembalisticum sheet music opus clavicembalisticum sheet music pdf pdf. Most of his piano works are written on three or more staves employing textures and rhythmic combinations that have to be seen to be believed. Kss84 messa alta sinfonica 195561 piano and orchestra. Given a piece of music, it is interesting to count how many times each of the individual twelve musical notes is played, and understand their relative weight, or importance, in the piece. Its certainly a time investment but not perhaps quite the financial one that you appear to imply. All three of these symphonies are cast in three movements, the first playing for a little under 2 hours, the second for around. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji born leon dudley sorabji. Opus clavicembalisticum, an album by kaikhosru sorabji on spotify. This morning i am going to talk to you about a very strange person, whether you regard him as a man or as a musician. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji 14 august 1892 15 october 1988 ne leon dudley sorabji was an english composer whose father was of parsi origin.
I was not sorrowful poem for voice and piano spleen between 1917 and 1919. The hystogmam below is the result of such an analysis perfoemed on sorabji etude no. Few of sorabjis works are other than difficult to perform, but then there is difficulty and difficulty and no one in hisher right mind would pretend that the brahms or rakhmaninov concerti, the chopin etudes, the liszt sonata, some of beethovens sonatas and many tens of thousands of other works involving the piano are not also difficult. Sample pages from david cartess edition of the jami symphony and an audio file of the twentyminuteslong second movement in a computer rendition. Reproductions of manuscripts in printed sources and. This study focuses on a comparative analysis of two piano paraphrases, pastiche on habanera from carmen by kaikhosru sorabji and variations on a theme from bizets carmen by vladimir horowitz. Hungarian rhapsody no 2 piano pdf, chicken margherita healthy choice recipe, print and download in pdf or midi hungarian rhapsody no. Kevin bowyer has prepared excellent critical editions of all three which are available as paper copies or. Active society for the propagation of contemporary music 10031936 john tobin piano iopus clavicembalisticum is a solo piano piece composed by. Kaikhosru shapurji sorabji 18921988 was the son of a parsi civil engineer from mumbai and an english soprano.
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