He was born , but he strongly identified with his Parsi heritage, rather than with his British birth. He explained in ''Critical Celebration'' (see below) why he changed his name.
As a critic he was loosely connected to the "New Age" Magazine group surrounding A. R. Orage . His critical publications were of concentrated bitterness, weight and sharpness, yet were wickedly funny and had an extreme mistrust of the English public taste. Among his best publications one can count essays about Busoni , Reger , Szymanowski and Bernard Van Dieren . Studies about Tantric Hinduism led him to his essay ''Metaphysical motivation in music'' and to his ''Tantrik Symphony''.
His works were influenced by Alkan , Busoni (to whom his second Piano Sonata is dedicated), Godowsky , Reger, Szymanowski, Scriabin and Delius . He was friends with Philip Heseltine ( Peter Warlock ) and became a music journalist in part because of their friendship.
His work '' Opus Clavicembalisticum '' ( 1930 ) for solo piano takes about 4.5 hours to play, and consists of three sections each divided into several movements. It was once listed in the Guinness Book Of Records as the longest piano piece ever written. However Sorabji's ''Symphonic Variations'', which occupies 500 pages of manuscript, takes even longer—about 8 hours (a similar duration to Frederic Rzewski 's work ''The Road'').
Characteristic is his use, inspired by Busoni, of baroque forms — Chorale Prelude , Passacaglia , and Fugue — with harmonies, melodies, and approaches that are not Neoclassical as usually understood.
Many details of his life were for a long time hard to come by, as Sorabji was extraordinarily reticent about his life. He was notorious for almost always refusing requests for interviews or information, often with rude messages and warnings not to approach him again. He was equally notorious for refusing permission for his works to be publicly performed.
Many pianists have decided to tackle Sorabji's enormously difficult works. Such pianists include: Michael Habermann , Donna Amato , John Ogdon , Geoffrey Douglas Madge , Jonathan Powell , Yonti Solomon and Marc-André Hamelin .
This is adapted from ''A Critical Celebration'' below, with permission, together with information from the brochure of the Sorabji Archive. Many of the manuscripts have been edited, and copies of the original manuscripts, and of the new editions, are available from the Sorabji Archive.
- ''Chaleur'', a short piece for orchestra (1917)
- ''First symphony'' for piano, organ, chorus and large orchestra (1921–22)
- ''Opusculum'', a fairly short piece for orchestra (1923)
- ''Third symphony'' "Jami" for baritone solo, wordless chorus, and large orchestra (including piano and organ) (1942–51) (Title has diacritics which are difficult to reproduce here.)
- (The second symphony, 1930–31, was intended for piano, large orchestra, organ, a final chorus and six solo voices; only the piano part was completed, though this is, in number of pages, itself longer than the Opus Clavicembalisticum and seems to be a self-sufficient work.)
- ''Messa alta sinfonica'' (Symphonic High Mass) (8 soloists, 2 choirs and orchestra.) (1955–61)
- Piano concertos (no. 1, 1915–16 to no. 8, 1927–28, some unpublished, full score of no. 2 missing. The numbering used by Rapoport ''et al.'' is based on rediscoveries and reconstructed chronology, not on the numbers given at the contemporary publications or even on the manuscript (eg. "Concerto V" written 1927–28 seems to have been the eighth in order of composition.)
- ''Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra'' (orchestrated in 1953–56 from the first book of the three-book piano work written in 1935–37)
- ''Opus clavisymphonicum — Concerto for Piano and Large Orchestra'' (1957–59)
- ''Opusculum clavisymphonicum vel claviorchestrale'' (Little Work for Keyboard and Orchestra) (1973–75)
- Many of Sorabji's earlier works are songs, usually for soprano and piano.
- Primary among these are the two piano quintets, written 1919–20 and 1932–33 (a lengthy work at 432 pages, challenging Morton Feldman 's ''String Quartet II'' for longest chamber work status). New typeset editions of all of the chamber works are available from the Sorabji Archive.
- Five sonatas (sonatas 1–5, 1919–1934-5. Also sonata '0', 1917, rediscovered posthumously)
- Six piano symphonies (Tantrik Symphony, 1938-9, Second Symphony, 1954, Third Symphony, 1959-60, Fourth Symphony, 1962-4, Symphonia brevis, 1973, Symphonia claviensis, 1975-6)
- Four numbered toccatas (Toccata, 1928; Toccata seconda, 1933-4; Toccata terza (lost); Toccata quarta, 1964-7. Also Toccata from two piano pieces, 1920 and Toccatinetta sopra C.G.F, 1929)
- '' Opus Clavicembalisticum '' (1929-30)
- ''Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra'' (1935-7) (in three books, of which the first was later orchestrated. Despite the name they are not sketches but complete piano pieces.)
- ''100 Études transcendantes'' (1940-4) (in 4 volumes)
- ''Concerto da suonare da me solo e senza orchestra, per divertirsi'' (1946)
- ''Sequentia cyclica super "Dies iræ" ex Missa pro defunctis'' (1948-9)
- Assorted shorter works
- ''Trascription in the Light of Harpsichord Technique for the Modern Piano of the Chromatic Fantasia of J.S. Bach Followed by a Fugue'', as well as a number of other transcriptions
- Three organ symphonies (1924, 1929-32, 1949-53)
Also many songs, briefer piano works, "Frammenti aforistici" (extremely brief miniatures), arrangements (one of his pastiches on Chopin 's Minute Waltz has become well-known), etc.
List of works listed above that are known to have received public or broadcast performances, and/or recordings.
There is information on performances up to its date of publication in the book ''A Critical Celebration'', in the chapter ''Un tessuto d'esecuzioni'' (named in parallel with the composer's chamber piece ''Il tessuto d'arabeschi'' (1979, for flute and string quartet and dedicated "To the Memory of Delius.") Information on premieres, again up to that date and so far as known can also be found in the entries on individual works in The "Detailed Catalog" section of the chapter called ''"Could you just send me a list of his works?"''
- Orchestral works
- ---Two performances of Chaleur have taken place in Frankfurt, in 1999 and 2000.
- Works for piano with orchestra
- ---Piano concerto no. 5 (Published as ''Concerto II pour piano et orchestre'' in 1923 by F. and B. Goodwin Ltd. of London, written in 1920. Premiered in Utrecht in March 2003, and broadcast by Radio Hilversum, Netherlands in May 2003 {Link without Title} with Donna Amato, soloist)
- Works for chamber ensemble
- ---Piano quintet no. 1 (public performance, not recorded, Chris Berg piano. String quartet known? This concert also contained the "modern premiere" of the second piano sonata, that is, its first performance since the composer had performed it in the 1920s.)
- ---''Il tessuto d'arabeschi'' — performed May 1982 in Philadelphia.
- Works for organ solo
- ---Organ symphony no. 1 — second movement performed in 1928 by E. Emlyn Davies . Entire work premiered by Kevin Bowyer and Thomas Trotter in 1987. Recorded by Kevin Bowyer on a Continuum CD (1001, released in 1988.)
- ---Organ symphony no. 2 — first movement performed in 1994 by Kevin Bowyer . Entire work is scheduled to receive its first complete performances (over 6 hours!) in Glasgow and Darmstadt in October 2006.
- Works for piano solo
- ---Sonatas
--Sonata 1 premiered by Sorabji in 1920, recorded by Marc-André Hamelin for the label Altarus in 1990
--Sonata 2 premiered by Sorabji in 1922, recorded by Tellef Johnson for the label Altarus in 1999
--Sonata 3 premiered by Yonty Solomon in 1977; a recording by Tellef Johnson is scheduled for release from the label Altarus in 2006 {Link without Title}
--Sonata 4 premiered by Sorabji in 1930, recorded by Jonathan Powell for Altarus in 2004
- ---Symphonies
--Fourth Symphony premiered by Reinier Van Houdt at Utrecht in March 2003 {Link without Title} and performed several times, in Canada in 2003
--Symphonia Brevis premiered in New York City, 2004 by Donna Amato {Link without Title}
- ---Toccatas
--Of the numbered toccatas, Toccata (1928) is recorded (also by Jonathan Powell , for Altarus in 2003). Toccata 2 was premiered by Sorabji in 1936.
- ---Opus Clavicembalisticum
--Premiered by Sorabji in 1930. Given its second complete performance in 1982 by Geoffrey Douglas Madge , who performed it several times; two of these performances have made it to recording media; his first, from Utrecht, was recorded for Keytone Records, and a subsequent performance in Chicago has been released on a set of BIS CDs (a Swedish label), this being the only of Madge's two recordings of the work to remain available to the public. The Madge recording of Opus Clavicembalisticum is highly unreliable in terms of textual accuracy; substantial proportions of the work are improvised in his recording. This has led to some negative criticism of Sorabji's music in general. Altarus has also released a recording by John Ogdon . The piece has been performed six times by Madge, four times by Jonathan Powell, twice by John Ogdon and once by Daan Vanderwalle.
- ---Études transcendantes
--Individual ones of these (and individual numbers of his set of Symphonic variations) have found their way into concerts (e.g. at the Newport Festival and the Schloss vor Husum festival of unusual piano music) and onto recordings. BIS have announced that the complete set will be recorded by the pianist Fredrik Ullén ; the first volume was released in 2006.
- ---Other piano works
-- Michael Habermann recorded many short works in the 1980s for the MusicMasters label, as well as a CD for Elan and a CD of transcriptions for BIS. The earlier recordings have been re-released by the British Music Society.
--Donna Amato has also recorded several shorter works, all released on the Altarus label.
--Altarus have also released other shorter works, with recordings by Yonty Solomon, Carlo Grante , Charles Hopkins , and Jonathan Powell, who has a number of other recordings scheduled for release.
- Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, ''Around Music'', reprinted 1979 by Hyperion Press. ISBN 0883557649. May not be currently available.
- Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, ''Mi Contra Fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician'', reprinted 1986 by Da Capo Press, ISBN 0306762757, may not be currently available.
- Paul Rapoport has edited a book, ''Sorabji: A Critical Celebration'', Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1992, ISBN 0-85967-923-3. This book, the first to be devoted to the composer's life and music, clarifies some once‐obscure biographical details, contains a more complete list of works than was previously available, and also includes several interviews and analyses.
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