Sorabji Resource Site: Memberships in Societies and Boards

Memberships in Societies and Boards

This page lists the societies of which Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji was a member, in chronological order of joining. Data for some of them are imprecise, as he simply stated that he had been a member “for some years”. Dates of resignation, where known, are given in the Comments column. All societies are (or were) based in London unless otherwise stated.

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Date	Society	Comments
Date	Society	Comments
1922?	British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology	In 1930 Sorabji was still a member of the society founded in 1914 by Edward Carpenter and Havelock Ellis. He consulted the latter on problems relating to his sexual orientation and dedicated to him his Concerto per pianoforte e piccola orchestra, “Simorg-Anka” [no. 7] (1924; 100 pp.).
1925	Cyclopædic Dictionary of Music, A, 4th ed., ed. Ralph Dunstan (1925)	Sorabji is described as the member for India (!) of the editorial board of this encyclopedia published by John Curwen, under whose imprint seven of his works appeared. There is no indication of what Sorabji’s contribution might have been. Ralph Dunstan (1857-1933) was a noted collector of songs in the Cornish tradition.
193?	Society of Authors	By 1932 Sorabji had been a member for a number of years. He probably joined at the suggestion of fellow writers of The New Age.
1930	Active Society for the Propagation of Contemporary Music (Glasgow)	Sorabji and his mother became members of the ASPCM, which was founded in 1929 by his friend Erik Chisholm, and at whose concerts he performed several of his works.
1932 (ATL)	Chesterian, The	Sorabji’s name among the contributors for England in vol. 13, no. 100 (January-February 1932), although he published a single article in that journal in 1919; his name disappeared in no. 101 (March 1932). It has not been possible to check earlier issues on the microfilm to determine when his name first appeared on the list.
1934	Incorporated Parsee Association of Europe	Sorabji became a member of this association (founded in 1891, now the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe) on his return from Bombay, where he had gone in 1932 to settle matters connected with his father’s death. In 1953, a few years after his election to life membership, he tendered his resignation in harsh terms.
1935	Society for Psychical Research	Sorabji was a member of this society founded in 1882 during his London years.
194?	India League	In the years preceding 1944, Sorabji was for some time a member of this society (founded in 1930) that became the most important of the British groups supporting Indian independence. He resigned as a result of their “licksplitting to the Kremlin”.
194?	International Godowsky Society	Sorabji was recruited by his friend (and dedicatee of three works) Clinton Gray-Fisk, the Society’s representative for the British Isles, as a member of this society founded by Paul Howard (1875-1953).
1953	Cremation Society of Great Britain, The	Sorabji became member no. J19559/12978 on 13 July 1953.
1959	Homosexual Law Reform Society	Sorabji joined this society founded in 1958 following the publication of the Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution (Wolfenden Report), which recommended that private homosexual conduct between consenting adults should no longer be considered a criminal offence.
1957	Royal Stuart Society	Sorabji was proposed to membership in this society founded in 1926 by Count Nicolas Tolstoy and was elected on 25 March 1957.
1976	Performing Right Society	In the 1960s the composer (and dedicatee) John Ireland had unsuccessfully encouraged Sorabji to join the PRS, which he finally did at the urging of Norman Peterkin.
1979	Alkan Society, The	Sorabji became one of the honorary vice-presidents of the Alkan Society (founded in 1977).
1982	Godowsky Society, The (Edinburgh)	Harry Winstanley, an Edinburgh civil servant who had founded a Godowsky Society to replace Paul Howard’s association, invited Sorabji to join in April 1982. The composer was listed in The Godowsky Newsletter as a patron, along with Shura Cherkassky and Ronald Stevenson, and as a “Past Patron” after his death.
1988	Mechanical Copyright Protection Society	At the urging of Alistair Hinton, Sorabji joined the MCPS on 19 September 1988, as its oldest new member.