Related Works by Other Composers

This page lists, in chronological order if there is more than one, works (including literary ones) that are related to those of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, either before or after his contribution. These works may be

earlier or later settings by other composers of texts used by Sorabji in his songs;
transcriptions or uses of the same works in the case of works based on pre-existing material;
works with similar or related titles.

Dates of birth and death are given for lesser known composers. The list is likely to be incomplete, and further titles will be added as they are found.

The works are grouped into four categories corresponding to as many important periods in Sorabji’s compositional career.

1914-1918 (early works)
1919-1936 (from the meeting with Busoni to the end of his public career)
1937-1972 (from the beginning of his life as a recluse to the break in his compositional career)
1973-1988 (from his meeting with Alistair Hinton, when he resumed composition, until his death)

See also the list of musical and literary sources for Sorabji’s works.

1914-1918

Transcription of “In a Summer Garden” (1914; 0 p.)

Philip Heseltine (1894-1930), arrangement for piano four hands (1912-13).
Philip Heseltine, arrangement for two hands (1921). This was published in 1982 by Thames Publishing as Frederick Delius, Four Works Transcribed for Piano Solo [by Eric Fenby and Philip Heseltine]) and recorded by Charles Abramovic as part of a disc entitled “Frederick Delius: Piano Music” (DTR2001 [Direct-to-Tape Recording Company]).

Chrysilla (1915; 4 pp.): Set as the third of a group of four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano or Baritone with Instrumental Accompaniment (1909) by Ethel Smyth (1858-1944). The accompaniment is violin and piano.

L’heure exquise (1916; 2 pp.): Set by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) as op. 61, no. 3, from La bonne chanson (1892-94) and about 130 other composers. For a complete list, see Anne-Marie Riessauw, Catalogue des œuvres vocales écrites par des compositeurs européens sur des poèmes de Verlaine, Publikaties van het Seminarie voor Musicologie (Gent: Rijksuniversiteit, 1980).

Apparition (1916; 5 pp.): Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) in 1884 (publ. 1926).

L’étang (1917; 2 pp.): Reproduced as motto by Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) for no. 1 of Two Rhapsodies for oboe, viola, and piano (1905); originally conceived in 1898 for voice, clarinet, viola, and piano.

1919-1936

I Was Not Sorrowful—Poem for Voice and Piano [Spleen] (between 1917 and 1919; 3 pp.): Set by John Ireland (1879-1962) in 1913 as no. 3 of three songs published as Marigold: Impression for Voice and Piano (publ. 1916).

Trois fêtes galantes de Verlaine (ca. 1919; 11 pp.)

À la promenade: Fernand Ochsé (1879-1945), as no. 3 of Le parc (1908).
Dans la grotte
- Fernand Ochsé (1879-1945), as no. 4 of Le parc (1908).
- Karl Heinrich David (1884-1951), as no. 2 of Quatre chants, d’après des poésies de Paul Verlaine (publ. 1940-42).

Fantaisie espagnole (1919; 23 pp.): Lord Berners (Sir Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson) (1883-1950), Fantaisie espagnole (1920; for orchestra). The work consists of “Prelude”, “Fandango”, and “Paso doble”.

Trois poèmes pour chant et piano (1918, 1919; 9 pp.)

Correspondances: Jean-Émile-Paul Cras (1879-1932), as no. 7 (1901) of Sept mélodies
Crépuscule du soir mystique
- Irena Regina Poldowski, née Wieniawski (1880-1932), 1913.
- Marius-François Gaillard (1900-1973), as no. 6 of Six mélodies (1921, publ. 1943).
- Thomas Alexandrovitch de Hartmann (1886-1956), as no. 2 of Paysages tristes, op. 69 (publ. 1941).
Pantomime: Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) in 1882 (publ. 1926) and by at least ten other composers.

Pastiche on the “Minute Waltz” by Chopin (1922; 7 pp.): See Thirteen Transcriptions for Piano Solo of Chopin’s Waltz in D Flat, Op. 64, No. 1 (The Minute Waltz) by Rafael Joseffy, Moriz Rosenthal, Isidor Philipp, [Max Laistner], Max Reger, Giuseppe Ferrata, Michael Zadora, Moritz Moszkowski, Alexander Michałowski, Joe Furst and Published for the First Time the Pastiche of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, edited and annotated by Donald M. Garvelmann (Bronx [obliterated and replaced with “New York”], N.Y.: Music Treasure Publications, 1969). See also the list and links to scores on IMSLP.

Pastiche on the Habanera from “Carmen” by Bizet (1922; 6 pp.): Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924), Chamber Fantasy after Bizet’s “Carmen” for piano, BV 284 (1920).

Pastiche on the Hindu Merchant’s Song from “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov (1922; 4 pp.)

Alexander Siloti (1863-1945), A Song of India (Chanson Indoue) (From the Opera “Sadko”) (1927; arrangement for piano).
Maud Powell (1867-1920), arrangement for violin and piano (1917).
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), Chanson indoue: Hindoo Chant for Violin and Piano (1919).
A. [first name unknown] Gabrielli, Chanson indoue, from the Legend “Sadko” (1921).
Paul Whiteman (1890-1967), arranged in 1921 as Play That “Song of India” Again with lyrics by Leo Wood and Irving Bibo.
Albert Sammons (1886-1957), arranged for violin and piano (year unknown).
Michel Nowak, Chanson hindoue de l’opéra “Sadko” pour chant, cornet solo ou hautbois solo avec orchestre d’harmonie, version française de M. Delines & L. Laloy (year unknown, recent).
Several other arrangements, a complete list of which could be the object of a separate project (more to be added as they are found).

Le jardin parfumé: Poem for Piano Solo (1923; 16 pp.)

Wilfrid Mellers (1914-2008), Le jardin retrouvé: The Music of Frederick Mompou, 1893-1987 (York: Fairfax Press, 1987). This is a book by the English music critic.
Hervé Roullet, Un jardin parfumé, op. 31 (2002); recorded by Jean Dubé. This piano piece by a French Catholic writer, who is also a composer of liturgical vocal works and piano works, was not inspired by Sorabji’s work.

Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti (1923; 40 pp.)

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo (1898); not the same poems as those used by Sorabji.
Benjamin Britten (1913-76), Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo for tenor and piano, op. 22 (1940). Sorabji’s nos. 1 and 3 correspond to Britten’s nos. 4 and 2.
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-75), Suite on Verses by Buonarroti for bass and piano, op. 145 (1974; orchestrated in 1975 as op. 145a).

Valse-fantaisie for Piano (1925; 16 pp.)

Mikhail Glinka (1804-57), Valse-fantaisie (1839, rev. 1845, 1856; for orchestra)

1937-1972

Symphonic Variations for Piano (1935-37; 484 pp.) / Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra (1935-37, 1953-56; 540 pp.) {Besides Sorabji, at least seventeen composers wrote works with the same title between 1875 and 2004 at the earliest; only the most important are mentioned here.}

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), Symphonic Variations on an Original Theme, op. 78 (1877).
César Franck (1822-90), Variations symphoniques for piano and orchestra (1885).
Hubert Parry (1848-1918), Symphonic Variations (1897).
Arnold Bax (1883-1953), Symphonic Variations for piano and orchestra (1918).

Transcription in the Light of Harpsichord Technique for the Modern Piano of the Chromatic Fantasia of J. S. Bach, Followed by a Fugue (1940; 15 pp.)

Hans von Bülow (1830-94); 18?? (edition in nineteenth-century style).
Max Reger (1873-1916); 1901 (organ transcription; no. 15 of Bach-B6 in the Reger-Werk-Verzeichnis).
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924); 1915 (BV B 31; edition used by Sorabji as a basis for his transcription).
August Stradal (1860-1930)
Emil von Sauer (1862-1942)
Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)
Leonid Kreutzer (1884-1953); “Fantasia” only.
Arthur Briskier (fl. 20th century); publ. by Carl Fischer in 1961; may be an edition.
Bernhard Kistler-Liebendörfer (1920-97); “Fantasia” only.
Raoul Sosa; transcribed for the left hand.

“Gulistān”—Nocturne for Piano (1940; 28 pp.)

Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac (1753-1809), Gulistan, ou Le hulla de Samarcande (1805); this is a comic opera on which César Franck wrote two fantasies for piano (opp. 11, 12; 1884).
Philippe Musard (1793-1859), Gulistan: quadrille pour le forte piano (1844).

Trois poèmes (1941; 13 pp.)

Le faune
- Claude Debussy (1862-1918), no. 2 of the second set of Fêtes galantes (1904).
- Irena Regina Poldowski, née Wieniawski (1880-1932), 1919.
- Gary Bachlund, 2001.
Les chats: Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921), 1906, orchestrated 1907.

Études transcendantes (100) (1940-44; 456 pp.)

Franz Liszt (1811-86), Douze études d’exécution transcendante, LW A172 (1851).
Sergey Lyapunov (1859-1924), Études d’exécution transcendante, op. 11 (1897-1905).
Brian Ferneyhough, Études transcendantales (1982-85).
Angelo Gilardino (1941-2022), Studi di virtuosità e di trascendenza (1981-88).

Rapsodie espagnole de Maurice Ravel—Transcription de concert pour piano (first version, 1923; 16 pp.), Rapsodie espagnole de Maurice Ravel—Transcription de concert pour piano (second version, 1945; 26 pp.)

Ravel first wrote his work for piano four hands in 1907 (although the “Habanera” dates from 1895, as the first of two pieces grouped under the title Sites auriculaires for two pianos) and completed its orchestration in 1908.
Transcription for piano solo by Lucien Garban (1877-1959), published in 1952 by Durand (24 pp.).

Frammento cantato (1967; 1 p.): Gustav Holst, The Cloud Messenger: Ode for Chorus and Orchestra. Founded on a Sanscrit Poem of Kalidasa, op. 30 (1912). Sorabji’s work is based on the eighth of 90 items making up the section “The Cloud Messenger” in Harold Morland, My Seeking Spirit, Being Free Variations on Poems by Kalidasa [recte Kālidāsa], c. 500 A.D. (privately printed, 1966), 38 (out of 69 pp.).

1973-1988

Symphonia brevis for Piano (1973; 120 pp.): John J. Becker (1886-1921), Symphony no. 3, Symphonia brevis (1929).

Variazione maliziosa e perversa sopra “La morte d’Åse” da Grieg (1974; 2 pp.): Alistair Hinton, Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Grieg for piano (1970-78); recorded by Donna Amato on Altarus AIR-CD-9021.

“Il gallo d’oro” da Rimsky-Korsakov: Variazioni frivole con una fuga anarchica, eretica e perversa (1978-79; 93 pp.): Efrem Zimbalist (1889-1985), Concert Phantasy on Rimsky-Korsakow’s “Le coq d’or” for violin and piano (1921).