Archival Sources for Letters and Other Documents

This page contains a list (arranged alphabetically by country) of libraries and archives where source documents related to Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, mainly letters, can be found. A brief description of the contents of the collections is given; links to the items are provided as accurately as the library catalogues allow, that is, using permanent links whenever possible.

This compilation provides data for collections where relevant items may be included but appear not to, for example when a large collection of the papers of an acquaintance or dedicatee is located. It also does not systematically cover the musical manuscripts held in public collections, which should be consulted for a complete list.

Links to the specific pages where items are held in libraries and archives are provided wherever possible, but it should be noted that URLs resulting from searches in library databases are often long and complex and are subject to change. Permanent links (permalinks) are provided whenever possible.

PDF copies of scores by Sorabji: Substantial collections of photocopies of manuscript scores and of editions, as well as of recordings, can be found in the following research libraries, some of which also have extensive holdings of the scores published under the composer’s supervision. The list gives the number of records found as of 25 February 2015 with Sorabji as author. See also the list of links for Library and Archives Catalogues.

BBC Library (no access to a catalogue could be found)
British Library, London (79)
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (120)
Liverpool University (31)
McMaster University, Hamilton (31)
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (115)
Paul Sacher Stiftung, Basel (181)
Royal Academy of Music, London (35)
Université Laval, Québec (53)
University of Chicago (86)
University of North Texas, Denton (90)
University of Toronto (96)

In addition, the legal deposit libraries of the United Kingdom (British Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales, Bodleian Libraries, University Library (Cambridge), and the Library of Trinity College (Dublin) should have PDF copies of the material published by the Sorabji Archive. These items do not appear to be listed in their catalogues.

An appeal to private collectors: Private collectors who have acquired manuscripts and other valuable documents relating to Sorabji are urged to consider the possibility of eventually donating their treasures to research libraries rather than selling them to second-hand dealers, as this will simply move them from one private collection to another and keep them inaccessible to scholars for research purposes. Their heirs or representatives may not be able to properly appreciate the scholarly value of such documents and may find it difficult to dispose of them properly.

I am indebted to Mikaël Francœur, a doctoral student in musicology at Laval University who performed the first part of the 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.) at Laval University on 19 March 2010, for finding references to various letters in online catalogues.

Australia

The University of Adelaide: The Rare Books & Special Collections at the University of Adelaide holds The Leopold Godowsky – Paul Howard Collection under no. MSS 0193 (see Series 4, 4.1, xiii). The collection was donated in 2015 by Paul Howard’s youngest son, professor emeritus Peter F. Howard, who taught geology at Macquarie University (Sydney). The collection includes three letters to Sorabji and seven from him as well as what may be a photocopy of the Godowsky chapter in Mi contra fa, biographical notes (not further identified), and the booklet Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji by Clinton Gray-Fisk and Splendour upon Splendour: On hearing Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji play by Frank Holliday (supposedly inscribed to the Howard family by Godowsky, which is impossible as the pianist-composer died in 1938 and the brochure dates from 1960). There is also a copy of Mi contra fa catalogued separately from the Rare Books & Special Collections.

Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Alban-Berg-Stiftung: The Alban-Berg-Stiftung (Vienna) owns a set of proofs of Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.) that came into the hands of Alban Berg.

Laureto Rodoni: This private archive, which has an extensive site dedicated to Ferruccio Busoni, owns a collection of letters of Busoni to Egon Petri and Rosamond Ley (1882-1969, English translator of Busoni’s letters and essays), originally held by the Burra Moody Archive, which includes a letter from Sorabji to Ley (date unspecified).

Paul Sacher Stiftung: The Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basel), which now holds a large number of manuscripts of works by Sorabji, has letters to George Richards, the husband of the architect Elisabeth Whitworth Scott, and to Gordon Watson, an Australian pianist who was a pupil of Egon Petri and who played several works by Humphrey Searle.

Arnold Schönberg Center: The Arnold Schönberg Center (Vienna) owns one letter (in French) from Sorabji to Schoenberg, dated 23 December [1921] (ID: 16881).

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz: The Busoni-Nachlass owns two letters to Ferruccio Busoni dated 29 June 1920 and 18 April 1921 (Mus.Nachl. F. Busoni II, 4849 and 4850) as well as the autograph of the copy made by Sorabji’s copyist, A. J. Collins, of the Sonata seconda for Piano (1920; 49 pp.) under Mus.ms. Anlage K. Sorabji 1.

Canada

Library and Archives Canada: Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa, Ontario), formerly known as the National Library of Canada, holds various documents relating to Sorabji.

George Mackenzie Brewer (1889-1947), Montréal organist who met Sorabji during a trip to England (finding aid)
- R12250-0-0-E: Travel diary containing Brewer’s recollections; letters from Brewer to Sorabji
- R12250-88-7-E: General correspondence file for 1922-23
Eldon Rathburn (1916-2008), Canadian film music composer who worked for the National Film Board of Canada (finding aid)
- R12642-176-3-E, R12642-176-7-E: Correspondence
- R12642-182-2-E, R12642-212-7-E: Booklets with dedication by Sorabji
Percy Scholes (1877-1958), English lexicographer (finding aid)
- R11530-0-1-E: Letters from Sorabji to Percy A. Scholes

McMaster University: The Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji Collection at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) houses an extensive collection of consisting of three accruals. The numbers given below are the result of a compilation of the numbers for each folder in the finding aids:

Correspondence between Sorabji and Frank Holliday (1939-78) and the latter’s Sorabji-related correspondence with numerous individuals and corporate bodies (first and second accruals). The second accrual includes 26 letters and 9 cards from Sorabji to Cecil Ewing.
- Sorabji to Holliday: 588 typed letters, 79 autograph letters, 163 typed postcards, 58 autograph postcards, 10 greeting cards, 23 telegrams, and 2 business cards, making a total of 923 items of correspondence.
- Holliday to Sorabji: 166 items.
Letters from Sorabji to Norman P. Gentieu (1946-81) and Cecil Ewing’s collection of documents relating to Sorabji (third accrual).
- Sorabji to Gentieu: 232 items.
- Gentieu to Sorabji: 21 items.

University of Toronto: The Edward Johnson Music Library at the University of Toronto two items:

a letter from Sorabji to Norah Drewett (Madame Géza de Kresz), dated 3 November 1929 (under call number musi MSS pam 003 RBSC).
a copy of the printed score (with parts) of the Quintet no. 1 for Piano and Quartet of Stringed Instruments (1919-20; 72 pp.) with annotations by the members of the Hart House String Quartet (under call number M512 .S72 Q5).

France

Médiathèque Musicale Mahler: The Bibliothèque musicale La Grange-Fleuret (formerly the Médiathèque Musicale Mahler), 11 bis, rue Vézelay, F-75008 Paris, owns some correspondence between Sorabji and Alfred Cortot. See the document “Lettres et manuscrits autographes: Lettres des expediteurs [sic] de K à Z” on page Revue de presse et outils documentaires.

South Africa

University of Cape Town, UCT Libraries: The Special Collections (Manuscripts and Archives) of the UCT Libraries own the papers of Erik Chisholm under number BC129. Sorabji-related documents can be found in the following locations in the finding aid:

Box 1, folders 5, 6.
Box 6, folders 220, 228.
Box 7, folder 28.
Box 8, folders 32, 41.
Box 10, folders 42, 47, 54.
Box 14, folders 106, 107.
Box 16, folder 133.
Box 26, folder 196.
Box 29, folder 236.
Transcription Box 3 folder 11: Two-piano arrangement (ca. 1956; 59 pp.) by Erik Chisholm of St. Bertrand de Comminges: “He was laughing in the tower” (1941; 16 pp.).

The collection also includes the following manuscripts, listed in Stellenbosch University, Directory of South African Music Collections: University of Cape Town (UCT): Manuscripts:

TPA 780.3 SOR 70/713: Pages 1, 2, 15, and 16 of the later of the two autographs of the Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī (1926, rev. 1930; 16 pp.); plus a very poor copy of the entire score.
TPA 781.4 SOR 73/175: Autograph of Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.), plus a microfilm under BCZA86/1 and a bound copy.

The Guide to the Manuscripts in the University of Cape Town Libraries (2020), p. 297, lists under BC1396 (Erik Chisholm Papers) six archive boxes donated by Morag Chisholm that are “additional to the main collection (BC129)”.

The Sorabji-Chisholm correspondence is now held at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. See also Michael Tuffin’s Catalogue raisonné on the website of the Erik Chisholm Trust.

See also some archive documents on the website Erik Chisholm: Snapshots of a remarkable life (University of Cape Town) divided as Newspaper clippings, Photographs, Documents, and Miscellaneous (including a snippet of Chisholm’s handwriting dealing with Sorabji and a letter from Sorabji of 4 March 1956).

Colin Taylor’s papers, under number BC76, include correspondence with Philip Heseltine, and may provide interesting bits of information.

United Kingdom

British Library: The British Library (London), in addition to the manuscripts of the Concerto [no. 1] pour piano et grand orchestre (1915-16; 177 pp.) and the Music to “The Rider by Night” (1919; 54 pp.), filed under Add. 65183 and Add. 57966 ff. 29-45v, owns various letters from Sorabji. The text for the Music to “The Rider by Night” can be found in an as yet uncatalogued collection of Robert Malise Bowyer Nichols’s works filed under Dep. 10190.

Card and letters to D. C. P. [Donald] Mitchell (MS Mus. 104 ff. 130-36)
Letters to Alan Bush (MS Mus. 326-673, cataloguing in progress)
Letters to Ernest Chapman (Add. 61886 f. 119, Add. 62949 ff. 140-142)
Letter to Edward Clark (Add. 52257 f. 126)
Letter to Philip Christian Darnton (Add. 62765)
Letter to Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens (MS Mus. 1175 ff. 107-108)
Letters to Bernard Stevens (Add. 69025 ff. 18-33)
Letters to Cecil Gray (Add. 57786 ff. 73-77)
Letters to John Amis (Add. 71178 ff. 140-142)
Letters to Philip Arnold Heseltine (Add. 57963); finding aid.

Cambridge University Library, Deryck Cooke Archive: The Deryck Cooke Archive, currently being processed, appears to contain correspondence between Sorabji and the British musicologist and broadcaster (1919-76).

Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives

Letters from Sorabji to the British novelist and author of children’s and travel books Ralph Hammond Innes (1913-88), MS Add. 9533/2/1/19.
Letters from Sorabji to Sir Francis Meynell (1891-1975), typographical designer and proprietor of the Nonesuch Press, MS Add. 9813/B9/3; also includes letters from George Richards. The letters form part of the correspondence with listeners of the BBC Home Service programme The Brains Trust (1943-44).

Edinburgh University Library

Folder of twenty-four letters from Sorabji to Christopher Murray Grieve (no. 2960.17, as part of Gen. 2094; MSS 2942-2961 in the Special Collections); the first link is to Archives Hub, as there seems to be no way of accessing the folder directly in the library catalogue.
Copies of three letters from Christopher Murray Grieve to Sorabji, dated 25 May 1926, 5 January 1932, and 19 August 1955 (GB 237 Coll-1298, shelfmark E2011.12).
Image of the cover of the brochure Kaikhosru Sorabji: An Essay by Erik Chisholm, with a Descriptive Catalogue of His Works (Oxford University Press, undated [late 1938 or early 1939]) (MS 2960.17).
Donald Francis Tovey’s coyp of the published score of Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.) (Tovey Collection. StEdU : Tov. 1804).

Erik Chisholm Trust: The Erik Chisholm Trust (Binstead, Isle of Wight; established in 2001) launched a website in 2008 called Erik Chisholm: The Forgotten Man of 20th Century Music, which was redesigned in 2013. However, from around 2022 all links were redirected to a new website hosted by the Scottish Music Centre, with the Trust only maintaining a Facebook page that is hardly updated. The new site does not include all the many valuable documents that used to be offered, such as two essays by Fiona Chisholm (“I Meet Sorabji” and “Mum’s Writings Including the Sorabji Concert”, in a section for essays by Chisholm’s daughters) and one by Patrick Shannon (“Watch the Beat: Musical Memoirs of Patrick Shannon”), and a gallery of images divided into eleven sections. Only Michael Tuffin’s Erik Chisholm (1904-1965): A “Catalogue raisonné” of His Works in the University of Cape Town Libraries (begun in 2004 thanks to a grant, and available on the old site since 2014) and Chisholm’s own essay Men and Music: Lectures Given at University of Cape Town Summer School, February 1964 , which includes a text on Sorabji (pp. 103-14) and some images, are still online.

National Library of Scotland: The National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh) owns the papers of the composer and pianist Ronald Stevenson. The collection, filed under Acc.11567 Ronald Stevenson Musicological correspondence (section 24), consists of the following items (selective list).

Correspondence between Sorabji and Frank Holliday (mostly photocopies)
61 letters and postcards from Sorabji
Copies of letters to Sorabji from Christopher Murray Grieve, Francis George Scott, Gerda Busoni, and Compton Mackenzie
Draft copies of “Addition to the Chapter ‘Music and Sex’”

Royal Academy of Music: The Royal Academy of Music (London) has two Sorabji-related items in its York Gate Collections. Both items were donated in 1999 by the concert agent Norman McCann, who studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music from 1948 to 1952.

2007.275: Letter from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji to Mr Lucas, 5/10/49, concerning the shortcomings of singers of his time compared with those of the past.
2007.276: Postcard from Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji to Robert Etherton Esq, x.xii.mcmlxv.

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Archives & Collections (Glasgow), in January 2016, received from Dr. Morag Chisholm the papers of her father, Erik Chisholm, GB 2607 EC/1-12 (16 boxes containing 158 items of correspondence). The letters from Sorabji (originals and typewritten transcriptions by Phyllis Brodie, Chisholm’s sister-in-law and secretary of the South African Music College) are filed under EC/2 (Sorabji Correspondence). See Stuart A. Harris-Logan, “Scotland’s Forgotten Composer: The Archive of Erik Chisholm”, Archives Hub at the Centre of Great Research, 1 September 2016. See also the entry for the University of Cape Town, which holds some other letters.

Royal Northern College of Music: The Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) owns the papers of the pianist John Ogdon, which include the following relevant items, under call number GB 1179 JO. There is currently no online access to the citations below.

JO/W2: Writings on Busoni and Sorabji.
JO/W3: Blank Russian music MS book [tetdad’ dlya not]; on cover “Musica Transanglica — a short piece based on the ‘Cons[t]itution’ of K.S. Sorabji’s “O[pus] C[lavicembalisticum]”.
JO/X/3: Photocopy of Westminster City Libraries’ copy of edition publ. J. Curwen & Sons Ltd. Original marked/annotated by JO. Photocopy not marked. Cumulative durations given on “Constitution” page. With card-backed copies of 247-251.

St Andrews University Library: The Library at St Andrews University owns three letters from Sorabji written between 7 and 23 November 1967 in addition to a set of proofs for Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.). These items are found in the papers of Cedric Thorpe Davie (MSS 37754-37758) and are listed in Cedric Thorpe Davie (1913-1983): Catalogue of Works and Index to Correspondence (University Library, St Andrews, 1988), 111.

Sorabji Archive (Sorabji Music Archive until January 1993): The Sorabji Archive (Easton Dene, Bailbrook Lane, Bath BA1 7AA {Google Maps} from its foundation in September 1988 up to 2008; now Warlow Farm House, Eaton Bishop, Hereford, HR2 9QF {Google Maps}) holds the largest collection of letters to Sorabji and copies of letters from him.

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, The Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts: The Library at the former Trinity College of Music owns several valuable items, including three manuscripts given by Miss Anne Cassal:

Two manuscripts of the Fragment Written for Harold Rutland (1926, 1928, 1937; 2 pp.), 1926 version (MS / MISC 25), 1928 version (MS / MISC 26).
Manuscript of Un nido di scatole sopra il nome del grande e buon amico Harold Rutland (1954; 26 pp.); MS / MISC 27.
Two copies of the published score of the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] (1920; 144 pp.), one with a dedication by Sorabji and a note by Harold Rutland; 782.99 SOR.
Three copies of the Sonata III for Piano (1922; 75 pp.), one of which with an inscription to Harold Rutland; 781.4 SOR.
Copy of the published score of the Valse-fantaisie for Piano (1925; 16 pp.) with an inscription to Harold Rutland; 781.4 SOR.
Three copies of the published score of Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.), two of which are signed by the composer and one of which contains a dedication to Alec Rowley; 781.4 SOR (further details are given elsewhere).
Dedication page of the Fourth Symphony for Piano Alone (1962-64; 240 pp.); MS / MISC 28.
Folder containing programmes notes for a recital by Jonathan Powell (2002), pencil notes (probably by Yonty Solomon), copy of “Letters to Martin” by Harold Morland, copy of Marc-André Roberge’s critical edition of the Fragment Written for Harold Rutland (1926, 1928, 1937; 2 pp.), copies of pages relating to Sorabji from various websites, and copies of all the Sorabji manuscripts held at Trinity College of Music; MS / MISC 29.

University of Bradford, Special Collections, J. B. Priestley Library: The papers of the Serbian philosopher, social critic, and activist Dimitrije Mitrinović (1887-1953), who fled to England in 1914 and contributed to The New Age, contain a number of items of correspondence involving Sorabji. His name is mentioned under five headings in the finding aid by Emma Burgham published as New Atlantis Foundation Dimitrije Mitrinović Archive: Catalogue:

NAF 5/1/10, Papers relating to Frederick Soddy and the New Europe Group (1943-60).
NAF 5/2, New Europe Group Correspondence (1914-78).
NAF 5/2/8, Correspondence of Kaikhosru Sahpurji [sic] Sorabji and the New Europe Group (1951-52). This item consists of an envelope addressed to Valerie Cooper (New Europe Group) postmarked 25 July 1951, containing a letter from Sorabji to “discussing Dr. [Ananda Kentish] Coomaraswamy and Sorabji’s book on music”, a copy of a letter from David Shillan to Sorabji, dated 30 October 1952, inviting him to visit Mitrinović, and a typescript of Sorabji’s reply.
NAF 9/3/1, Letters concerning the New Europe Group’s Commemoration of the Life of Dimitrije Mitrinović, 1953-54.
NAF 9/3/7: Correspondence and Speeches, New Atlantis Foundation Annual Commemorations of the Life of Dimitrije Mitrinović, 1954-57.

University of Sheffield, Sir Thomas Beecham Music Library: The papers of Sir Thomas Beecham include a copy of the published score of the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] (1920; 144 pp.); BEECHAM Q314; 200471314.

University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives: The MacCarthy Foulds Archive contains a list entitled “List of People Interested in Puppets” mentioning Sorabji’s name in connection with the Puppet Festival Theatre of Maud MacCarthy (1882-1967) at Grove End, Chiswick. Mentioned in Nalini Ghuman,“‘Persian Composer-Pianist Baffles’: Kaikhosru Sorabji”, in Resonances of the Raj: India in the English Musical Imagination, 1897-1947 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 250n31.

Westminster City Archives: A number of Sorabji-related items, held until 2008 at the Central Music Library, come from the collection of the music critic Edwin Evans (1871-1945) as “Collection of autographed correspondence: 1903-1969” (LETTERS 1903-69). See details in the Collection Browser by clicking on the individual entries for Sorabji; information on the content of the letters from the citations are given between quotation marks.

CML/1/172/1: “A sonata”; entry dated 15 September 1920.
CML/1/172/2: Letter to Edwin Evans, 18 May 1921, “concerning a sonata”.
CML/1/172/3-10, 12-14: Letters to Harold Rutland, 30 July 1948 (“concerning social matters”), 2 May 1949 (“concerning an article, with reply attached [6 May 1949]”), 30 September 1952 (“concerning social engagements”), 18 January 1954 (“thanks”), 1 April 1954 (“concerning ill health”), 18 August 1975 (“concerning compositions”), 12 February 1977 (“concerning social matters”), 29 May 1977 (“concerning social matters”), three undated items (requesting information, requesting information supplied by Rutland, requesting information supplied by Rutland).
CML/1/172/11: Letter to Alan Sopher (of the Central Music Library), 8 April 1978 (“concerning a request by Alistair Hinton to borrow a Sorabji manuscript, with reply [14 Apr 1978]”).
CML/1/172/15: Copy of a letter from Sorabji to the Editor of the Birmingham Post (“concerning social matters”).
CML/1/172/16: Essay and talk by Erik Chisholm on Sorabji, undated.
CML/1/172/17: Concert programme at Wigmore Hall.
CML/1/172/18: Printed notes with annotations on Kaikhosru Sorabji’s place and date of birth.
CML/1/172/19: Sorabji’s business card.

See the two entries returned by the Library Catalogue of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Brian David Williams: This Glastonbury resident, who retired from the ministry in 2001, published his diaries as All the Days of My Life. The entry for 9 December 1978 reproduces the text of a letter from Sorabji dated 4 December 1978.

United States

George Eastman Musuem: The papers of the photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn at the George Eastman Museum (Rochester, NY) do not appear to contain any documents about Sorabji, at least according to the finding aid (RRML.SC0032).

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

The Sacheverell Sitwell Collection contains correspondence from Sorabji in box 71, folder 1, found in category “II. Correspondence, 1912-1988”. See Sacheverell Sitwell: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. The finding aids for the papers of Osbert and Edith do not mention Sorabji’s name.
The papers of the British Sexological Society (Manuscript Collection MS-00518) contain correspondence from Sorabji in Subseries A. Correspondence, container 10.12. The name is also found in containers 3.5 and 25.7. See British Sexological Society: An Inventory of Its Records at the Harry Ransom Center.

Indiana University: The papers (call number LMC 1954) of the Dublin-born English music critic Desmond Shawe-Taylor (1907-95) contain letter(s) by Sorabji in box 2.

International Piano Archives: The International Piano Archives at the University of Maryland (College Park, Md.), hold the papers of one of Sorabji’s American admirers, Donald Garvelmann. In addition to the manuscripts of the Three Pastiches for Piano (1922; 17 pp.) and the Frammenti aforistici (Sutras) (104) (1962-64; 37 pp.), it contains Sorabji’s letters to Garvelmann (currently not found in the online catalogue).

Library of Congress: The Performing Arts Reading Room at the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.) has five collections of Sorabji-related material.

Manuscripts of six works written between 1919 and 1925.
Letter from Sorabji to Carl Engel, librarian, dated 17 March 1928, under call number ML95 .S783, and a card dated “Xmas 1928 — N. year 1929”, with a staff containing a motive outlining the musical letters of the recipient’s name (C, A, E; E, G, E).
The Julius Gold Collection contains letter(s) from Sorabji to Julius Gold (1884-1969), a musicologist and teacher of violin and music theory active in California, Box-Folder 9/21 (mentioned in letter, Sorabji to Erik Chisholm, 8 January 1953, about points in Mi contra fa).
The finding aid for the Nikolay Karlovich Medtner Papers contains one letter to Medtner and two to his wife dating from 1946-52 in Box-Folder 5/22.
The Nicolas Slonimsky Collection contains items in boxes 163 (Correspondence, 1920-1994) and 234 (Biographical Materials on Composers and Performers, 1920-1989). The Russian-born American lexicographer Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995) was the editor of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians.

Northwestern University: The Music Library Repository at Northwestern University has a box containing a collection acquired from an unknown source at an unknown date (Accession #2021-5, with finding aid dated October 2023), consisting mainly of letters, postcards, annotated clippings, sent by Sorabji between 1942 and 1977 to Baron Arnold von Strömer Hartzhorn, about whom nothing is known. On a copy of the privately printed brochure Splendour upon Splendour, Sorabji inverted the name in his inscription as Arnold Hartzhorn von Strömer.

Peabody Archives: The Peabody Archives at Johns Hopkins Libraries received a gift (no later than 2016) from the pianist Michael Habermann, which is filed under Collection of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji published writings and reproduced scores, PIMS-0038. It consists of “1 full-size letter box, 1 half-size letter box, and 5 large flat boxes” and “four volumes of collected published writings of Sorabji, in addition to many photocopies of his manuscript and published scores for piano, chamber ensembles, orchestras, organ, and voice”.

Syracuse University Libraries: The Special Collections Research Center has a finding aid entitled An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University, which lists the four manuscripts donated by Norman Gentieu in 1982.

Suggested Bell-Chorale for St. Luke’s Carillon (1961; 1 p.)
Concerto per pianoforte e piccola orchestra, “Simorg-Anka” [no. 7] (1924; 100 pp.)
Concerto pour piano et grand orchestre [no. 4] (1918; 100 pp.)
Opus secretum atque necromanticum (1980-81; 48 pp.)

Yale University

The Havelock Ellis Papers at Yale University (MS 195) do not appear to contain any information about Sorabji. His name is not listed in the finding aid for the correspondence.
The Alan Pryce-Jones Papers at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (New Haven, Conn.), under call number GEN MSS 513, box 23, folder 11831, contain a letter of 18 October 1953 from Sorabji to Alan Pryce-Jones (1908-2000), editor of the Times Literary Supplement in the 1950s.