Special Editions of the Published Works

This page gives all known details of the rare limited editions of three of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s works (signed by the composer) published in addition to the standard editions.

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] (1920; 144 pp.)
Sonata seconda for Piano (1920; 49 pp.)
Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.)

Locations and details are given for copies found in public collections or when the owners have made their ownership known. Otherwise, copies known to be in private collections are marked as such. The current owner of any copy not identified as such, most likely a private collector, is unknown (or unnamed to protect their privacy). Such copies may turn up at any time in research libraries as part of estates, or on the shelves of second-hand booksellers such as AbeBooks.com. The author would greatly appreciate being informed of any discovery, which will be added immediately.

The numbered scores are referred to as they are identified, that is, by an arabic or roman numeral or by a written-out number.

The standard copies with inscriptions by the composer are discussed elsewhere, as are the additional features of three of the scores published in standard editions.

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] (1920; 144 pp.)

Publisher: London: F. and B. Goodwin Ltd., 1923.

Colophon: A special edition comprising twelve copies, in half-binding and [the last three words obliterated] printed on hand-made paper and number by the adapter [this word obliterated and replaced in hand with “composer”]. No. [number]. [signed:] Kaikhosru Sorabji.

Binding: Some or all copies may be bound in cloth and/or leather, and not necessarily at the same time (see the details of copy No. 6 below).

Locations of copies

No. 6 was given by Sorabji to Dr. James Duncan Irving, who donated it to the Library of the Royal College of Music (London) in 1992. This copy is bound and marked “SORABJI CONCERTO / (FULL SCORE)” on the cover; the binding is in dark green cloth with brown leather on the left edge and yellowish angles on the right edge [citation].
No. 7 is inscribed “To my friend E. Emlyn Davies:– True artist and musician in memory of his splendid interpretation of the writer’s work on May 17, 1928”; this copy is now in the Pierpont Morgan Library, Mary Flagler Cary Music Collection (New York), accession no. PMC 330 (acquired in or before 1998) [citation].
No. 8 is inscribed “To Mervyn V<illegible surname> / salutation: <illegible word>: / VI.IV.MCMXXXV”; this copy is in the collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library, under call number M785.6 SO62. The surname is overwritten with one that looks like “Vicars”, but it is very doubtful that a copy belonging to this English friend of Sorabji would have ended up in an American collection [citation].
No. 9 is in the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance under call number 782.99 SOR [citation]; there is another copy, presumably of the standard edition.
No. 10, a copy bound in modern black cloth, was auctioned by Lisa Cox in the autumn of 1992.
No. 12 is in a private collection.

Sonata seconda for Piano (1920; 49 pp.)

Publisher: London: F. and B. Goodwin Ltd., 1923.

Colophon: A special edition comprising twelve copies, in half-binding and printed on hand-made paper, has been signed and numbered by the adapter [this word has been crossed-out and replaced with “composer”]. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji.

Peculiarities: The score is approximately 10 mm thick as opposed to the standard score, which is approximately 5 mm thick. Its dimensions are the same as those of the standard score, i.e., 10 5/8″ × 13 1/2″ (H × W).

Locations of copies

Nos. III, V, VII, and IX are in private collections.
No. VI was offered at auction by Sotheby’s on 19 May 1989.
No. VIII was auctioned by Lyon & Turnbull on 22 September 2021.

Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.)

Publisher: London: J. Curwen and Sons Ltd., 1931.

Colophon: Twenty-three copies of this work have been printed on Whatman handmade paper each numbered and signed by the composer. “No. [Number]. Kaikhosru Sorabji.” The deckle edge paper can be appreciated from image no. 2 (of 11) on the page for the sale of copy no. Eleven (see below); see also image no. 2 (of 4) on WorthPoint.

Colour of the cover: The cover is mottled pewter gold, like that of the standard edition.

Peculiarities: This edition measures 10 3/16″ × 15 1/16″ (H × W); left and right margins: approx. 3 7/16″, top margins: approx. 1 3/16″, bottom margins: approx. 2 1/16″. Price: 5 guineas (rather than 2 guineas for the standard edition).

Locations of copies

Nos. One and Two are held by the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance under call number 781.4 SOR [citation].
No. Three was given by Sorabji on 10 July 1944 to Dr. James Duncan Irving, who donated it to the Sorabji Archive on 18 April 1997. The existence of the score in Dr. Irving’s personal collection was discovered by Marc-André Roberge in 1996. It is identified as “Working Copy:- / with corrections: / MCMXXXII” and contains various annotations (see the document to which this entry links). It is from this annotated copy that the Sorabji Archive is now making copies of the work.
Nos. Five, Six, Sixteen, and Twenty-Three are in private collections. Another copy (unnumbered and unsigned) was sold by Sotheby’s on 19 May 1989.
No. Nine is in the Special Collections, Rare Books, University of Chicago, under call no. obl M25.S71O62.
No. Eleven, formerly the property of Carl Engel (1883-1944), chief of the Music Division at the Library of Congress, to which Sorabji gave six of his manuscripts in 1928, was offered for sale on AbeBooks.com by Bradley Ross Books (Los Angeles) in January 2014, and again in January 2015; offered on AbeBooks.com by Schubertiade Music (Newton, MA) in April 2018, and currently marked as sold on its website as of September 2018 (under no. 13025) [images]. The inscription reads “For Mr. Carl Engel with friendly regards and remembrances.” The images on the dealer’s website give an idea of the texture of the Whatman paper.

Standard editions with peculiarities

A copy bearing the autographs of both Sorabji and the dedicatee, Hugh MacDiarmid, is in the collection of the Edward Johnson Music Library at the University of Toronto under call number “musi O-8 208 RBSC HELD IN MUSI” [citation].
A copy owned by Rutland is in the collection of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance [citation]. It contains various annotations in the composer’s hand that might be taken into account in performances. In particular, the opening gesture is amplified in such a way that each note is written as a full triad (either a three- or four-note chord) in each hand.
One set of proofs is in the collection of the Alban Berg Stiftung; another (with corrections) is in a private collection.