This page lists, in chronological order, the piano works by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji that make use of the following devices or techniques of advanced writing for the piano:

• Bösendorfer Keyboard and Sostenuto Pedal
• Multi-Staff Systems
• Glissandos and Sympathetic Vibrations

The following table lists the page numbers of his piano works where Sorabji uses the extra low notes of the Bösendorfer keyboard and the middle pedal of the Steinway piano. The page numbers between brackets in the entries of column Bösendorfer Keyboard below refer to non-existent notes that extend beyond the range of the piano at the top. Curiously, Sorabji seems to have initially thought that the Bösendorfer keyboard had extensions in both directions. The 102-key piano (eight octaves and a fourth) built by Stephen Paulello did not exist at the time.

The low notes of the Bösendorfer keyboard are not written at pitch in the manuscripts, but appear as ossias with a sign such as 8^va bassa or the letter I with a caret at the bottom, sometimes with a note referring to the Bösendorfer eight-octave piano. Cases where the indication appears to be in a thinner, i.e., later, hand are noted. Sorabji, who in the 1970s really began to think with the Bösendorfer in mind for selected passages, thus returned to some of his earlier scores to add the possibility of using the extra notes.

A bullet (•) identifies works for which the page numbers are those of the published edition rather than the manuscript. There may be more than one instance of a given feature on each page. The systematic examination of the works with piano was carried out when there were few editions, and has not (yet) been revised to give preference to the published editions.

The following table gives the page numbers where systems of five, six, seven, and ten staves are used in Sorabji’s works with piano or organ. (There may be more than one instance of a given feature on the same page.) One-system staves are included in a compilation devoted to multi-staff systems because of their exceptional character. Two-, three-, and four-staff systems are omitted to avoid unduly lengthening the table with what is standard procedure for Sorabji.

Apart from rare exceptions, one-staff systems are used for the presentation of fugue subjects. Two-staff systems are standard in the early songs, up to Arabesque (1920; 2 pp.). Thereafter, they occasionally reappear up to Frammenti aforistici (4) (1977; 1 p.), especially when the texture is reduced in the large-scale works.

Three-staff systems appear for the first time in the Concerto [no. 1] pour piano et grand orchestre (1915-16; 177 pp.) and become the standard layout. Four-staff systems are introduced in the Sonata no. 1 for Piano (1919; 42 pp.) for two brief instances in the published edition, namely, on pp. 31 (in a bar not present in the manuscript) and 43. In the first case, however, the top staff is needed because the next bar requires the register indicated by the octave symbol, but its contents could easily fit in the staff below. It is in the Toccata [no. 1] for Piano (1928; 66 pp.) that they become as standard as three-staff systems.

The first work to be written entirely on four-staff systems is the Concerto da suonare da me solo e senza orchestra, per divertirmi (1946; 70 pp.). The same is true of Opus clavisymphonicum—​Concerto for Piano and Large Orchestra for Piano and Large Orchestra (1957-59; 333 pp.) and (but for two pages) Opusculum clavisymphonicum vel claviorchestrale (1973-75; 334 pp.). Five-, six-, and seven-staff systems are obviously found only on a few pages of the largest works. Only once — in the Third Organ Symphony (1949-53; 305 pp.) — did Sorabji go further in spreading out his music, reaching ten staves (plus one for the pedal) on a single page.

In the case of the organ works, the one-staff pedal part should be added to the systems mentioned here. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no multi-staff pedal parts in Sorabji’s music.

The references are to the autographs rather than the published editions, as some editors have rewritten various passages to reduce the number of staves when possible without making the music difficult to read. Only Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.) is mentioned on the basis of the published score.

The following table lists the page numbers of his piano works where Sorabji uses glissandos, all on white keys unless otherwise mentioned and for the right hand. Whenever necessary, the colour of the keys is given with “(W)” and “(B)”. The frequent instances of “gliss.” added to two adjacent intervals or chords (i.e., performed like appoggiaturas) are not noted as they are not glissandos in the strict sense.

The table also lists all the instances where Sorabji asks that the pianist to press the keys in order to raise the dampers in order to let the strings vibrate sympathetically (notated with losange-shaped notes). The exact wording (usually Italian, less often French) is given.

A bullet (•) indicates works for which the page numbers are those of the manuscript rather than the published edition (unlike the two previous tables).