Sorabji Resource Site (SRS)
First Performances
This page consists of a chronological list of the first performances of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji’s works given so far. It can be thought of as consisting of four sections:
- 1920-1936: from Sorabji’s first public performance to his withdrawal from the concert stage
- 1946-1975: from Cecil Ewing’s performance of “In the Hothouse” in Bristol, given with the composer’s permission, to the end of the period of the ban
- 1976-2000: from the lifting of the ban to the beginning of Jonathan Powell’s recital series
- 2001-: from the beginning of Jonathan Powell’s extensive series of recitals and recordings
In the case of works for more than one performer, the soloist (e.g., singer) is given first, followed by the pianist’s name. The specific pieces or movements performed are given after the title; the word “complete” is used when it seems desirable to be specific.
Dates followed by a bullet (•) are those on which partial first performances took place.
Only the first concert at which the Études transcendantes (100) (1940-44; 456 pp.) were first performed, namely, by Yonty Solomon on 30 September 1979, is listed. See a list ordered by performer.
A list arranged by etude number, giving duration (both individual and cumulative, from Fredrik Ullen’s recordings), performer, date, city, and country, can be found on the Sorabji Archive’s website.
The Sorabji Archive also maintains a detailed database of all performers of Sorabji’s works with their performances, not only with date and city, but also with identification of the concert venue and context. A database of compositions can also be used to find a list of all performances.
Click on a column heading to sort, then shift-click on other headings to sort on multiple columns.
Surround strings with quotation marks for specific searches. Refresh the page to revert to the initial order.
| Date | City | Title | Performers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | City | Title | Performers |
| 1920-11-02 | London | Sonata no. 1 for Piano (1919; 42 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1921-06-02 | Paris | Trois poèmes pour chant et piano (1918, 1919; 9 pp.) | Martine, Marthe; Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1922-01-13 | Vienna | Sonata seconda for Piano (1920; 49 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1927-10-12 | London | Fragment Written for Harold Rutland (1926 version; 2 pp.) | Rutland, Harold |
| 1928-05-17• | London | Symphony [no. 1] for Organ (1924; 81 pp.); first movement | Davies, E. Emlyn |
| 1930-01-16 | Glasgow | Nocturne, “Jāmī” (1928; 28 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1930-04-01 | Glasgow | Sonata IV for Piano (1928-29; 111 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1930-04-22 | London | Le jardin parfumé—Poem for Piano Solo (1923; 16 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1930-12-01 | Glasgow | Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1936-12-16 | Glasgow | Toccata seconda per pianoforte (1933-34; 111 pp.) | Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji |
| 1946-05-17• | Bristol | Two Piano Pieces (1918, 1920; 20 pp.); “In the Hothouse” | Ewing, Cecil |
| 1961-05-05 | Germantown, PA | Suggested Bell-Chorale for St. Luke’s Carillon (1961; 1 p.) | Gentieu, Norman P. |
| 1966-10-20 | New York, NY | Fantaisie espagnole (1919; 23 pp.) | Gates, John |
| 1973-03-21 | Urbana, IL | Pastiche on the “Minute Waltz” by Chopin (1922; 7 pp.) | Bruce, Neely |
| 1975-05-11 | Oyster Bay, NY | Pastiche on the Habanera from “Carmen” by Bizet (1922; 6 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1976-12-07 | London | Two Piano Pieces (1918, 1920; 20 pp.); complete | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1977-06-16 | London | Sonata III for Piano (1922; 75 pp.) | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1977-11-22 | London | “Gulistān”—Nocturne for Piano (1940; 28 pp.) | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1977-11-22 | London | St. Bertrand de Comminges: “He was laughing in the tower” (1941; 16 pp.) | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1978-04-15 | Greenvale, NY | Fragment Written for Harold Rutland (1937 version; 2 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1978-04-15 | Greenvale, NY | 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.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1978-06-27 | London | Concerto da suonare da me solo e senza orchestra, per divertirmi (1946; 70 pp.) | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1979-06-03 | London | Trois fêtes galantes de Verlaine (ca. 1919; 11 pp.) | Manning, Jane; Solomon, Yonty |
| 1979-06-06 | London | Rosario d’arabeschi (1956; 45 pp.) | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1979-09-30• | Como | Études transcendantes (100) (1940-44; 456 pp.); nos. 1, 10, 24 | Solomon, Yonty |
| 1979-11-19 | Roanoke, VA | Fantasiettina sul nome illustre dell’egregio poeta Christopher Grieve ossia Hugh M’Diarmid (1961; 10 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1980-02-02 | Toronto, ON | Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti (1923; 40 pp.) | Ingram, Henry; New Music Concerts Ensemble, cond. Robert Aitken |
| 1982-05-02 | Philadelphia, PA | Il tessuto d’arabeschi (1979; 32 pp.) | Smith, William; members of the Philadelphia Orchestra |
| 1982-09-28 | Baltimore, MD | Prelude, Interlude, and Fugue for Piano (1920, 1922; 17 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1984-11-19 | Baltimore, MD | Valse-fantaisie for Piano (1925; 16 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1984-11-19 | Cleveland, OH | Pastiche on the Hindu Merchant’s Song from “Sadko” by Rimsky-Korsakov (1922; 4 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1987-07-25 | London | Symphony [no. 1] for Organ (1924; 81 pp.); complete | Bowyer, Kevin (first and third movements); Trotter, Thomas (second movement) |
| 1989-02-24 | Hilversum | Quasi habanera (1917; 6 pp.) | Madge, Geoffrey Douglas |
| 1990-02-21 | London | Désir éperdu — Fragment (1917; 1 p.) | Rycraft, Malcolm |
| 1991-07-23 | London | Variazione maliziosa e perversa sopra “La morte d’Åse” da Grieg (1974; 2 pp.) | Amato, Donna |
| 1991-08-19 | Calgary, AB | Frammenti aforistici (4) (1977; 1 p.) | Rumson, Gordon |
| 1992-09-16 | London | Toccatinetta sopra C.G.F. (1929; 8 pp.) | Amato, Donna |
| 1992-10-09 | London | Due sutras sul nome dell’amico Alexis (1981, 1984; 2 pp.) | Amato, Donna |
| 1993-03-26 | Vienna | Passeggiata arlecchinesca sopra un frammento di Busoni (“Rondò arlecchinesco”) (1981-82; 16 pp.) | Amato, Donna |
| 1993-03-26 | Vienna | “Quaere reliqua hujus materiei inter secretiora” (1940; 16 pp.) | Amato, Donna |
| 1994-11-22 | Warwick | Second Symphony for Organ (1929-32; 350 pp.); first movement | Bowyer, Kevin |
| 1995-03-29 | London | Fantasiettina atematica (1981; 2 pp.) | Matthews, Victoria; Harrison, Daniel; Golding, Katie |
| 1996-07-02• | London | Symphonia brevis for Piano (1973; 120 pp.); first movement | Amato, Donna |
| 1998-01-31 | State College, PA | Passeggiata variata sul nome del caro e gentile amico Clive Spencer-Bentley (1981; 3 pp.) | Frantz, Albert |
| 1998-03-21 | Sollentuna | Pasticcio capriccioso sopra l’op. 64, no 1 del Chopin (1933; 8 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1998-03-21 | Sollentuna | Rapsodie espagnole de Maurice Ravel—Transcription de concert pour piano (second version, 1945; 26 pp.) | Habermann, Michael |
| 1998-12-06 | New York, NY | Quintet no. 1 for Piano and Quartet of Stringed Instruments (1919-20; 72 pp.) | Berg, Christopher; assembled string quartet |
| 1999-04-04 | Madison, WI | Transcription of the Prelude in E-flat by Bach (1945; 4 pp.) | Pierce IV, Solon W. |
| 1999-04-08• | Duluth, MN | Sequentia cyclica super “Dies irae” ex Missa pro defunctis (1948-49; 335 pp.); theme, var. 103, 8, 14, 22 [theme and vars. 1-53, 100]. | Rubin, Justin |
| 1999-04-10 | Santa Fe, CA | Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī (1926, rev. 1930; 16 pp.) | Clark, Peter; Berg, Christopher |
| 1999-04-20 | New York, NY | L’heure exquise (1916; 2 pp.) | Burton, Amy; Musto, John |
| 1999-06-05 | Sewickley, PA | Benedizione di San Francesco d’Assisi (1973; 2 pp.) | Stater, Brent; Amato, Donna |
| 1999-06-13 | Frankfurt | Chaleur—Poème (1916-17; 32 pp.) | Schmitt, Stefan; Frankfurter Orchester Gesellschaft |
| 2000-03-23 | London | Vocalise pour soprano fioriturata (1916; 3 pp.) | Skeen, Debra; Newlands, Lydia |
| 2000-10-02• | Pittsburgh, PA | Symphonia brevis for Piano (1973; 120 pp.); second section of second movement | Amato, Donna |
| 2000-11-03 | London | Apparition (1916; 5 pp.) | Leonard, Sarah; Powell, Jonathan |
| 2000-11-03 | London | Hymne à Aphrodite (1916; 5 pp.) | Leonard, Sarah; Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-03-01 | London | Passeggiata veneziana sopra la Barcarola di Offenbach (1955-56; 24 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-03-01 | London | Un nido di scatole sopra il nome del grande e buon amico Harold Rutland (1954; 26 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-05-15 | London | Roses du soir (1915; 4 pp.) | Lixenberg, Loré; Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-05-15 | London | Villa Tasca: Mezzogiorno siciliano—Evocazione nostalgica e memoria tanta cara e preziosa del giardino meraviglioso, splendido, tropicale (1979-80; 47 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-10-26 | London | Fantasia ispanica (1933; 54 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2001-11-28 | Evanston, IL | Opus secretum atque necromanticum (1980-81; 48 pp.) | Grante, Carlo |
| 2001-12-18 | London | Toccata [no. 1] for Piano (1928; 66 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2002-09-11 | New York, NY | Sonata no. 0 (1917; 30 pp.) | Nasseri, Soheil |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | Arabesque (1920; 2 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | Chrysilla (1915; 4 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | L’étang (1917; 2 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | I Was Not Sorrowful—Poem for Voice and Piano [Spleen] (between 1917 and 1919; 3 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | L’irrémediable (1927; 8 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | The Poplars (1915; 3 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2002-11-14 | New York, NY | Trois poèmes (1941; 13 pp.) | Farnum, Elizabeth; Kampmeier, Margaret |
| 2003-03-16 | Utrecht | Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] [publ. as Concerto II] (1920; 144 pp.) | Amato, Donna; Radio Symfonie Orkest, cond. Ed Spanjaard |
| 2003-03-16 | Utrecht | Fourth Symphony for Piano Alone (1962-64; 240 pp.) | Houdt, Reinier van |
| 2004-02-20 | London | Frammenti aforistici (20) (1964; 9 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2004-06-17 | New York, NY | Symphonia brevis for Piano (1973; 120 pp.); complete | Amato, Donna |
| 2005-03-06 | Ghent | Frammenti aforistici (Sutras) (104) (1962-64; 37 pp.) | Vandewalle, Daan |
| 2005-07-24 | Montpellier | Il gallo d’oro da Rimsky-Korsakov: Variazioni frivole con una fuga anarchica, eretica e perversa (1978-79; 93 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2007-04-22 | London | Fragment: Prelude and Fugue on FxAxx DAxEx (1926; 3 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2007-06-22 | London | Schlussszene aus “Salome” von Richard Strauss—Konzertmäßige Übertragung für Klavier zu zwei Händen (1947; 25 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2008-12-18• | London | Sequentia cyclica super “Dies irae” ex Missa pro defunctis (1948-49; 335 pp.); vars. 1-13 | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2009-07-06• | Glasgow | Second Symphony for Organ (1929-32; 350 pp.); third movement | Bowyer, Kevin |
| 2010-01-29• | London | Sequentia cyclica super “Dies irae” ex Missa pro defunctis (1948-49; 335 pp.); vars. 14-22 | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2010-06-06 | Glasgow | Second Symphony for Organ (1929-32; 350 pp.); complete | Bowyer, Kevin |
| 2010-06-18 | Glasgow | Sequentia cyclica super “Dies irae” ex Missa pro defunctis (1948-49; 335 pp.); complete | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2011-04-12 | Urbana, IL | Le mauvais jardinier (1918 or 1919; compl. Chappell Kingsland, 2023; 5 pp.) | Fuller, Amy; Conrad, Kent R. (in the form in which it was then known) |
| 2011-10-07• | Bloomington, IN | Symphonic Variations for Piano (1935-37; 484 pp.); limited to var. 56 (“Allusion to the finale of B-flat minor Sonata of Chopin”), played as (partial) music for Dear Frédéric by choreographer Dwight Rhoden by the Indiana University Ballet Theater, part of a production entitled Steps in Time. | Kingsland, Chappell |
| 2013-10-27 | ’s-Hertogenbosch | Sixth Symphony for Piano (Symphonia claviensis) (1975-76; 270 pp.) | Powell, Jonathan |
| 2014-11-23 | Stoke Newington, London | Frammento cantato (1967; 1 p.) | Mark Oldfield; Christopher Scobie |
| 2014-12-20• | Karlsruhe | Toccata quarta (1964-67; 149 pp.); “Intermezzo secondo” | Steininger, Florian |
| 2015-05-03 | New York | Movement for Voice and Piano (1927, 1931; 9 pp.) | Adriane Greif; Jason Wirth |
| 2015-12-03 | Ghent | Symphonic Nocturne for Piano Alone (1977-78; 113 pp.) | Huisman, Lukas |
| 2022-07-03 | ’s-Hertogenbosch | Toccata terza (1955; 91 p.) | Sánchez-Aguilera, Abel |
| 2024-01-06• | Karlsruhe | Toccata quarta (1964-67; 149 pp.): “Quasi corale” | Steininger, Florian |
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© Marc-André Roberge 2024
© Marc-André Roberge 2024
Sorabji Resource Site (SRS)
Faculté de musique, Université Laval, Québec
Faculté de musique, Université Laval, Québec
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