Sorabji Resource Site (SRS)

Works Performed but not Recorded

This page lists those works by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji that have received a first performance (and sometimes further performances). In several cases, performances were given many years ago, but no commercial recordings have been made. A few private recordings or tapes are circulating, including on YouTube, but there is no guarantee that they have been sanctioned by the performers or the sponsoring organization.

The present list can be seen as an incentive for performers and record companies to start projects.

See also a list of works that have not yet been performed.

The recording with Chappell Kingsland as executive producer that will appear on BIS in 2024 includes, in addition to the works to appear in a first commercial recording listed below, the following for which one such recording already exists:

  • Arabesque (1920; 2 pp.)
  • Trois poèmes (1941; 13 pp.)
  • Frammento cantato (1967; 1 p.), in both the original version and an arrangement for baritone and orchestra by Kingsland

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Works Year of First Performance Comments
Works Year of First Performance Comments
Chaleur—​Poème (1916-17; 32 pp.) 1999
Désir éperdu — Fragment (1917; 1 p.) 1990 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Le mauvais jardinier (1919; 1 p.) 2011 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024 (in his completion).
Quintet no. 1 for Piano and Quartet of Stringed Instruments (1919-20; 72 pp.) 1998
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [no. 5] (1920; 144 pp.) 2003
Sonata III for Piano (1922; 75 pp.) 1977
Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti (1923; 40 pp.) 1980 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024 using the second edition (2022) by Marc-André Roberge.
Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī (1926, rev. 1930; 16 pp.) 1999 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Movement for Voice and Piano (1927, 1931; 9 pp.) 2015 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Second Symphony for Organ (1929-32; 350 pp.) 2010 A virtual performance of the final section of the third movement (“Fuga triplex”) by David Carter using the Vienna Konzerthaus Organ in the Vienna Symphonic Library has been released on YouTube on 14 March 2024 (duration: 95:35).
Transcription of the Prelude in E-flat by Bach (1945; 4 pp.) 1999
Schlussszene aus “Salome” von Richard Strauss—​Konzertmäßige Übertragung für Klavier zu zwei Händen (1947; 25 pp.) 2007
Suggested Bell-Chorale for St. Luke’s Carillon (1961; 1 p.) 1961
Fourth Symphony for Piano Alone (1962-64; 240 pp.) 2003 Vars. 14-17, 25-30, 34, and 35 played by Reinier van Houdt are available on a CD included in issue no. 87 (Fall 2003) of the magazine Musicworks.
Frammenti aforistici (Sutras) (104) (1962-64; 37 pp.) 2005
Frammenti aforistici (20) (1964; 9 pp.) 2004 A performance by Gaston Polle Ansaldi, recorded in June 2021, is available on YouTube (publ. 23 October 2021).
Toccata quarta (1964-67; 149 pp.) 2014, 2024 The second and fifth movements (“Quasi corale”, “Intermezzo secondo”) were given their first performances by Florian Steininger at the Musentempel im Kulturzentrum Tempel (Karlsruhe) on 6 Janary 2024 and 20 December 2014, respectively.
Frammento cantato (1967; 1 p.) 2014 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Benedizione di San Francesco d’Assisi (1973; 2 pp.) 1999 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Sixth Symphony for Piano (Symphonia claviensis) (1975-76; 270 pp.) 2013 The recording of the first performance by Jonathan Powell (’s-Hertogenbosch, 27 October 2013) was broadcast on Concertzender on 14 August 2014 from 1.00 to 7.00 a.m. Following the host’s introduction, the concert begins at 0:03:20 and ends at 4:55:26; the applause subsides at 4:57:20, after which music by Simeon Ten Holt is heard. The entire programme lasts 5:59:54.
Frammenti aforistici (4) (1977; 1 p.) 1991 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
“Il gallo d’oro” da Rimsky-Korsakov: Variazioni frivole con una fuga anarchica, eretica e perversa (1978-79; 93 pp.) 2005 Jonathan Powell’s performance at the Centre Corum in Montpellier was broadcast live.
Il tessuto d’arabeschi (1979; 32 pp.) 1982 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024 using the second edition (2022) by Marc-André Roberge.
Opus secretum atque necromanticum (1980-81; 48 pp.) 2001 A live recording of the first performance at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 28 November 2001, is available on YouTube.
Passeggiata variata sul nome del caro e gentile giovane amico Clive Spencer-Bentley (1981; 3 pp.) 1998
Fantasiettina atematica (1981; 2 pp.) 1995 A recording with Chappelll Kingsland as executive producer will appear on BIS in 2024.
Last modified: 2024-03-15
© Marc-André Roberge 2024
Sorabji Resource Site (SRS)
Faculté de musique, Université Laval, Québec

The contents of this website dedicated to the English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji may be freely used for documentary purposes in a research context, provided that due credit is given, but may not be mirrored on any other server. Links to external or third-party websites are not guaranteed to be or remain valid or persistent and their content is not guaranteed to be or remain accurate or appropriate.

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