Sound Files for the Musical Examples of Opus sorabjianum

Playing time: 50:38 minutes (average time for each file: 30 seconds).

Software specifications

• The sound files were made by exporting as audio the files created using Avid Technology®’s Sibelius 6.2.
• The WAV files created by Sibelius have been converted to MP3 format using FreeTime’s Format Factory 3.1.1.
• The tags (visible in the Advanced section of the Summary panel of each file’s Properties sheet) were entered with NCH Software’s Stamp ID3 Tag Editor v. 2.39 (all updated for version 1.04).

Sounds and peculiarities

• The sound files use the default sound set(Sibelius Sounds Essential).
• Voice parts, except in Example 19-04 for the Messa grande sinfonica (1955-61; 1,001 pp.), use clarinet (or bass clarinet) instead of the “ah” sounds assigned to voice parts by default.
• Pedal markings have been added to try and avoid the very dry sound of the basic files.
• In the case of the orchestral examples, the files are realizations of the examples themselves (offered in reduction), not of the original.
• Example 19.2 for the Suggested Bell-Chorale for St. Luke’s Carillon (1961; 1 p.) ends first with the normal ending, then, after a pause, with the ossia one.

Tempo and dynamics: Invisible metronome marks representing the editor’s best guesses have been inserted to produce something that appears playable and meaningful; the tempos used may or may not be based on those chosen by the artists who have released commercial recordings. To produce sound files with sufficient volume, sometimes very low dynamics have been increased. For better results, increase the volume slightly.

Pauses between sections and after the final note: Sections marked by a double barline are preceded by four beats of silence, and each sound file ends in the same way.

Limitations: As is always the case with sound files, especially those that are not produced by high-end equipment in the hands of experienced professionals, the files provided here should only be regarded as a quick and easy means of getting an idea of what a few bars of music sound like. There is hardly any attempt at trying to produce anything close to a real performance. What is important here is that these (usually) 15- to 30-second files, which are intended solely for illustrative purposes in order to better understand the musical examples, and not for repeated armchair listening, should be perfectly accurate in terms of pitch and rhythm. I apologize in advance to those who have taken the time to master the art of creating high-quality sound files or, more importantly, to those who object in principle to the creation and distribution of such files.

Copyright: The music still in copyright is owned by the Sorabji Archive (Alistair Hinton). The sound files, as well as the editorial content of the musical examples on which they are based, are the property of Marc-André Roberge.

Suggested procedure for listening (using Windows Media Player 11)

• Unzip the file.
• Select all the files to be listened to; all filenames begin with a string like 04-01 (chapter-number) and are followed by a short title.
• Drag the selection into the right pane of Windows Media Player or right-click and select Play to load the list.
• Stop the file that automatically starts playing and click on Now Playing | Sort | By File Name if the files are not in the desired order.
• Windows Media Player will now play the files one after the other in the correct order.

Download link: The zipped file containing the sound files for Opus sorabjianum: The Life and Works of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji can be downloaded by clicking on the following link (ZIP: 42.6 MB):

Download the sound files for Opus sorabjianum
(version 1.04, 4 January 2022)

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