This page presents Sorabji-related photographs from the personal collection of Marc-André Roberge, taken as part of his research for Opus sorabjianum: The Life and Works of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. When possible, images from other sources are also provided. No attempt has been made to avoid duplication with other sources mentioned below.
When appropriate, the captions end with a reference, such as [5], to the chapter in Opus sorabjianum where the person, place, etc., mentioned is discussed in more detail.
For other collections of pictures of Sorabji, his parents, some of his closest friends, his house in Corfe Castle, etc., see:
SCC: Paul Rapoport, ed., Sorabji: A Critical Celebration (Aldershot, Hampshire: Scolar Press [later Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate], 1992, 1994; now Abindgon, Oxforshire, and New York: Routledge). A list of illustrations appears on pp. xi-xii.
A view of Buxton Road, Chingford, Essex, where Sorabji lived during the first years of his life. The house number where he lived is unknown. [1] A view of 10 Great Russell Mansions, located at 60 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3BE (opposite the entrance to the British Museum), where Sorabji lived from about November 1914 to the early March 1915. The plate on the left reads “GREAT / RUSSELL / MANSIONS”, and the number “60” is partially obscured by the lamppost. [5] A view of Hanover House, 25a St John’s Wood High Street, City of Westminster, London NW8 7DY, where Sorabji lived from about October 1913 to about mid-April 1914. [5] A view of Clarence Gate Gardens, London NW1 6AY, which consists of two blocks of flats on both sides of Glentworth Street, where Sorabji and his mother lived from about May 1915 to the early 1950s, first on the west side at no. 29, then on the east side at no. 177, and finally at no. 175. [5] A view of Clarence Gate Gardens from the south end, where Glentworth Street (north-south) crosses Melcombe Street (east-west). [5] A view of the entrance of the building in which Sorabji lived at Clarence Gate Gardens. The text in the window above the doors reads “Clarence Gate Gardens / 169-189”. [5] A rear view of the building (left in the picture) in which Sorabji lived at Clarence Gate Gardens, showing the service entrance, located on Siddons Lane. [5] A view of Clarence Gate Gardens from Ivor Place, at the north end, showing St. Cyprian’s Church on the right, where Jonathan Powell, on 20 February 2004, gave the first British performance since 1931 of Nocturne,
“Jāmī” (1928; 28 pp.) and the world premiere of the Frammenti aforistici (20) (1964; 9 pp.). [5] A view of The Eye, Higher Filbank, Corfe Castle BH20 5EX, where Sorabji lived with Reginald Norman Best from about June 1956 to 6 June 1986. By zooming it is possible to see the stone owl standing at the start of the ramp. [17] A view of what was once Beckwell House, located at 11 Welbeck Street, London W1G 9XZ (corner of Welbeck Street and Welbeck Way, very close to the Wigmore Hall), where Sorabji stayed during his Corfe Castle years when he had to spend a few days in the capital for dental treatment or to have his manuscripts bound by the distinguished firm of Zaehnsdorf. [17] A view of Christmas Close Hospital, Wareham BH20 4RG, where Sorabji lived from 28 July to 15 October 1986 and from 21 October 1986 to 20 March 1987. [23] A view of Marley House Nursing Home, Winfrith Newburgh DT2 8JR, where Sorabji lived from 20 March 1987 until his death on 15 October 1988. [23]
Tombstones
Tombstone for Madeline Matilda Worthy, Sorabji’s mother, in the Bournemouth cemetery, showing a passage from Verdi’s Requiem. The inscription reads: SACRED / TO THE MEMORY / OF / MADELEINE MARGUERITE / MATHILDE SHAPURJI / SORABJI / † V. V. MCMLIX. AD / [quotation of bars 2-4 of the vocal part of the “Lux aeterna” from Verdi’s Requiem, with underlaid text “Lux aeterna luceat eis Domine”]. See also the citation at Find A Grave (no. 171342810. [18] Tombstone for Reginald Norman Best in “God’s Acre”, the Corfe Castle Cemetery. The inscription reads: REGINALD / NORMAN / BEST / 1909-1988. See also the citation at Find A Grave (no. 171342648). [23] Tombstone for Sorabji in “God’s Acre”, the Corfe Castle Cemetery. The inscription reads: SORABJI / XIV VIII MdCCCXCII / XV X MCMLXXXVIII (the “d” is lowercase). See also the citation at Find A Grave (no. 171342522). [23]
Manuscripts
See also a list of photographs of manuscript pages (linked from library catalogues or documentation related to auction sales).
A view of some of Sorabji’s bound manuscripts at the Sorabji Archive (Bath), their former location. [Introduction] A view of several of Sorabji’s bound manuscripts at the Sorabji Archive (Bath), their former location. The top row contains scores in landscape format, with a tall one in portrait format, namely, the Symphony [no. 1] for Piano, Large Orchestra, Chorus,
and Organ (1921-22; 300 pp.), on top of them. [Introduction] A view of some of Sorabji’s bound manuscripts at the Sorabji Archive (Bath), their former home. The supplementary scores for additional instruments that do not fit in the main score of the Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra (1935-37, 1953-56; 540 pp.) and Opus clavisymphonicum—Concerto for Piano
and Large Orchestra for Piano
and Large Orchestra (1957-59; 333 pp.) can be seen besides the main scores. [Introduction] The manuscript of Sorabji’s Sequentia cyclica super “Dies irae”
ex Missa pro defunctis (1948-49; 335 pp.), showing the last two pages, on the stand of his Steinway Patent Grand. The instrument, built in 1896 and bearing the number 85082, had been purchased by Sorabji from Strong & Jackson in London in 1931, before which time it had apparently been used in a Glasgow movie cinema. [12]
Letters
Sorabji’s reply of 10 May 1977 to the Dutch musicologist Frank Lioni, who had written to him after reading his writings about Alkan. Reproduced with permission.
Books
Spine and front cover of the original edition of Around Music. [11] First page of the article “Busoni” (pp. 21-30) from the original edition of Around Music. [11] Spine and front of the dust jacket of the original edition of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician (heavily damaged and digitally repaired). [16] Back and spine of the dust jacket of the original edition of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician (heavily damaged copy, digitally repaired). [16] Front and back flaps of the dust jacket of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician, with the publisher’s blurb (badly damaged copy, digitally repaired). On the back flap, the word littératur (first paragraph, third line) should read littérateur. [16] Cover of the original edition of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician. [16] Title page of the original edition of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician. [16] First page of the chapter “Leopold Godowsky as Creative Transcriber” (pp. 62-70) from the original edition of Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician. [16]
Miscellaneous Archival Documents
Letterheads for the Society of Connoisseurs and the Criterion Club, fake one-man foundations set up by Sorabji’s American friend and correspondent Norman P. Gentieu in an attempt to persuade him to accept his generosity in microfilming his manuscripts. Personal collection of the author (gift of Norman P. Gentieu). [17]
Annotated printed statement (for selective distribution) in which Sorabji warns against believing published information about him. From the collection of Norman P. Gentieu (photocopy provided by the repicient, who transcribed the first comment). Sorabji liked to send to his friends copies of documents about himself, or copies of open letters that he had sent to periodicals, often with comments.
The lines at the bottom reproduce (with a variant) two verses from the description of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey (1696-1743), in the Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot (1734) by Alexander Pope (1688-1744). The original reads as follows; the quoted passage (lines 305-6) is set in italics here.
Let Paris tremble—“What? that Thing of silk, Paris, that mere white Curd of Ass’s milk?
Satire or sense, alas! can Paris feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” Yet let me flap this Bug with gilded wings,
This painted Child of Dirt that stinks and stings; Whose Buzz the Witty and the Fair annoys,
Yet Wit ne’er tastes, and Beauty ne’er enjoys,
So well-bred Spaniels civilly delight
In mumbling of the Game they dare not bite.
The name “Pope” can be seen in the lower-right corner. Personal collection of the author (photocopy; gift of Norman P. Gentieu). [4]
People
Portrait of Sorabji’s friend and dedicatee Norman P. Gentieu, from Philadelphia, in October 1956. Personal collection of the author (gift of Norman P. Gentieu). [17] Portrait of Sorabji’s friend and dedicatee Harold Morland seated in his library (undated). Personal collection of the author (gift of Robert William Procter). [15] The author and Alistair Hinton examining the manuscript of the Concerto V for Piano and Large Orchestra [no.
8] (1927-28; 344 pp.) at the Sorabji Archive (Bath) on 24 June 1992 (day of their first meeting). The supplementary score for additional instruments that do not fit into the main score can be seen protruding slightly at the bottom of the recto page. [Preface] Yonty Solomon standing in front of his grand piano on 4 July 1996, following tea, to which he had invited the author. [22]
Concert Venues
A view of the former Mortimer Hall, located at 93 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SS (near the junction with Great Portland Street; now a commercial building), where Sorabji gave his first documented recital, playing the Sonata no. 1 for Piano (1919; 42 pp.), on 2 November 1920. [6] An interior view of Westminster Congregational Church (opened in this form in 1865, replacing an earlier building; now Westminster Chapel), located at the south-west corner of Buckingham Gate and Castle Lane, London SW1E 6BS, where E. Emlyn Davies gave the first performance of the second movement of the Symphony [no. 1] for Organ (1924; 81
pp.) on 17 May 1928, and Sorabji gave the first performance of Nocturne,
“Jāmī” (1928; 28 pp.) on 16 January 1930. The organ was built by Henry Willis & Sons in 1879 and rebuilt by Rushworth & Dreaper in 1920 and 1982, and restored by them in 1953. It has 4 keyboards and 45 stops on the left and 33 on the right. [8] A view of the entrance to the Townhouse Hotel, West George Street, Glasgow G2 1NG, when the picture was taken (1996). The building is located on Nelson Mandela Place, in front of the Church of Scotland, St George’s-Tron Parish Church. It was originally built as the Glasgow Liberal Club and was eventually used as part of the Royal Academy of Music and Drama. The civic number, engraved at the top of the porch, used to be “186-199”. In the 1930s it housed Stevenson Hall, where Sorabji performed his works on four occasions in concerts organized by Erik Chisholm’s Active Society for the Propagation of Contemporary Music. [9, 10, 12] A view of the present building of the Royal College of Nursing (dating from 1703), showing what is now the goods entrance at 1a Henrietta Place, London W1G 0LZ, formerly the site of Cowdray Hall, where John Tobin performed pars prima from Opus clavicembalisticum (1929-30; 253
pp.) on 10 March 1936. Formerly the home of the Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (1852-1928), who served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916, it once housed the Cowdray Club, also known as the Nation’s Nurses and Professional Women’s Club (1922-74). Henrietta is the first name of the wife of Edward Henley, who developed the area. [13]
Places
A view of the slopes of Corfe Castle as seen from “God’s Acre”, the cemetery where Sorabji and Reginald Norman Best are interred. [17] A view of the Bankes Arms Hotel, Corfe Castle BH20 5ED, where Sorabji stayed during his annual summer holidays from the 1930s. We know from letters or inscriptions in the manuscripts that he completed the following scores or movements there: second movement of the Sonata V (Opus archimagicum) (1934-35; 336
pp.), the Symphonic Variations for Piano (1935-37; 484 pp.), second movement of the Symphony [no. 2],
“Jāmī”, for Large Orchestra, Wordless Chorus, and Baritone
Solo (1942-51; 826 pp.). [17] A view of Villa Tasca, in Palermo, which served as the inspiration for Villa Tasca: Mezzogiorno siciliano—Evocazione
nostalgica e memoria tanta cara e preziosa del giardino meraviglioso, splendido,
tropicale (1979-80; 47 pp.) and, previously, the second movement of the Sonata IV for Piano (1928-29; 111 pp.), which emphasizes the building itself. [9, 23] A view of Villa Tasca, in Palermo, which served as the inspiration for Villa Tasca: Mezzogiorno siciliano—Evocazione
nostalgica e memoria tanta cara e preziosa del giardino meraviglioso, splendido,
tropicale (1979-80; 47 pp.) and, previously, the second movement of the Sonata IV for Piano (1928-29; 111 pp.), which emphasizes the luxuriance of the surrounding vegetation. [9, 23]
Art Works
Pencil, ink, watercolour, and metallic paint drawing on paper by the English artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956), signed with the initials “AOS”, dated ca. 1929; 21 1/8″ × 14 1/2″. Described as “An ascending plume of faces, figures and atavistic forms”. Originally the property of Sorabji (until 1987). See a fuller description as well as the page for the latest sale (2018) by Christie’s. From the collection of John Slater, photograph by Ossian Brown. Reproduced with permission.
Sorabji Resource Site (SRS)
Faculté de musique, Université Laval, Québec
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