Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892-1988) was an unusual legend in his own lifetime: a Parsi composer and critic living in England whose compositions are of such length and difficulty that he felt compelled to ban public performances of them. This book, the first devoted to Sorabji, explores his life and character, his music, his articles and letters. It both presents the legend accurately and dispels its exaggerated aspects. The portrait which emerges is not of a crank or eccentric but of a highly original and accomplished musical thinker whom recent performances and recordings confirm as unique and important. Most of the contributors knew Sorabji personally. They have all written about or performed his music, gaining international recognition for their work. Generous quotation of Sorabji's published and unpublished music and prose assists in bringing him and his work strikingly to life. The book also contains the most complete and accurate register of his work ever published.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Illustrations
• Part 1 Discovery
• Why Sorabji?
• Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: An Introduction
• Sorabji: A Continuation
• A Few Recollections and Ruminations
• "Could you just send me a list of his works?"
• Part 2 The Prose
• Sorabji's Letters to Heseltine
• Sorabji's Music Criticism
• Sorabji's Other Writings
• Part 3 The Music
• Sorabji's Piano Music
• Performing Opus clavicembalisticum - Geoffrey Douglas Madge with Paul Rapoport
• Splendour upon Splendour: On Hearing Sorabji Play
• Un tessuto d'esecuzioni: A Register of Performances of Sorabji's Works
• Perigraph - To Remember Sorabji's Music: A Short Conclusion
• Appendix 1 The Texts of Sorabji's Vocal Music
• Appendix 2 The Recordings of Sorabji's Music
• Appendix 3 The Sorabji Music Archive
• Bibliography
• Index of Sorabji's Compositions
• General Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Readers to whom the name Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji is unfamiliar belong to a majority. British-born but of Parsi-Sicilian origin, Sorabji spent a reclusive life as composer and sometime music critic in England, dying in 1988 at the age of 96. His music, mostly for piano, is complicated, lengthy (his "Opus clavicembalisticum" lasts over four hours), and technically demanding. Now it is receiving attention after decades during which Sorabji refused to allow public performances, fearing to suffer what he called "obscene travesty." The book's articles, by eight different authors, including the editor, cover many aspects of Sorabji's life and career. Unfortunately, only the chapter by Michael Habermann on the piano music contains musical examples that allow one an idea of Sorabji's music. To judge from these, it is grandiose, intricate, persistently complicated to the point of obfuscation, pianistically challenging, yet somehow manages to pique one's interest. By present standards the idiom is conservative, but since Sorabji never thought himself a "modern" composer (his musical heroes included Delius, Medtner, Alkan, and Busoni) one should not expect obvious radicalism. As a music and record critic, Sorabji used ornate and hyperbolic language that suggested the intricacy of his music. The purpose of this well-intentioned and for the most part well-written book, more celebratory than critical, is to help expand the number of his admirers. Readers at any level. F. Goossen; University of Alabama