Sorabji: A Critical Celebration.
How times have changed! If I had been told in 1977, when my interest in Kaikhosru Sorabji really began, that sixteen years from then a comprehensive book about him would appear, my reaction would have been one of total disbelief. Back then, nobody would have had the right to expect a project of such magnitude ever to see the light of day, especially one celebrating such an obscure figure.Since then however, there has been such an intensification of curiosity about Sorabji--largely due to the appearance during the 1980s of two (two!) complete recordings of the gigantic Opus clavicembalisticum for solo piano (Altarus AIR-CD-9075 and Royal Conservatory Series RCS 4-800)--that the book now under review is not only possible but is also a veritable necessity. It is true that no book could ever replace the actual experience of listening to Sorabji's music, but this one certainly comes as close as one could wish to giving us a taste of a body of music that, to my mind, has no equal anywhere else in history.
For those unfamiliar with this unique creator's work: Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, a Zoroastrian Parsi who lived the greater part of his life in England and who passed away in 1988 at the age of 96, produced a mountainous quantity of extremely long and fantastically intricate works, many of them lasting several hours, most of them for solo piano or at least including it in their instrumentation, and all of them of a textural and contrapuntal richness rarely if ever encountered in the standard repertory. For me, looking at Sorabji's scores still has, after all these years, an extraordinary effect. I can well imagine the shock experienced by those who encounter this music for the first time and who are confronted with the fact that the temporal proportions they are accustomed to in the bulk of the literature are here stretched to exponential dimensions: fugues will easily run to fifty pages or more, variations on a given theme will usually number up to one hundred, and so on. But all of this would be irrelevant, were it not for the fact that the music can have, for anyone patient enough to study it, an inescapably compelling effect; the ceaseless flow of ideas and the absolute spontaneity of Sorabji's discourse (expressed in a one-of-a-kind harmonic language perhaps best qualified as "pantonal") make it worth the admittedly considerable effort of acquainting oneself with any one of his works.
It is easy to see what a travail d'Hercule this book must have been to assemble, especially since it was so long in the making (it was announced as early as 1983). But it has been worth the wait: the book brilliantly answers the prayers of all Sorabji enthusiasts, who up to now had to contend with the very few and meager entries in music dictionaries; usually these entries were not only incomplete and full of misinformation, but plainly showed an ignorance, or at the very least a disinterest toward the subject at hand. (I remember reading a review that mentioned among other things, in good faith, that the composer lived in a castle in Scotland, when in fact his dwelling was a one-story house in the town of Corfe Castle, Dorset.)
Paul Rapoport's "critical celebration" is so far removed from this kind of perfunctory research--his own love of the subject so indelibly inscribed everywhere, his editorial hand so secure and thorough--that the value of the book is undeniable. One of the book's biggest strengths, in my opinion, is that the material is so absorbing and the subject matter so rich that even those mildly interested individuals who might just consult it for one piece of information will no doubt be tempted to browse and very possibly read it through.
The range of topics, while perhaps not absolutely comprehensive, is still eminently satisfactory and more than sufficient. The subject matter includes: an introduction to the music and an attempt to elucidate its position within the framework of music history as well as its place in posterity; portraits of the composer through vivid personal accounts; a detailed and meticulous catalogue of works; a list of performances; a discussion of Sorabji's pianistic vocabulary; an examination of his work as music critic (an important part of his activities); a close look at his voluminous correspondence; and finally, a discourse concerning pianistic problems peculiar to Sorabji. The final portion, Kenneth Derus's appendicular "Perigraph," will perhaps for some represent a puzzling stylistic departure from the general tone of the book, but for the persevering souls willing to untwine its complex semantics, it offers some fascinating and very valuable viewpoints.
A very welcome feature is the inclusion of several photographs, which shed a great deal of light on the composer's human attributes and which in this respect complement the text quite satisfactorily. I suppose one could say that a less forbidding picture could have been chosen for the front of the dust jacket, communicating unequivocally as it does a "lascite ogni speranza voi ch'entrate" sort of feeling to prospective readers (Sorabji is here seen glaring sternly at the camera). But, in a way, this is strangely in keeping with the character of the music, which he explicitly intended for serious and dedicated listeners only. For the fearless.
However, one need no longer fear making contact with this extraordinary music. What we have witnessed during the last three or four decades, from experimental serialism to Glass-thin minimalism has provided us with greater and better means of properly evaluating Sorabji's position, and a strong position it is. There definitely is a life for his music beyond the small circle of friends it was originally created for, and there is no doubt that it will hold a secure place in the future, however difficult it might be for performers or listeners. Sorabji fans will be happy to know that there is more to come; Marc-Andre Roberge, one of the contributors to the present book, is currently preparing a full-scale biography of the composer, and it promises to be excellent. But for now we should be more than happy to have Rapoport's scholarly, well-constructed, and informative volume in our hands.
A hot tip: The Sorabji Archive, now five years old or so, is the only source for those wishing to acquire photocopies of the music and the composer's writings, whether published or not. The address is: Easton Dene, Bailbrook Lane, Bath BA1 7AA, England.
MARC-ANDRE HAMELIN Philadelphia
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| Author: | Hamelin, Marc-Andre |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Notes |
| Date: | Sep 1, 1994 |
| Words: | 1078 |
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