List of compositions by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

Updated on Oct 23, 2023

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Comment

The following list includes all the known compositions of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji sorted by instrumentation. Within the individual sections, the pieces are arranged by genre and chronologically.

The list of works found here is based on the information provided by Marc-André Roberge's Sorabji Resource Site. Since Sorabji's piece titles tend to contain various problems, Roberge's site amends them when necessary.

Symphonies

No. 1 for Piano, Large Orchestra, Chorus, and Organ (1921–22; 300 pp.)

The second symphony was intended for piano, large orchestra, organ, chorus, and six solo voices; only the piano part (written 1930–31) was completed, yet it is one of Sorabji's longest piano compositions of all and has been described as self-sufficient. It was later renamed to Symphony No. 0 for Piano Solo (though not by Sorabji).

No. 2, Jāmī, for Large Orchestra, Wordless Chorus, and Baritone Solo (1942–51; 333 pp.)

I. (with chorus)

II. (with neither chorus nor baritone)

III. (with chorus)

IV. Cantico (with chorus and baritone)

Other

Messa grande sinfonica, for 8 Soloists, 2 Choirs, and Orchestra (1955–61; 1001 pp.)

I. Kyrie

II. Gloria [with 11 settings of the text]

[Passacaglia]

[Interlude]

[Di nuovo la passacaglia]

III. Credo—Offertorium [the Credo with 6 settings of the text]

IV. Sanctus [with 5 settings of the text]

V. Pater noster [with 15 settings of the text]

VI. Agnus dei [with 3 settings of the text]

VII. Amen

Piano concertos

Numbered:

No. 1 (1915–16; 177 pp.)

I. Modéré

II. Très lent. Toujours enveloppé d'une atmosphère de chaleur tropicale et langoureuse

III. Impétueux et impatient

No. 2 (1916–17; only two-piano version survives; 49 pp.)

Modéré

Lent

Galvanique mais sans trop de hâte d'abord

No. 3 (1918; 100 pp.)

Modérément animé, avec une expression très libre et fantaisiste

Assez lent

Vif et animé

No. 4 (1918; 100 pp.)

I. Modérément animé

II. Très lent

III. Galvanique. Animé, mais pas trop vite

No. 5 (1920; 144 pp.)

No. 6 (1922; 144 pp.)

I. Animé

II. Lent

III. Vif

No. 7, Simorg-Anka (1924; 100 pp.)

I. Assez animé, nerveux

II. Lent mais pas traîné. Ordinairement très doux et "piano"

III. Très animé

No. 8 (1927–28; 344 pp.)

I. Ardito—focosamente

II.

III. Rude, sauvage et brutal

Unnumbered:

Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra (1935–37, 1953–56; Sorabji added an "Introitus" for orchestra alone and orchestrated the first volume of the three-book Symphonic Variations for Piano, 540 pp.)

Opus clavisymphonicum—Concerto for Piano and Large Orchestra (1957–59; 333 pp.)

I. Vivo

II. Toccata; Cadenza fugata; Adagio–Epilogo

Opusculum clavisymphonicum vel claviorchestrale (1973–75; 334 pp.)

I. Moderatamente animato

II. Variazioni sopra il Credo in qualsiasi modo del Gretchaninoff

Other

Chaleur—Poème (1916–17; 40 pp.)

Opusculum for Orchestra (1923; 36 pp.)

Works for voice(s) and chamber ensemble

Music to "The Rider by Night" (1919; libretto written by Robert Nichols; full score missing)

Cinque sonetti di Michelagniolo Buonarroti, for baritone, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, piano, and strings (1923; 40 pp.)

"Tu sa' ch'i' so, signor mie, che tu sai"

"Non so se s'è la desïata luce"

"A che più debb'i' mai l'intensa voglia"

"Veggio nel tuo bel viso, signor mio"

"Se nel volto per gli occhi il cor si vede"

Works for bells

Suggested Bell-Chorale for St. Luke's Carillon (1961; 1 p.)

Works for voice and piano

The Poplars (1915; Ducic, translated by Selver; 2 versions; 3 pp.)

Chrysilla (1915; de Régnier; 4 pp.)

Roses du soir (1915; Louÿs; 4 pp.)

L'heure exquise (1916; Verlaine; 2 pp.)

Vocalise pour soprano fioriturata (1916; 2 versions; 3 pp.)

Apparition (1916; Mallarmé; 5 pp.)

Hymne à Aphrodite (1916; Tailhade; 2 versions; 5 pp.)

L'étang (1917; Rollinat; 2 pp.)

I Was Not Sorrowful—Poem for Voice and Piano [Spleen] (between 1917 and 1919; Dowson; 3 pp.)

Trois poèmes pour chant et piano (1918, 1919; Baudelaire and Verlaine; 9 pp.)

Correspondances (Baudelaire)

Crépuscule du soir mystique (Verlaine)

Pantomime (Verlaine)

Trois fêtes galantes de Verlaine (c. 1919; 11 pp.)

L'allée

à la Promenade

Dans la Grotte

Le mauvais jardinier (1919; Gilkin; only the first page survives)

Arabesque (1920; Shamsuʾd-Dīn Ibrāhīm Mīrzā; 2 pp.)

Trois Poèmes du "Gulistān" de Saʿdī (1926; translated by Toussaint; 2 versions; 16 pp.)

La lampe

La Jalousie

La Fidelité

L'irrémédiable (1927; Baudelaire; 8 pp.)

Movement for Voice and Piano (1927, 1931; 9 pp.)

Trois poèmes (1941; Verlaine and Baudelaire; 13 pp.)

Le Faune (Verlaine)

Les Chats (Baudelaire)

La dernière fête galante (Verlaine)

Frammento cantato (1967; Harold Morland; 1 p.)

Piano quintets

No. 1 (1919–20; 72 pp.)

No. 2 (1932–33; at 432 pages, it is possibly the longest non-repetitive chamber work ever written)

I. Introito; Fantasia; Coda–Finale

II. Preludio; Passacaglia

III. Adagio

IV. Finale: Introduction; Allegro; Intermezzo; Coda–Epilogo

Other

Concertino non grosso for String Sextet with Piano obbligato quasi continuo, for 4 violins, viola, and cello (1968; 48 pp.)

I. Vivace assai

II. Adagio

III. Finale. Vivace, leggiero

Il tessuto d'arabeschi, for flute and string quartet (1979; 32 pp.)

Fantasiettina atematica, for oboe, flute, and clarinet (1981; 2 pp.)

Symphonies

No. 0 (1930–31; piano part of the otherwise unfinished Symphony II for Piano, Large Orchestra, Organ, Final Chorus, and Six Solo Voices; 333 pp.)

I. Prologo; Introito; Fantasia; Cadenza; Coda–Stretta

II. Adagio; Punta d'organo; Notturno–Fantasia; Ritournelle–point d'orgue

III. Prelude; Toccata variata; Cadenza–fugata; Coda–Epilogo

No. 1 (Tāntrik) (1938–39; 284 pp.)

I. Mūlādhāra

II. (Svādhiṣṭhāna)

III. (Maṇipūra)

IV. (Anāhata Cakra). Mormorando e morbidissimo

V. Viśuddha

VI. Ājñā

VII. Sahasrāra [Padma]. Fuga libera a cinque voci

No. 2 (1954; 248 pp.)

Parte Prima

I. Intrecciata politematica

Parte Seconda

II. Aria fiorita: piuttosto notturno

III. Moto perpetuo; Interludio; Coda

Parte Terza

IV. Fanfare; Introito; Toccata; Punta d'organo constanziata; Fuga

V. Adagio–Finale

No. 3 (1959–60; 144 pp.)

No. 4 (1962–64; 242 pp.)

I. Moderatamente allegro

II. Preludio corale; Interludio; Ostinato; Variazioni

III. Finale

No. 5 (Symphonia brevis) (1973; 120 pp.)

I. Preludio; Intreccio; Stretta

II. Adagio; Preludio quasi toccata; Aria fiorita; Interludio; Notturno; Nexus; Quasi fuga; Coda–Epilogo

No. 6 (Symphonia claviensis) (1975–76; 270 pp.)

Prima Parte

I. Introito; Intrecciata; Interludio fugato; Coda–Epilogo

Seconda Parte

II. Preludio; Interludio placido; Animato quasi scherzo; Moto perpetuo; Ostinato

III. Quasi adagio

IV. Quasi Alkan

Terza Parte

V. Arabesque-Nocturne

VI. Quasi fuga

VII. Coda–Epilogo

Sonatas

No. 0, discovered posthumously (1917; 30 pp.)

No. 1 (1919; 42 pp.)

No. 2 (1920; 49 pp.)

No. 3 (1922; 75 pp.)

No. 4 (1928–29; 111 pp.)

I. Vivo—arditamente

II. Count Tosca's Garden

III. Preludio; Fantasia; Cadenza; Fuga duplex quatuor vocibus; Coda–Stretta

No. 5 (Opus archimagicum) (1934–35; 336 pp.)

Pars Prima: Arcana Minora

I. Fiero, ardito

II. Presto, sotto voce inquieto

III. Punta d'organo

IV. Con fuoco, ardito e fiero

Pars Altera: Arcana Majora

VI. Adagio

Pars Tertia et Ultima: Archimagus

VII. Preludio

VIII. Preludio-corale sopra "Dies iræ"

IX. Cadenza

X. Fuga libera a cinque voci e tre soggetti

Multi-movement toccatas

No. 1 (1928; 66 pp.)

I. Preludio–Corale

II. Passacaglia

III. Cadenza

IV. Fuga

V. Coda–Stretta

No. 2 (1933–34; 111 pp.)

I. Preludio-Toccata

II. Preludio-Corale

III. Scherzo

IV. Aria

V. Ostinato

VI. Notturno

VII. Interludio–Moto perpetuo. Riflesso del Preludio–Toccata

VIII. Cadenza–Punta d'organo

IX. Fuga libera a cinque voci

No. 3 (lost; 1937?–38?)

No. 4 (1964–67; 149 pp.)

I. Theme [with 24 variations]; Nexus

II. Quasi corale

III. Intermezzo primo: Moto perpetuo; Punta d'organo; Aria

IV. Passacaglia

V. Intermezzo secondo. Of a neophyte and how the Black Art was revealed to him

VI. Cadenza–Toccata

VII. Preludio adagio; Fuga quintuplex

Variation sets

Variazioni e fuga triplice sopra "Dies irae" per pianoforte (1923–26; two parts of 32 variations each; 201 pp.)

Symphonic Variations for Piano (1935–37; 81 variations; in three books, of which the first was later orchestrated. 484 pp.)

Sequentia cyclica super "Dies irae" ex Missa pro defunctis (1948–49; 27 variations; 335 pp.)

"Il gallo d'oro" da Rimsky-Korsakov: variazioni frivole con una fuga anarchica, eretica e perversa (1978–79; 53 variations; 93 pp.)

Sets of aphoristic fragments

Frammenti aforistici (Sutras) (104) (1962–64; 37 pp.)

Frammenti aforistici (20) (1964; 9 pp.)

Frammenti aforistici (4) (1977; 1 p.)

Transcriptions

Three Pastiches (1922; 17 pp.)

Pastiche on the "Minute Waltz" by Chopin (1922)

Pastiche on the Habanera from "Carmen" by Bizet (1922)

Pastiche on the Hindu Merchant's Song from "Sadko" by Rimsky-Korsakov (1922)

Rapsodie espagnole de Maurice Ravel: transcription de concert pour piano (first version; 1923; 15 pp.)

Pasticcio capriccioso sopra l'op. 64, no 1 del Chopin (1933; 8 pp.)

Transcription in the Light of Harpsichord Technique for the Modern Piano of the Chromatic Fantasia of J. S. Bach, Followed by a Fugue (1940; 15 pp.)

Rapsodie espagnole de Maurice Ravel: transcription de concert pour piano (second version; 1945; 26 pp.)

Transcription of the Prelude in E-flat by Bach (1945; based on BWV 815a; 4 pp.)

Schlussszene aus "Salome" von Richard Strauss—Konzertmäßige Übertragung für Klavier zu zwei Händen (1947; transcription of the finale of Strauss' opera Salome; 25 pp.)

Other

Quasi habanera (1917; 6 pp.)

Désir éperdu—Fragment (1917; 1 p.)

Fantaisie espagnole (1919; 23 pp.)

Two Piano Pieces (In the Hothouse [1918] and Toccata [1920]; 20 pp.)

Prelude, Interlude, and Fugue for Piano (1920, 1922; 17 pp.)

Le jardin parfumé: Poem for Piano Solo (1923; 16 pp.)

Valse-fantaisie for Piano (1925; 16 pp.)

Fragment: Prelude and Fugue on FxAxx DAxEx (1926; 3 pp.)

Fragment Written for Harold Rutland (1926, 1928, 1937; 8 pp.)

Nocturne, "Jāmī" (1928; 28 pp.)

Passacaglia (1929; unfinished; 41 pp.)

Introduction, Passacaglia, Cadenza and Fugue (2004; Alexander Abercrombie's completion of the unfinished 1929 Passacaglia)

Toccatinetta sopra C.G.F. (1929; 8 pp.)

Opus clavicembalisticum (1929–30; 253 pp.)

Fantasia ispanica (1933; 54 pp.)

Quaere reliqua hujus materiei inter secretiora (1940; based on the story "Count Magnus" by M. R. James; 16 pp.)

"Gulistān"—Nocturne for Piano (1940; inspired by The Rose Garden by Saʿdī; 28 pp.)

St. Bertrand de Comminges: "He was laughing in the tower" (1941; based on the story "Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book" by M. R. James; 16 pp.)

Études transcendantes (100) (1940–44; these range from short virtuoso studies to expansive concert works; 456 pp.)

Concerto da suonare da me solo e senza orchestra, per divertirsi (1946; 70 pp.)

I. Incomincia l'orchestra arrogante e pomposa

II.

III. Scherzo diabolico

Un nido di scatole sopra il nome del grande e buon amico Harold Rutland (1954; 26 pp.)

Passeggiata veneziana sopra la Barcarola di Offenbach (1955–56; based on "Barcarolle" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman; 24 pp.)

Rosario d'Arabeschi (1956; 45 pp.)

Fantasiettina sul nome illustre dell'egregio poeta Christopher Grieve ossia Hugh M'Diarmid (1961; 10 pp.)

Variazione maliziosa e perversa sopra "La morte d'Åse" da Grieg (1974; based on "The Death of Åse" from Grieg's Peer Gynt; 2 pp.)

Symphonic Nocturne for Piano Alone (1977–78; 113 pp.)

Villa Tasca: mezzogiorno siciliano—evocazione nostalgica e memoria tanta cara e preziosa del giardino meraviglioso, splendido, tropicale (1979–80; 47 pp.)

Opus secretum atque necromanticum (1980–81; 48 pp.)

Passeggiata variata sul nome del caro e gentile amico Clive Spencer-Bentley (1981; 3 pp.)

Passeggiata arlecchinesca sopra un frammento di Busoni ("Rondò arlecchinesco") (1981–82; based on material from Busoni's Rondò Arlecchinesco; 16 pp.)

Due sutras sul nome dell'amico Alexis (1981, 1984; 3 pp.)

Works for organ

Symphonies:

No. 1 (1924; 81 pp.)

I. Prelude; Passacaglia; Postlude

II. Introduction; [Quasi fugue]; Coda

III. Moderato; Cadenza de' pedali; [Di nuovo il moderato]; Cadenza–Toccata; Coda–Stretto

No. 2 (1929–32; 350 pp.)

I. Introduction

II. Thema cum variationibus

III. Finale: Preludio; Adagio; Toccata; Fuga triplex

No. 3 (1949–53; 305 pp.)

I. Introito; Fantasia; Coda–Ripieno

II. Grave; Corale–Fantasia; Ripieno

III. Toccata; Passacaglia; Cadenza fantasiata; Fuga sextuplex

Works for baritone and organ

Benedizione di San Francesco d'Assisi (1973; 2 pp.)

Lost works

Transcription of "In a Summer Garden," a piano transcription of Delius's piece of the same name (1914)

Vocalise No. 2 (1916)

Medea (1916)

The Reiterated Chord (1916; only sketches survive)

Black Mass (1922)

Music for "Faust" (c. 1930)

The Line (1932)

Piano Toccata No. 3 (1937?–38?)

Le agonie (1951)

References

List of compositions by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

Contents

Symphonies

Other

Piano concertos

Other

Works for voice(s) and chamber ensemble

Works for bells

Works for voice and piano

Piano quintets

Other

Symphonies

Sonatas

Multi-movement toccatas

Variation sets

Sets of aphoristic fragments

Transcriptions

Other

Works for organ

Works for baritone and organ

Lost works

References