Willravel

I found some sheet music today written by composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. Turns out that some composers are sons of bitches. I cracked open Opus Clavicembalisticum only to find that someone had accidentally shaken the music so that the notes were all out of order. I IMed a friend of mine and asked if he had a better copy. Apparently, the music I got was just fine. Here's a tiny, tiny sample:

Look crazy? Have a listen:

Have some more:


And here's the sad part: as I've been trying to learn the piece over the past hour and a half, I've started to really appreciate it. It's magnificent, even. As I moved, at a snail's pace, into the Second Movement, it became even more incredible. I started out thinking the guy was just being an asshole, composing a piece that's intentionally atonal and difficult, but now... crap, I'm going to have to learn this entire piece.

Has anyone else had experience with Sorabji? Has anyone played Sorabji? Has anyone else ever gotten his music? I'm starting to wonder if the piece has simply driven me mad.

meanSpleen

That was beautiful... I don't play piano, but I know my sister would slap me if I showed even that part of it to her. I understand that it is a fairly lengthy piece, but I think i'll go hunt a copy down to hear it.. Thanks for bringing this up!

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little_tippler

That was really interesting to listen to. Thanks for that. No never heard of the composer. And yes, you are mad

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Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

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Anxst

Not familiar with the composer, but the piece is both beautiful and difficult to listen to. I can only imagine playing it.

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CinnamonGirl

Oy. Parts of it sounded like scales were just being played really, really fast. The rest just made me feel... jangled. I kept waiting for some kind of consonance or resolution or something, but it never really happened... yeesh.

I'll have to listen to it some more... but later, as I've been drinking, and I'm not sure the two would mix well

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Willravel

Maybe I should get sloshed and listen to it!

I've gotten through a bit of it, but I'm really having to rely mostly on my sight reading. As much as I'd like to tell you that I can get through it in my head, which I can do with pretty much everything else I've ever heard, I simply can't go more than maybe a minute in without getting lost. I'm still not sure if I understand it yet.

rsoares

LOVED it. Found a copy right away and am learning it -- will take a while for sure. Please DO finish and post your and Madge's videos.

---------- Post added at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 AM ----------

Sounds organized in time...

Leto

is it meant to be a technical excercise?

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SecretMethod70

Niiiiice. That's right up my alley. Haven't heard him before, but I'll definitely be searching for more.

Writing music like that used to be a lot more common. Composers would put little puzzles in the music, or make shapes, or even create whole drawings. They weren't always meant to be played, but there are a lot of creative things that can be done with written music

---------- Post added at 12:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 PM ----------

Nope, not at all: Opus Clavicembalisticum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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