Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892-1988) was one of the most enigmatic composers of the 20th century. Born in Britain, he embraced his Parsi heritage as an adult and changed his name from
Leon Dudley Sorabji to
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. He was independently wealthy and devoted his life to writing prolifically, although he allowed little of his music to be published and forbade public performances without his permission. He was notable for writing keyboard pieces of gargantuan length. His Second Symphony for organ lasts over nine hours, for example, so in giving his two-hour long Fifth Symphony for piano solo the title "Symphonia brevis" he was not being in the least facetious.
Sorabji's model was
Busoni, whose harmonic freedom he takes as a basis for his own distinctive extensions and permutations of tonality, but his music doesn't sound like anyone else's and defies simple categorization. In his larger works it is characterized by an unhurried expansiveness that might be heard as discursiveness and whose length can make it challenging to discern an easily comprehensible formal scheme. On the moment-to-moment level, the music is never less than fascinating;
Sorabji was endlessly inventive and the kaleidoscopic morphing of his material keeps the attentive listener continually engaged. He might be described as a maximalist, the opposite of a minimalist, because there is so little patterning or repetition in his music; new textures, gestures, harmonies, and moods practically tumble over themselves in their profusion. The longer movements of "Symphonia brevis" (1973), lasting a half hour or more, can be demanding on first hearing. The densely packed first movement is probably the least easily approachable, but listeners who may not be immediately pulled in should persevere. Movements like Part II c, "Aria fiorita -- Dolcemente cantando," and Part II e, "Notturno," have a more immediate, sensual appeal.
Donna Amato plays with remarkably secure technique and with sure understanding of the music; it's easy to imagine that in less skillful hands
Sorabji's sprawling work could come across as ungainly and incoherent, but
Amato confidently communicates the integrity of the larger structures, as unconventional as they are. The sound of the Altarus CD is clean and detailed with a natural, spacious ambience.