Sorabji

[HT]

For those interested, Ullen's next recording of 100 Sorabji etudes is available on MDT.

Henk

[JohnGavin]

Thank you Henk. Good news😀

[P]

Post by HT
For those interested, Ullen's next recording of 100 Sorabji etudes is available on MDT.

Thanks for passing along, Henk! I put in my order and very much look forward to hearing this next installment!

-P

[Bozo]

For those interested, Ullen's next recording of 100 Sorabji etudes is available >on MDT.

Thanks. In my BIS email this am :

http://www.bis.se/index.php?op=album&aID=BIS-1853

[P]

Post by HT
For those interested, Ullen's next recording of 100 Sorabji etudes is available on MDT.

This arrived from the UK to my mailbox in Texas on Monday. I've listened a couple times through. The strongest piece by far IMO is the Étude en forme de valse, which opens the CD. Ullén, the neurosurgeon who moonlights as a pianists specializing in the unplayable, interprets these daunting works with characteristic intelligence and dexterity. The piece is almost tonal; it is like a grand waltz by Strauss or Scriabin but macabre, heard in a deep fever, or in a nightmare. It builds magnificently to an early climax, drops to a hushed and subdued second section, then rises again to an energetic finale. It is my favorite of all of Sorabji's works I have heard so far.

The longest Étude in the set, #69, is also of interest. The liner notes compare it to Ravel's Le Gibet, and the similarity is heard from bar 1 with the repeated soft peals of A resonating throughout the piece. However, it is much more varied and irregular, strangely satisfying.

Most of the other etudes are typical Sorabji -- highly atonal and dissonant, rhythmically uneven, technically merciless, and either violently frenetic or hazy and ethereal; interesting if you are in the mood. IMO this CD the best in the series so far.

Looking at the Sorabji Archive's estimated playing times, it would seem we have another 3 CDs to come in the series; I am awaiting them eagerly.

-P

[P]

Post by HT
For those interested, Ullen's next recording of 100 Sorabji etudes is available on MDT.

Five years later, does anyone know when we can expect the next installment in this series? Or whether Ullen has abandoned this ambitious project?

[P]

Did a bit of googling, and it sounds like the final installment is likely to come out this year.

Maybe the only good news in 2020? Until the November election?

https://m.facebook.com/KaikhosruShapurjiSorabji/posts/2262780117157094

[Kerrison]

Post by P
Did a bit of googling, and it sounds like the final installment is likely to come out this year.
Maybe the only good news in 2020? Until the November election?
https://m.facebook.com/KaikhosruShapurjiSorabji/posts/2262780117157094

A bit of YouTubing reveals that someone is attempting an electronic realization of Sorabji's "Jami" Symphony which evidently last 5 hours and requires forces three times larger than Mahler 8 ... Here are 2 hours of it to be going on with! ...

[JohnGavin]

The delay in releases of the Transcendental Etudes probably have something to do with the scores, which, according to Hamelin require serious editing due to lack of clarity, probably due to its sheer thickness, and the passage of time. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be Frederick Ullen.

[Bozo]

... I can’t imagine what it must be like to be Frederick Ullen.

Indeed. Could Sorabji himself play noise like this ? Etude # 75, audio with score, Ullen:

[JohnGavin]

... I can’t imagine what it must be like to be Frederick Ullen.

Indeed. Could Sorabji himself play noise like this ? Etude # 75, audio with score, Ullen:

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With Sorabji I’m like those beach goers who dip their toes in the water but refuse to just dive in. I like some of his music - somewhat. I can’t help but think that Sorabji and his followers like complexity for its own sake.