Search - Kaikhosru Sorabji, Charles Hopkins :: Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: Gulistan

One Star Less for the Timing

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 01/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sorabji enjoys a dubious reputation as the composer of the longest, non-repetitive piece of piano music in the Guiness Book of World Records. (He is beaten by Lamonte Young's The Well Tuned Piano but that is improvised and by Satie's Vexations, but that is a one minute piece of music repeated 1440 times to last 24 hours.) Added to the daunting length of some of his music is it's extreme difficulty and the fact that Sorabji would not authorize perfomances for many years and you get a composer more talked about than listened to. And yet, for all the mystery, the music itself is really quite beautiful and deserves a wider hearing than it gets. Perhaps as the technical prowess of pianists rises, more will look at Sorabji as a wonderful challenge rather than something to be avoided. Gulistan is inspired by a poetry cycle by Persian poet Sa'di. The work is about 35 minutes long, densely pact with beautiful fillagree and richly perfumed chords. The idiom is tonal but dissonant, drawing on a tradition from Scriabin and Szymanowsky. The melodies and harmonies are luxuriant, and deeply sensuous. And the difficulties of performance are not obvious to the listener. The music is certainly virtuoso, but you are not taken with the technique, just the sheer voluptousness of sound. Hopkins plays the music well, as far as I can tell. There is no other available recording of this music to compare it with. His interest seems to be in obtaining the most beautiful sound he can from the instrument in all of Sorabji's poisonously beautiful sonorities. My one complaint with the Cd is that it is a pricey Cd for such a skimpy amount of music. The disc contains only Gulistan, which lasts only about 35 minutes. One could have easily included another work on the program, either by Sorabji, or, if that was too taxing (and it certainly could be) a work by Scriabin or Szymanowsky could have been included to round out the disc. Gulistan would pair beautifully with Szymanowsky's Masques. C'mon Altarus, don't be so stingy!Other than that complaint, this is a 5 or even 6 star disc. It is a chance to here the music of the cranky old Brit in a beautiful performance and at a legnth that doesn't make you want to scream or fall asleep."

Peaceful music,soothing and lyrical

scarecrow | Chicago, Illinois United States | 04/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892 to 1988), is now beginning to be known outside his market grabber, the excessivily long durational lengths his music unfolds in as his rocker Opus Clavicembalisticum. It is long only within the symmetrical and predictable classical canons of Western music. To all those who experience music from Asia in particular, long lengths as a musical focus is a way of life, a way of experiencing their culture. In contrast our music develops more quickly, the market driven designs have much to do with that.Creators like Mahler and Bruckner found themselves more in a quagmire a conceptual structural impasse within the classical canon living their lives in the shadows of Beethoven then Wagner.In the West if nothing moves(even artificially), we don't know it's different, regardless of the amounts of rechanneling and retreading of music materials, as our Pulitizer winners often do. This work you will see another side to Sorabji. Being part Parsi and Sicilian he himself found a problematical meeting ground between two cultures. He never for instance was ever attracted to microintervals as say Alois Haba or Ivan Wyschenegradsky, his contemporaries. Gulistan(The Rose-garden) has more of a consistent lyrical base, the waves of scales and moments wash over you more,like wind chimes gently swaying cascades of notes in the breeze. There are also comprehensive notes here by Charles Hopkins,who is also a marvelous pianist. I hope we can get away from pigeon-holing Sorabji as the creator who writes long music. That's the market talking.We have wonderfula Sorabji scholars now Paul Rappaport, and Ken Derus, Read them."

Sorabji's Jewel

Alscribji | Washington, D.C. | 01/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gulistan is one of the most beautiful, most sublime pieces of solo piano music ever composed. Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji composed some of the most audacious, lengthy, and technically demanding piano music ever conceived for the piano. Many of his compositions run up to 4 hours in length and longer, e.g., Opus Clavicembalisticum and his 5th piano sonata. Gulistan is one of three pieces that Sorabji writes within the 'nocturne' genre, the other two being Djami and Le jardin parfume. These three pieces reflect music of Sorabji that is much more accessible, each piece takes around 20-30 minutes to perform, depending on the pianist. Charles Hopkins brings all of the lushness and voluptuousness of Gulistan to the fore. This recording is the best of the three commercial recordings available, the other two by Michael Habermann and Jonathan Powell, each performance well worth owning; Hopkins, however, in my opinion, simply transcends Habermann and Powell in this particular performance-perfect tempo, pedaling, passage work . . . Hopkins' recording of Gulistan sparkles, twinkles, and really seems to fulfill the vision Sorabji might have had for a recording of this piece."