Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji's First Symphony for Organ: Context, Sources, and Stylistic Analysis

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892-1988), a prolific but reclusive composer, wrote some of the most complex and virtuosic organ music in existence. The performance of his three Organ Symphonies has mostly been done by a single organist, the virtuoso Kevin Bowyer, who also created the modern scholarly editions of those pieces. Sorabji’s first mature expression in a solo keyboard work of musical form and overall style – that is, the style which he would go on to use for the rest of his career with fewer changes than in his early period of growth – was his First Symphony for Organ, KSS 39, completed in 1924. This dissertation will attempt to understand the Symphony’s unusual stylistic traits. The first chapter will provide historical background about Sorabji and his relationship with the organ, explaining his underlying motivations for writing an organ symphony and placing the work in the context of his life. The second chapter will provide an overview of related literature and writings about the Symphony, its editions, and performances, providing a useful research framework and compilation of sources for the interested performer or scholar. Finally, the third chapter will investigate the Symphony’s style, evaluating its overall form and underlying mechanisms, while also considering Sorabji’s sources of inspiration, especially Ferruccio Busoni’s essay A New Aesthetic of Music. The larger purpose of this project is to contribute to the recent upwards trend in advocacy for Sorabji’s music, making its expressive power more comprehendible for musically studied listeners, and its technical underpinnings more easily accessible to performers and scholars.