Achim Breiling ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
>Tom Warren wrote:
>
>>Which brings me to ask: Can these composers of "impossible to play" pieces
>>play them themselves? If not, I second Kar's motion: Why compose them at
>>all?
>
>Sorabji perfomed many of his works. He gave the first and for a very long
>time only perfomance of the full *Opus Clavicembalisticum* himself. ...
Actually Achim, not the only for a very long time. Another pianist, whose
name currewntly escapes me, attempted it in public not long afterwards.
It was this apparently disastrous attempt that resulted in the four-decade
"ban" (not really a ban) on public performances of Sorabji's music.
Also, according to the story, Sorabji was so exhausted afterwards he came
down with the flu. He also, apparently, played through the work in
something like 2 1/2 hours.....
Deryk Barker
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