Kaikhosru Sorabji: 100 Transcendental Studies, Nos. 84-100

by Fredrik Ullén

Overview

Kaikhosru Sorabji's "100 Transcendental Studies" took five years to write, and pianist Fredrik Ullén's complete recorded performance of the studies took even longer: 14 years. In his defense, the pieces are fiendishly difficult, with some of them called unplayable, and Ullén also holds down a full-time job as a professor of neuroscience at Sweden's Karolinska Institute. Listen to the very first track, where a tango rhythm quickly devolves into a series of very tricky cross-rhythms, for an idea of the challenges facing Ullén. He has surmounted them admirably, and his deliberate approach to these pieces, something like what one might expect if Liszt had lived in the 20th century and found himself a misunderstood eccentric, has paid off. He gets the attractiveness of the "Studies" as a way into the work of Sorabji, who has been admired by many and equally often critically dismissed. Whichever camp the listener may fall into, the "Studies," as it were, break the often gigantist Sorabji down into manageable pieces. The set of 100 together has the vastness of Sorabji works that take hours to perform, but most are only two or three minutes long, and one lasts less than a minute. Thus, the "Studies" are both gigantic -- they end with an awe-inspiring five-subject fugue lasting nearly an hour -- and miniature, giving the listener a grip on the specific musical ideas that may seem overwhelming as they flow by in larger works. The same observation might be made of the other entries in Ullén's series, and indeed, there is a case to be made for hearing them in sequence, but the tremendous finale sets this release apart. Sorabji is not for everyone, but he is for more listeners here than elsewhere.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/01/2021
Label:	Bis
UPC:	7318590024331
catalogNumber:	433
Rank:	104085

Tracks

1. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Stretto m
2. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Quinto so
3. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Quarto so
4. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Terzo sog
5. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Secondo s
6. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 100.Coda-Finale. Fuga a cinque soggetti: Parte pri
7. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 99. Quasi Fantasia (Nello stilo della fantasia cro
8. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 88. (untitled)
9. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 87. Studio gammatico
10. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 86. Adagietto. Legatissimo
11. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 85. (untitled)
12. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 84. Tango habanera. Leggiero con grazia indolente
13. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 91. Volante leggiero
14. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 90. (untitled)
15. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 89. Chopsticks. Vivace
16. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 93. Leggiero saltando
17. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 92. Legato possibile. Velato, misterioso
18. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 98. Staccato e vivace
19. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 97. (untitled)
20. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 96. (untitled)
21. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 95. (untitled)
22. Transcendental Etudes (100) for piano: 94. Ornaments. Con fantasia

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Fredrik Ullén   Primary Artist