Seen on the Green Famous Faces From Chingford by Thom Goddard This Month: Kaikosru Shapurji Sorabji

Genius is seldom created individually. Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare and Isaac Newton all worked with groups of people to hone and perfect their work. Chingford-born Kaikosru Shapurji Sorabji did the exact opposite as he explained in a letter to his friend Peter Warlock, You claim that I write monstrosities which only the composer can play. What if they were only meant for the composer? Leon Dudley Sorabji would become known as the Howard Hughes of classical music but he was not born into money in Chingford, then in Essex, on 14 August 1892. His father was a civil engineer of Parsi parentage from Bombay and his mother, Madeline, English. The young boy was an exceptional pianist from a young age and as a composer, largely self-taught. It is known he loved the composers Busoni, Rakhmaninov and Mahler but due to Sorabjis closely guarded family history it is unknown what happened to the family in those early years. In the early 20th century they came to a great deal of money and moved to St. Johns Wood. By 1911, Leon Dudley had become Kaikhosru Shapurji to reflect his Parsi origins and he was studying in London with a view to becoming a music critic. However in 1913 Sorabji wrote his first classical composition, Number 1 Piano Concerto, and the floodgates of his imagination opened. In a prolific career he would write 111 extant compositions. Kaikhosru Sorabjis most celebrated work was written in 1930 and is Opus Clavicembalisticum, a solo piano piece that takes 4 hours and 45 minutes to play. This was once listed by the Guiness Book of World Records as the longest piece of single piano music ever written. Other amazingly detailed pieces include The Second Symphony for organ that lasts 9 hours. In 1936 Sorabji decided to withdraw all his works from public performance and no-one heard a single note for 40 years. Between 1936 and 1945 he became a music critic for The New Age and The New English Weekly magazines. During this time Kaikhosru continued to create compositions but had become a virtual recluse after moving to Dorset from London. The gates to his house had a famous sign that is still there to this day and reads: Visitors unwelcome. Sorabji was bidding to work unhindered but this behaviour led to him being nicknamed the Howard Hughes of classical music. Thanks to the, almost nagging, work of Yonty Solomon, from 1976 Kaikhosru Sorabjis music began to be played again. The 1980 performance of Opus Clavicembalisticum is said to be the crowning glory of John Ogdens career as pianist and Sorabjis piano solos, orchestral works, songs, string trios, quartets and quintets are played all over the world. So keep a look out for any amazing people you meet in the Mount or have seen on the Green! If you spot anyone contact: seenonthegreen@allstartalent.co.uk