Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
BIS

Sorabji: 100 Transcendental Studies Vol 2 - Nos 26-43 / Fredrik Ullen

$21.99 Only 2 left

Details

Composer
SORABJI, KAIKHOSRU
Artist
Fredrik, Ullen
Format
CD
Label
BIS
Released
Jul 01, 2009
Catalog #
BIS-CD-1533
UPC
7318590015339

About

When Fredrik Ullén released the first instalment of Sorabji's 100 Transcendental Etudes the excitement among reviewers was almost palpable. To take on this huge, near-mythic collection of super-virtuoso pieces in its entirety was described as 'entering a snake pit' as well as 'a labour of love'. And the high expectations were met: in the words of the reviewer for American Record Guide, the disc gave 'a taste of the incredible variety of music Sorabji can conjure up from the piano. It is to Ullén's credit that he can present each study on its own terms; whether in muted impressionist tones, sharp pointillistic flurries, or sheer demonic virtuosity.' Sorabji composed the set of 100 Transcendental Studies, his second longest work with a total duration of at least seven hours, between 1940 and 1944. Most of the pieces are typical concert études in the sense that essentially a single technical or structural idea is explored. But as the cycle unfolds Sorabji inserts pieces that are on a much larger scale, culminating with the two last études, a hugely expanded elaboration of Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and a quintuple fugue with a duration of some 45 minutes each. This development begins already at the start of the present disc. As Ullén remarks in his own liner notes, with Study No. 26 (Dolcissimo) 'we enter a different world. The first longer piece in the cycle is more of a fantasia or nocturne than an étude: a delicate piece of night music, with allusions to Debussy'. The programme then takes in such varied pieces as the playful No. 29 (A capriccio), the mysterious and eerie study in major sevenths, No. 30 (Con fantasia) and No. 36 (Mano sinistra sempre sola) - a grand étude for the left hand alone, which includes a fugue that, in Ullén's own words, 'in places borders on the physically impossible.'

Tracklist 18 tracks

  1. 1 No. 26. Dolcissimo 09:56
    Track
    1
    Title
    No. 26. Dolcissimo
    Duration
    09:56
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  2. 2 No. 27. Staccato e leggiero a capriccio 02:57
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 27. Staccato e leggiero a capriccio
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  3. 3 No. 28. Leggiero e volante 02:15
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 28. Leggiero e volante
    Duration
    02:15
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  4. 4 No. 29. A capriccio 02:09
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 29. A capriccio
    Duration
    02:09
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  5. 5 No. 30. Con fantasia 04:36
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 30. Con fantasia
    Duration
    04:36
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  6. 6 No. 31. Vivace assai 02:14
    Track
    6
    Title
    No. 31. Vivace assai
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  7. 7 No. 32. Legato possibile, quasi dolce 03:12
    Track
    7
    Title
    No. 32. Legato possibile, quasi dolce
    Duration
    03:12
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  8. 8 No. 33. Vivace e brioso 04:42
    Track
    8
    Title
    No. 33. Vivace e brioso
    Duration
    04:42
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  9. 9 No. 34. Soave e dolce 04:11
    Track
    9
    Title
    No. 34. Soave e dolce
    Duration
    04:11
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  10. 10 No. 35. — 02:17
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 35. —
    Duration
    02:17
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  11. 11 No. 36. Mano sinistra sempre sola 07:16
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 36. Mano sinistra sempre sola
    Duration
    07:16
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  12. 12 No. 37. Riflessioni 03:54
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 37. Riflessioni
    Duration
    03:54
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  13. 13 No. 38. Con fantasia 04:53
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 38. Con fantasia
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  14. 14 No. 39. — 03:34
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 39. —
    Duration
    03:34
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  15. 15 No. 40. Moderato 03:09
    Track
    15
    Title
    No. 40. Moderato
    Duration
    03:09
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  16. 16 No. 41. — 03:40
    Track
    16
    Title
    No. 41. —
    Duration
    03:40
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  17. 17 No. 42. Impetuoso e con fuoco ed energia 04:15
    Track
    17
    Title
    No. 42. Impetuoso e con fuoco ed energia
    Duration
    04:15
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén
  18. 18 No. 43. — 04:39
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 43. —
    Duration
    04:39
    Composer
    Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji
    Performer
    Fredrik Ullén