Opus Clavicembalisticum
Opus Clavicembalisticum is a solo piano piece of music written by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, completed on June 26, 1930 at 1:30 P.M. It is characterized by its four (sometimes five) hour duration and its extreme demands upon the pianist. It is considered by many to be the most difficult piece of music ever written for the piano, dwarfing most pieces in its complexity and difficulty. Opus Clavicembalisticum is written in twelve parts:
- Introito
- Preludio Corale
- Fuga I
- Fantasia
- Fuga A Due Soggetti
- Interludium Primum (Thema Cum XLIV Variationibus)
- Cadenza I
- Fuga A Tre Soggetti
- Interludium Alterum (Toccata: Adagio. Passacaglia Cum LXXXI Variationibus)
- Cadenza II
- Fuga A Quattro Soggetti
- Coda Stretta
In a letter upon completion of the massive work, Sorabji wrote to a friend of his:
With a wracking head and literally my whole body shaking as with ague I write this and tell you I have just this afternoon early finished Clavicembalisticum... The closing 4 pages are so cataclysmic and catastrophic as anything I've ever done - the harmony bites like nitric acid - the counterpoint grinds like the mills of God...
There have only been a handful of performances of Opus Clavicembalisticum — the first by Sorabji himself — and two known recordings, one by John Ogdon and the other by Geoffrey Douglas Madge. Currently, Jonathan Powell has been touring some areas with this work, and a recording is rumored to be planned.
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