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The OC is also a monument of cosmic aspiration. For Sorabji, almost alone among composers, aimed at the transcendental unsullied by human limitation, human concerns and human psyche. This is trivially pointed out by the mere length of his compositions. Unlike Schoenberg who seems to have aimed at some existential potency derived from the anguish of human existence, Sorabji represents a sovereign disdain for anything so prosaic. In a word Sorabji aims at the sublime.

[Listen - example 3: Adagio CD 4 Track 2, 15:06 - 16:06]

This work is perhaps the first where Sorabji actually drew close to his target. Later works come even closer and some hit dead on. Here he is a young composer, but a real composer nevertheless.

[Listen - example 4: Toccata CD 4 Track 1, 04:54 - 05:47]

The demands he places upon the pianist are beyond comprehension. At almost 240 minutes duration the music proceeds at a fearsome pace of devilish complexity, and Geoffrey Douglas Madge in the Chicago performance of 1983 surmounts the hurdles with titanic aplomb. This is not hyperbole.

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