IMSLP Forums

According to a list of his works, Sorabji composed more than 33 works before 1923 -- including six piano concertos.

I would like to know whether any of those works were published before 1923, and if so by whom. In other words, are any works by Sorabji now PD in the US?

MS

It doesn't matter if any pieces by him are public domain in the US. They can't be uploaded to the site because the composer is under copyright in most of the world. Since he died in 1988, it won't be until 2038 that we can actually upload his works to the site (since our servers are located in Canada, we have to follow Canadian copyright laws).

But to answer your question:

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1915–16)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1917)
Piano Concerto No. 3 (1918)
Piano Concerto No. 4 (1918)
Piano Concerto No. 5 (1920)
Piano Concerto No. 6 (1922)

The first four piano concertos were never actually published. The manuscripts do, however, belong to several different collections. The first one is located in the British Library. Piano Concerto 2 is located in the Sorabji Archive. The 3rd is in a private collection, unfortunately. The 4th is in the George Arents Research Library, New York. The 5th is actually in a private collection too. And lastly, the 6th is in the Sorabji Archive.

If you really wanted to get your hands on them, you could visit those places. But unfortunately, we can't upload them to IMSLP, so there is no immediate way to gain access to them. Thanks,

BKhon

OK, it's been a long time since this matter was raised and I've only just seen the thread now, but I can confirm that all of Sorabji's music and literary writings are under copyright and, as the applicable term is 70 years in most territories, it will enter the public domain on 1 January 2059 unless legislation changes between now and then.

That said, copies of all of his scores and known published literary writings are available from The Sorabji Archive in UK, either in paper form or as .pdf files; the archive issues the scores as ms. copies, O/P publications and new editions, many of which are typeset. A catalogue of all available material, with prices, is found at the archive website at www.sorabji-archive.co.uk. Whilst it is not possible to purchase items directly from the website, orders may be placed via email at sorabji-archive@lineone.net and are supplied promptly.

Alistair Hinton
Curator / Director
The Sorabji Archive

Thanks for your post. At least there is now a place we can refer those asking where to find his work. You are of course quite welcome to post any of his work you wish here under either a creative commons or performance-restricted license. The performance-restricted licenses should not in any way negatively effect performance or broadcast rights for the works. It merely allows for the free, non-commercial distribution of the PDFs themselves.

Sorabji's work will enter the public domain on 1/1/2039 in Canada and other 50 pma countries (most of the world, actually) and 1/1/2059 in the EU and other 70 pma territories. The USA is of course its own case. Anything published 1922 or before is already free there, while items published 1923-1977 will likely be protected for 95-years from the date of publication. Items first published 1978 onwards are protected as in the EU (70 pma).