Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

On a freezing day in November, 2014, a dozen hardy souls ventured to a small hall in downtown Chicago and buckled themselves in to hear the Herculean pianist Jonathan Powell perform the eight-hour-long Sequentia Cyclica super Dies Irae by the composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988). That may sound grueling, but listening to music in that strange temple for so many hours was one of the highlights of my life. If Sorabji’s name rings any bells, it’s probably because of his Opus Clavicembalisticum (O.C. from hence), which lasts a little under five hours. In New York in 2004, I heard that …