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Madge has been on the receiving end of some cutting critiques and they may be deserved in some cases, but anyone who can do what he did here is a great pianist and that's the end of it. Since virtually no one else has had the gumption to play the work, I don't feel they have the right to criticise.

Someone has said there are wrong notes played here. But actually, when one knows that the score itself is riddled with textual errors, something else needs to be said. The fact is that truly great music transcends those little dots on the page which, we must remember, are but shorthand for something else. It might be nice if all the dots were nicely in order but there have been enough nicely ordered performances of transcendental stupidity to prove that this is not the essence of music. If nothing else we can finally get this issue clarified.

There is much more to Sorabji's OC than that trifle. Sorabji's music is an open door to new ideas in composition. New exuberance of the imagination. New realms of transcendental greatness, of sublimity to explore. Let us have enough of the musical equivalent of Samuel Beckett. It has been done, and done better than by most who now try. Let us find out where music can take us. Sorabji's music suggests new paths. Time to listen with new ears.

To listen to the aural illustrations in this review, you may need to download RealNetworks' realplayer G2.