Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/October 15, 2021 by Jimfbleak - talk to me?  08:47, 11 September 2021 (UTC)



Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose musical output spanned eight decades and ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano music, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān, and large-scale, technically intricate pieces like Sequentia cyclica. He felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and mixed ancestry, and had a lifelong tendency to seclusion. His mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India. Sorabji, after playing his music publicly between 1920 and 1936, imposed restrictions on its performance, which he lifted in 1976. He has been likened to the composer-pianists he admired, including Franz Liszt and Charles-Valentin Alkan, and his harmonic language and complex rhythms anticipated works from the mid-20th century onwards.
 * Most recent similar article(s): No recent classical music biographies. The closest we get (as far as I can tell) are the articles The Rite of Spring (6 April 2021) and Five Go Down to the Sea? (18 June 2021).
 * Main editors: Toccata quarta
 * Promoted: 18 December 2020
 * Reasons for nomination: 33rd anniversary of Sorabji's death. This is my first (and thus far only) FA and TFA nomination, so apologies if the blurb is less than ideal. Composers of color generally do not get that much attention, and having some diversity in the selection of TFAs could be an added plus.
 * Support as nominator. Toccata quarta (talk) 06:20, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Support as FAC reviewer. I like the blurb, but wonder if we could link "his nocturenes" by a specific article about his nocturnes. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:51, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi Gerda, thank you for the support (and good to see you around). I could change that part of the blurb to nocturnes such as Gulistān (probably the best solution, as it's an example of the genre and the article provides some description of his nocturnal music), but the blurb would then be in excess of the upper limit of circa 1007 characters. Do you think it would be OK to remove the link in "whose musical output" (which provides a level of detail most casual readers will not require at first)? I think it could work. (In fact, come to think of it, I could also add Sequentia cyclica as an example of his large-scale works, which would make the blurb come out at 997 characters.) Toccata quarta (talk) 07:32, 13 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi Gerda (pinging you just in case), I have now implemented these changes and I hope they constitute an improvement on the previous version of the blurb. Let me know if this works for you. Thank you. Toccata quarta (talk) 07:10, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, I think links to a few specific pieces are desirable, and better than "output" ;) - In the article, we have the link to his compositions in the infobox, - if "output" it could link to the list. Doing that, but no friend of "output" for artistic creation ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:21, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the changes, Gerda. I just realized that I misread the instructions and the character limit applies for the preview, so I will start from scratch (well, almost) and switch to a different frame of mind. Hope that works out... Toccata quarta (talk) 10:09, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
 * OK, it's at 974 characters now (while being – I hope – succinct and informative). Regarding "output", it is indeed a bit unusual but the standard term, "career", is not quite compatible with Sorabji's life as a recluse. I'd say it's OK now, as specific compositions are mentioned in the text. Toccata quarta (talk) 10:41, 14 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Support as FAC reviewer—woooooooo! Aza24 (talk) 04:05, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Many thanks! Toccata quarta (talk) 04:10, 20 August 2021 (UTC)