what he perceived as its brutality and lack of melodic qualities. He viewed Stravinsky's neoclassicism as a sign of a lack of imagination. Sorabji was also dismissive of the symmetry and architectural approaches used by Mozart and Brahms, and believed that the Classical style restricted musical material by forcing it into a "ready-made mould". Gabriel Fauré and Dmitri Shostakovich are among the composers whom Sorabji initially condemned but later admired. Sorabji's best-known writings are the books Around Music (1932; reissued 1979) and Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician (1947; reissued 1986); both include revised versions of some of his essays and received mostly positive reviews, though Sorabji considered the latter book much better. Readers commended his courage, expertise and intellectual incisiveness, but some felt that his verbose style and use of invectives and vitriol detracted from the solid foundation underlying the writings. These remarks echo general criticisms of his prose, which has been called turgid and in which intelligibility is compromised by very long sentences and missing commas. In recent times, his writings have been highly divisive, being viewed by some as profoundly perceptive and enlightening, and by others as misguided, but the literature on them remains limited. Abrahams mentions that Sorabji's music criticism was restricted largely to one readership and says that much of it, including Around Music and Mi contra fa, has yet to receive a major critique. Roberge writes that Sorabji "could sing the praises of some modern British personalities without end, especially when he knew them, or he could tear their music to pieces with very harsh and thoughtless comments that would nowadays lay him open to ridicule"; he adds that "his biting comments also often brought him to the edge of libel". Sorabji championed a number of composers and his advocacy helped many of them move closer to the mainstream at a time when they were largely unknown or misunderstood. In some cases, he was recognised for promoting their music: he became one of the honorary vice-presidents of the Alkan Society in 1979, and in 1982, the Polish government awarded him a medal for championing Szymanowski's work. Legacy Reception Sorabji's music and personality have inspired both praise and condemnation, the latter of which has been often attributed to the length of some of his works. Hugh MacDiarmid ranked him as one of the four greatest minds Great Britain had produced in his