Powell is best known for his advocacy of Sorabji's music, which he began performing regularly in the early 2000s. He has given 10 public performances of Sorabji's four-hour Opus clavicembalisticum (1929–30) and both performed and premiered other works by Sorabji, including the substantial Fourth Piano Sonata (1928–29) and the four-and-a-half-hour Piano Symphony No. 6, Symphonia claviensis (1975–76).[2][3] Most notably, in 2020, he released the premiere recording of Sorabji's eight-hour Sequentia cyclica super "Dies irae" ex Missa pro defunctis (1948–49),[3] which was met with considerable critical acclaim[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] and was recognised by the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (German Record Critics' Award) as the best piano recording in its "Quarterly Critics' Choice" for the second quarter of 2020.[12] Music writer Jed Distler said that Powell's performance has "a level of specificity and tonal application that gives new meaning to the word 'painstaking'" and makes "a compelling and standard-setting case for SC that will be hard to equal, let alone surpass",[4] and composer Christian B. Carey wrote that "Powell's dedicated work on behalf of Sorabji makes the composer's legacy seem assured."[10]
