Satie
Satie wrote underneath his self portrait :
"I have come into the world very young into an era very old."
This must have been the feeling of many struggling young modern artists of his time.
1. HIS LIFE
Alfred Erik Leslie Satie was born in Honfleur (Normandy) in 1866. He died in Paris in 1925, aged 59. His mother was Scottish and his father was a ship broker.
Satie started playing the piano at age 7. At 17 he spent a year at the Paris Conservatory.
At age 40, already an accomplished musician, he entered the Schola Cantorum. Here he studied counterpoint and orchestration with Albert Roussel and Vincent D'Indy. After three years he received a Diploma marked "tres bien" (very good).
Satie was a composer who feared no man, but always did what was right in his own eyes. He was an exponent of several important trends in the 20th Century composition including bitonality, polytonality, Jazz and non-triadic harmony.
Erik Satie was one of music's great originals, both personally (an eccentric) and artistically.
From his one-room flat in a working class suburb in Paris, he exercised a remarkable influence over a generation of composers who were seeking to escape the dominance of Richard Wagner.
His simplicity, innovative harmonies, freedom of form and mastery of musical understatement made a strong impression on composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and later younger composers such as Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and John Cage.
His strange sparse scores, often written without bar lines in red ink are peppered with whimsical instructions : "Light as an egg", "Here comes the lantern", "Open your head", "Muffle the sound", "With astonishment", "Work it out yourself", etc.
Satie's early interest in Mediaeval music shows in the simple plainsong like harmonies of his famous 'Gymnopédies' and 'Gnossiennes'.
In the 1890s he became interested in, and the official composer for, the religio-mystic-occult sect of Rosicrusianism which also had a strong Mediaeval leaning.
He was a close friend of Claude Debussy, and during World War 1 also befriended Cocteau, Diaghilev and Pablo Picasso. This association with the Cubists resulted in the ballet 'Parade' which he wrote in collaboration with Cocteau and Picasso.
An eccentric and humorist, he was not well accepted by the general public of his time, despite efforts by Debussy and Ravel to promote his works.
During the past 20 years his work has received worldwide appreciation and the recognition of his importance he so truly deserves.
2. SATIE the ECCENTRIC
I keep reading and hearing new anecdotes about Satie's eccentricities. Here are a few :
• In his one-room apartment Satie had two pianos. One placed on top of the other, their pedals interconnected.
• His room must have been pretty crowded, for it also contained his collection of over 100 umbrellas !
• Satie once bought 12 grey velvet suits at the same time. He used one suit at a time until it was worn out, then he put on a new one.
When he died, there were 6 suits left in his room, along with his 100 umbrellas.
• When Satie was criticised for writing music without form, he immediately composed "Trois Morceaux en forme de poire" (Three Pear-shaped Pieces. They are piano duets).
• Satie's eccentricity lives on !
His 180 notes long composition Vexations, directed to be repeated 840 times, was recorded in 1963 in New York. It took a relay team of 10 pianists over eighteen hours to perform. The longest piece ever written.
Satie about himself :
• Before writing a work I walk around it several times accompanied by myself.
• For a long time I have subscribed to a fashion magazine.
I wear white socks and white vest, along with a velvet coat, soft felt hat and flowing tie (which is partially hidden by my beard), and on my nose I wear my pince-nez of course.
• My expression is very serious. When I laugh, it is unintentional and I always apologies, very politely.
• I breath carefully (a little at a time), and dance very rarely. When walking, I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.
• My only nourishment consists of food that is white (I spare you the details for it sounds revolting - MF.)
• My doctor has always told me to smoke (cigarettes of course). He even explains himself : "Smoke, my friend. Otherwise someone else will smoke in your place."
"I have come into the world very young into an era very old."
This must have been the feeling of many struggling young modern artists of his time.
1. HIS LIFE
Alfred Erik Leslie Satie was born in Honfleur (Normandy) in 1866. He died in Paris in 1925, aged 59. His mother was Scottish and his father was a ship broker.
Satie started playing the piano at age 7. At 17 he spent a year at the Paris Conservatory.
At age 40, already an accomplished musician, he entered the Schola Cantorum. Here he studied counterpoint and orchestration with Albert Roussel and Vincent D'Indy. After three years he received a Diploma marked "tres bien" (very good).
Satie was a composer who feared no man, but always did what was right in his own eyes. He was an exponent of several important trends in the 20th Century composition including bitonality, polytonality, Jazz and non-triadic harmony.
Erik Satie was one of music's great originals, both personally (an eccentric) and artistically.
From his one-room flat in a working class suburb in Paris, he exercised a remarkable influence over a generation of composers who were seeking to escape the dominance of Richard Wagner.
His simplicity, innovative harmonies, freedom of form and mastery of musical understatement made a strong impression on composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and later younger composers such as Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and John Cage.
His strange sparse scores, often written without bar lines in red ink are peppered with whimsical instructions : "Light as an egg", "Here comes the lantern", "Open your head", "Muffle the sound", "With astonishment", "Work it out yourself", etc.
Satie's early interest in Mediaeval music shows in the simple plainsong like harmonies of his famous 'Gymnopédies' and 'Gnossiennes'.
In the 1890s he became interested in, and the official composer for, the religio-mystic-occult sect of Rosicrusianism which also had a strong Mediaeval leaning.
He was a close friend of Claude Debussy, and during World War 1 also befriended Cocteau, Diaghilev and Pablo Picasso. This association with the Cubists resulted in the ballet 'Parade' which he wrote in collaboration with Cocteau and Picasso.
An eccentric and humorist, he was not well accepted by the general public of his time, despite efforts by Debussy and Ravel to promote his works.
During the past 20 years his work has received worldwide appreciation and the recognition of his importance he so truly deserves.
2. SATIE the ECCENTRIC
I keep reading and hearing new anecdotes about Satie's eccentricities. Here are a few :
• In his one-room apartment Satie had two pianos. One placed on top of the other, their pedals interconnected.
• His room must have been pretty crowded, for it also contained his collection of over 100 umbrellas !
• Satie once bought 12 grey velvet suits at the same time. He used one suit at a time until it was worn out, then he put on a new one.
When he died, there were 6 suits left in his room, along with his 100 umbrellas.
• When Satie was criticised for writing music without form, he immediately composed "Trois Morceaux en forme de poire" (Three Pear-shaped Pieces. They are piano duets).
• Satie's eccentricity lives on !
His 180 notes long composition Vexations, directed to be repeated 840 times, was recorded in 1963 in New York. It took a relay team of 10 pianists over eighteen hours to perform. The longest piece ever written.
Satie about himself :
• Before writing a work I walk around it several times accompanied by myself.
• For a long time I have subscribed to a fashion magazine.
I wear white socks and white vest, along with a velvet coat, soft felt hat and flowing tie (which is partially hidden by my beard), and on my nose I wear my pince-nez of course.
• My expression is very serious. When I laugh, it is unintentional and I always apologies, very politely.
• I breath carefully (a little at a time), and dance very rarely. When walking, I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.
• My only nourishment consists of food that is white (I spare you the details for it sounds revolting - MF.)
• My doctor has always told me to smoke (cigarettes of course). He even explains himself : "Smoke, my friend. Otherwise someone else will smoke in your place."
