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Satie - Piano Music

Erik Satie (1866-1925) was a highly original French composer, a musical outsider of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Best remembered for his eccentric qualities and for several groups of successful piano pieces, he was undoubtedly an important figure in the French avant-garde of his period. He inspired and supported Debussy and Ravel, and supplied ideas to many movements in music and other arts throughout the 20th century. He also left a substantial body of writings. Satie began taking piano lessons as a child, but was clearly no musical prodigy. He entered the Paris Conservatory at age thirteen, but his teachers found him lacking in talent and he was sent home without an exam. After another three years he was readmitted, but as he didn’t fare much better this time he decided to join the army. However, Satie couldn’t bear military life and managed to make himself ill to get relieved from duty. In 1887 he left home and started living a bohemian life in the artist quarters of Montmartre. He befriended Debussy and Ravel, and became the official composer and chapel-master of the very obscure Rosicrucian Order, led by the novelist Joséphin Péladan. His only love affair, with the model, painter and former trapeze artiste Suzanne Valadon, went on during six months in 1893. Satie wanted Valadon to marry him after their first night together, but she only agreed to move to a house next to his.
By 1896 Satie had no money left, and he had to move to smaller lodgings and then to the suburbs. He started working as a cabaret pianist, which at least gave him a substantial income - but he wasn’t satisfied and decided to resume musical study. Aged 39, he enrolled in Vincent d´Indy’s Schola Cantorum, where he made up for his lost education by exploring classical counterpoint for the next five years. Whether or not because of these academic exercises, from 1912 his career took off and he had much success with his new miniature, humoristic pieces. These later works all have very odd titles, and are full of bizarre instructions and commentaries printed in the score. The eccentric Satie was also a lone wolf: at the time of his death in 1925, absolutely nobody else had ever entered his room since he had moved there twenty-seven years earlier. They found in his wardrobe 84 identical handkerchiefs, 12 identical velvet costumes and dozens of umbrellas, as well as many previously unknown compositions.

Notable works for piano:
3 Gymnopédies
6 Gnossiennes
Dances Gothiques
Embryons Desséchés (Dried up embryos)
3 Véritables Préludes Flasques; pour un chien (3 Genuine Flabby Preludes; For a Dog)
3 Morceaux en forme de Poire (3 Pear-shaped Pieces)
Sonatine Bureaucratique
Vexations (a single page of music to be performed 840 times in succession)

Quote – "What I am":

Everyone will tell you I am not a musician. That is correct. From the very beginning of my career I class myself a phonometrographer. My work is completely phonometrical. Take my Fils des Étoiles, or my Morceaux en forme de Poire, my En habit de Cheval or my Sarabandes - it is evident that musical ideas played no part whatsoever in their composition. Science is the dominating factor. Besides, I enjoy measuring a sound much more than hearing it. With my phonometer in my hand, I work happily and with confidence. What haven´t I weighed or measured? I´ve done all Beethoven, all Verdi, etc. It´s fascinating. The first time I used a phonoscope, I examined a B flat of medium size. I can assure you that I have never seen anything so revolting. I called in my man to show it to him.
On my phono-scales a common or garden F sharp registered 93 kilos. It came out of a fat tenor whom I also weighed.

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Total pieces by Satie: 50

Title	Key	Published	Type	Level
Gold Dust	D Major	1901	Piece	7
In Riding Habit	n/a	1911	Four hands	8
Prelude to The Heroic Gate of Heaven	n/a	1894	Piece	8
Unpleasant Observations	n/a	1912	Four hands	8
Sarabandes These three pieces introduce a number of the techniques that are typical of Satie’s early style, including the use of modes, and unresolved dissonances. They were probably directly influenced by Chabrier´s opera Le Roi malgré lui, which Satie heard for the first time a few months before the appearance of the Sarabandes. Satie was no doubt taken by Chabrier´s liberal use of seventh and ninth chords; but while Chabrier used these chords for colour, Satie uses them to create a sense of tonality being suspended.
Sarabande no 1	A-flat Major	1887	Piece	5
Sarabande no 2	D-sharp Minor	1887	Piece	5
Sarabande no 3	D-flat Major	1887	Piece	6
Gymnopedies The Three Gymnopedies are no doubt the most famous of Satie’ works. The beautiful orchestrations by Debussy of the first and third pieces have of course also boosted their popularity. They followed closely on the heels of the Sarabandes of 1887, which, Satie and his apologists insisted, marked a turning point in the history of French music: the musical life of Paris was dominated by Wagnerian music drama at the time. The three pieces essentially explore a single idea; like the Sarabandes, they are one piece written three times, with subtle variations, as if viewed from a slightly different perspective each time. The repetition and juxtaposition of melodic elements, together with the static harmonic language, lend the work its characteristic dreamy quality.
Gymnopedie no 1	D Major	1888	Piece	5
Gymnopedie no 2	C Major	1888	Piece	5
Gymnopedie no 3	A Minor	1888	Piece	5
Three Dances of Knosos The three Gnossiennes are the first compositions in modern musical history written in bar-less notation; and they are the first of Satie’s works to contain his famous witty instructions and indications (“ask insistently within yourself”, “arm yourself with clairvoyance”, “with great kindness” etc). The title of the work has been the object of some speculation: some believe that it’s a reference to Gnosticism. The most common explanation, however, is that the title refers to the dances of Crete, with its capital Knossos, where archaeological excavations were conducted in 1890.
Gnossiennne no 1	F Minor	1890	Piece	5
Gnossiennne no 2	E Minor	1890	Piece	7
Gnossiennne no 3	A Minor	1890	Piece	7
The Sons of the Stars In 1891 Satie became the official composer and chapel-master of the Rosicrucian Order "Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique, du Temple et du Graal". The Rosicrucians, under the leadership of the novelist and mystic Joseph-Aimé Péladan, were a sect of aesthetes whose artistic aims included the "ruin of realism," and the promotion of idealism. Satie produced this and a number of other works under the influence of Péladan and his brotherhood, but later distanced himself from this rather bizarre and eccentric group.
Prelude - La Vocation no 1	n/a	1891	Piece	7
Prelude - The Initiation no 2	n/a	1891	Piece	7
Prelude - The Incantation no 3	n/a	1891	Piece	7
Trumpet Calls of the Rose In 1891 Satie became the official composer and chapel-master of the Rosicrucian Order "Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique, du Temple et du Graal". The Rosicrucians, under the leadership of the novelist and mystic Joseph-Aimé Péladan, were a sect of aesthetes whose artistic aims included the "ruin of realism," and the promotion of idealism. Satie produced this and a number of other works under the influence of Péladan and his brotherhood, but later distanced himself from this rather bizarre and eccentric group.
Air de L'ordre no 1	n/a	1892	Piece	7
Air du Grand Maitre no 2	n/a	1892	Piece	7
Air du Grand Prieur no 3	n/a	1892	Piece	7
Cold Pieces The two sets of “Pièces froides” from 1897, like so many of his collections, reflect Satie’s interest in the number three. (3 Sarabandes, 3 Gymnopedies, etc). They are similar to the earlier pieces in that they tend to present a single musical idea from a number of different perspectives. The “Danses de travers” (Crooked Dances) are formally looser and features more harmonic movement than the “Airs à faire fuir” (Tunes to Make You Run Away).
Air à faire fuir 1 no 1	n/a	1897	Piece	8+
Air à faire fuir 2 no 2	n/a	1897	Piece	8
Air à faire fuir 3 no 3	n/a	1897	Piece	8
Danse de Travers 1 no 4	n/a	1897	Piece	7
Danse de Travers 2 no 5	n/a	1897	Piece	7
Danse de Travers 3 no 6	n/a	1897	Piece	7
Three Pieces in Shape of a Pear The title of this set was Satie’s ironic response to critics, who had described his compositions as lacking in formal structure. This is another work by Satie that shows his obsession with the number three – only in this case the “three pieces” are surrounded by a set of introductions, additions and repetitions to make the total number of pieces seven.
By Way of a Beginning no 1	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Extention of the Same no 2	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Piece I no 3	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Piece II no 4	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Piece III no 5	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
In Addition no 6	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Repetition no 7	n/a	1903	Four hands	8
Genuine Flabby Preludes (for a Dog) The Preludes represent a new aesthetic turn for Satie, reflecting his studies at the Scuola Cantorum, where he had earned a diploma in counterpoint. They were composed after a previous set, Flabby Preludes for a Dog, was rejected by two publishers.
Sévère Réprimande no 1	n/a	1912	Piece	8
Suel à la Maison no 2	n/a	1912	Piece	8
On Joue no 3	n/a	1912	Piece	8
Automatic Descriptions This work is among the first of Satie´s to borrow from folk songs, popular songs, and children´s songs. The titles translate “On a Ship”, “On a Lantern” and “On a helmet”.
Sur un Vaisseau no 1	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Sur une Lanterne no 2	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Sur un Casque no 3	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Dried Embryos The focus of this collection is various species of marine invertebrates. Satie’s inspiration came from pictures of these fantastic creatures that he had found in a school textbook. The pieces feature both Satie’s trademark humorous commentaries, and plenty of musical allusions. Among other things, the composer makes fun of Chopin’s Funeral March, referring to it as “the famous mazurka by Schubert”.
d'Holothurie no 1	n/a	1913	Piece	8
d'Edriophthalma no 2	n/a	1913	Piece	8
de Podophthalma no 3	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Sketches and Provocations of a Portly Wooden Manni The three movements of the Croquis et agaceries d´un gros bonhomme en bois were composed quickly, in about a week each. The Wooden Manni of the title could refer to a street in the composer´s hometown of Honfleur called rue de l´Homme-de-bois. When Satie´s Ogives (an early piano work) was performed in 1889, it was advertised as a work by a composer with a wooden head. No doubt the figure in the title of this 1913 work is the composer himself.
Tyrolienne Turque no 1	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Danse Maigre (à la Manière de Ces Messieurs) no 2	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Españaña no 3	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Chapters Turned Every Which Way These pieces are typical of Satie´s later, humorous and dry style. The ceaseless chatter of “The Woman Who Talks Too Much” in the first piece is represented by consistent, repeating triplets. The next piece tells the story of a “Hauler of Large Stones”, struggling with a heavy rock and eventually dropping it. The third and last piece bring together two prisoners; the biblical Jonah in the whale, and the French eighteenth-century plotter and convict Jean-Henri Masers de Latude.
Celle Qui Parle Trop no 1	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Le Porteur de Grosses Pierres no 2	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Regrets des Enfermés (Jonas et Latude) no 3	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Old Sequins and Old Breastplates In this collection, Satie refers to a mixture of real and imaginary historical eras. The first piece satirizes a rich merchant of the 13th century, going wild over his precious metals. In the second, a group of ancient Greek dancers have their heads chopped off. In the third and last piece, The Defeat of the Cimbri (Nightmare), Satie combines several historical battles and commanders; they merge in the surreal nightmare of a young boy.
Chez le Marchand d'Or (Venise, XIIIe Siècle) no 1	n/a	1913	Piece	8
Danse Cuirassée (Période Gresque) no 2	n/a	1913	Piece	8
La Défaite des Cimbres (Cauchemar) no 3	n/a	1913	Piece	8