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Today, May 17, is the birthday of
Erik Satie. He is predominantly remembered for his solo piano works,
Gymnopédies written in 1888 and
Gnossiennes, 1889 - 97. Though they are indeed beautiful, he explored other forms of music.
This album,
The Irreverent Inspirations, showcases work for piano and voice that has never been recorded before as well as his work for comedic theater,
Baron Medusa's Trap, which is the real gem on this album.
His music was a precursor to later artistic movements such as
minimalism,
repetitive music, and the
Theatre of the Absurd. This recording includes
Le piège de Méduse ("Medusa's trap") a short play of which Satie
wrote both the text and the incidental music. The text of the play was
written as a "
comédie lyrique or Opéra comique" in one act, February-March 1913. In June
of the same year Satie added the music, a set of seven little dances,
originally composed for piano. The piano version of the music was first
published in 1929, a few years after his death. The
orchestral score was not published until 40 years later.

The comically surrealist plot involves the elderly (and very confused)
Baron Méduse (his name means Medusa in French), his daughter Frisette
(to whom the Baron actually refers as his "fille de lait", which would
imply that the Baron was Frisette's wet-nurse), Frisette's young suitor
Astolpho, and the Baron's recalcitrant valet Polycarpe. There is also a
mechanical monkey, named Jonas, dancing to the intermittent music. The
nine scenes of the play develop as a funny succession of non requiters
and misunderstandings, ending in an amicable hug of the protagonists.


The performance is spoken and sung in French. If you understand French, you're ok. If you don't, not a problem, there is a 12" by 12"
libretto included with the text in French and English.
Erik Satie ~
The Irreverent Inspirations libretto, front page
photo by Styrous®
Erik Satie ~ The Irreverent Inspirations libretto pages
photos by Styrous®
Works for piano and vocal
An eccentric, Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the
Gymnopédies.
Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrician" (meaning
"someone who measures sounds"), preferring this designation to that of
"musician."
With Jean Cocteau, whom he had first met in 1915, Satie started work on incidental music for a production of
A Midsummer Night's Dream by
Shakespeare, resulting in the
Cinq grimaces pour Le songe d'une nuit d'été. From 1916, he and Cocteau worked on the ballet
Parade, which was premiered in 1917 by the
Sergei Diaghilev Ballets Russes, with sets and costumes by
Pablo Picasso, and choreography by
Léonide Massine. Through Picasso, Satie also became acquainted with other
cubists, such as
Georges Braque, with whom he would work on other, aborted, projects.
After years of heavy drinking (including consumption of
absinthe), Satie died at age 59, on July 1, 1925, from
cirrhosis of the liver. After his death, Satie's friends discovered his apartment in
squalor and chaos. Among many other unsorted papers and miscellaneous
items, it contained a large number of umbrellas, and two grand pianos
placed one on top of the other, the upper instrument used as storage for
letters and parcels. They discovered compositions that were either thought to have been lost or totally unknown. The score to
Jack in the Box
was thought, by Satie, to have been left on a bus years before. These
were found behind the piano, in the pockets of his velvet suits, and in
other odd places, and included
Vexations;
Geneviève de Brabant and other unpublished or unfinished stage works;
The Dreamy Fish; many
Schola Cantorum
exercises; a previously unseen set of "canine" piano pieces; and
several other works for piano, many untitled. Some of these would be
published later as additional
Gnossiennes,
Pièces froides,
Enfantines, and
furniture music.

Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Les Pantins Dansent - 2:10
A2 - Tendrement - 2:57
Ludion, Cinq Poèmes De Léon-Paul Fargue
A3 - Air Du Rat - 0:29
A4 - Spleen - 0:47
A5 - La Grenouille Américaine - 1:14
A6 - Air Du Poète - 0:56
A7 - Chanson Du Chat - 0:44
Trois Poèmes D'amour, D'Erik Satie
A8 - Ne Suis Que Grain De Sable - 0:34
A9 - Suis Chauve De Naissance - 0:34
A10 - Ta Parure Est Secrète - 0:45
Choses Vues À Droite Et À Gauche (Sans Lunettes)
A11 - Choral Hypocrite - 1:00
A12 - Fugue À Tâtons - 1:35
A13 - Fantaisie Musculaire - 1:27
Quatre Petites Mélodies
A14 - Élégie - 1:05
A15 - Danseuse - 0:33
A16 - Chanson - 0:28
A17 - Adieu - 0:36
-
A18 - Prélude De La Porte Héroïque Du Ciel - 3:25
Side 2:
B - Le Piege De Meduse (Baron Medusa's Trap) - 25:30
Credits:
Composed By – Erik Satie
Conductor – Aldo Ciccolini
Liner Notes – James Ringo
Orchestra – Orchestre Des Concerts Lamoureux
Erik Satie – The Irreverent Inspirations Of Erik Satie
Label: Angel Records – S-2-36173
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Book
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Classical
Style: Modern
Viewfinder links:
John Cage
Merce Cunningham
Nicolai Gedda
Net links:
Flypaper ~ Satie Weirder Than You Realize
The Guardian ~ Erik Satie: a life less ordinary
NPR ~ Guitarists Discover Timelessness of Erik Satie
NY Times ~ The Irreverent Inspirations of Erik Satie review
WXQR ~ Why Satie Is Still New Music
YouTube links:
Ludion, Cinq Poèmes De Léon-Paul Fargue
Quatre Petites Mélodies
Trois Poèmes D'amour, D'Erik Satie
Choses Vues À Droite Et À Gauche (Sans Lunettes)
Le piège de Méduse ("Medusa's trap") Part 1 (12 minutes)
Le piège de Méduse ("Medusa's trap") Part 2 (13 min., 32 sec.)
"Why attack God?
He may be as miserable as we are."
~ Eric Satie