Browse by Artist: SATIE, ERIK

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Ballets, Piano Works & Rarities
Label:	EMI CLASSICS
Format:	2CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	EMI 907236CD

Performed by Aldo Ciccolini, Mady Mesplé, Gabriel Bacquier, Nicolai Gedda, and Pierre Dervaux. "Erik Satie (1866-1924) was one of music's most unconventional characters. After two unsuccessful periods of study at the Paris Conservatoire he moved to Montmartre, earning a living as a composer and café pianist in an establishment that was frequented by the artistic community. He soon became friends with many of the literary and artistic names of the time including Debussy and Ravel. The first disc in this collection of Satie's works starts with what are his two most popular pieces, here in Debussy's 1897 arrangements for orchestra. There follows two of Satie's best-known ballet scores, Parade and Relâche and the disc ends with the lesser-known Mercure and Messe des pauvres, a curious piece for organ and choir. The second disc is made up of a good selection of songs, including two versions of the quintessentially French song Je te veux, and ends with two short instrumental pieces."

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Avant-Dernières Pensées
Label:	HARMONIA MUNDI (FRANCE)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$40.00
Catalog #:	HMC 902017

Performed by: Alexandre Tharaud (piano), Juliett e Noureddine (vocals), Jean Delescluse (tenor), Eric Le Sage (piano), Isabelle Faust (violin), David Guerrier (trumpet). "With this recording, Alexandre Tharaud aims to serve justice to Erik Satie -- the real Erik Satie. Chock full of surprises and humor, Tharaud strives to reveal the coherence between Satie's life and music. The first CD is devoted to piano solo works. The second offers a selection of duos, many of which are world premiere recordings. Featuring well-known artists such as chanson singer Juliette, violinist Isabelle Faust, pianist Eric le Sage, trumpet player David Guerrier and tenor Jean Delescluse, this album will also include a private Internet access code to listen to bonus tracks and discover more about Satie's life and work." "My aim in these two discs has been to offer the richest possible panorama of Satie's piano and chamber music, ranging over his whole lifetime... Immersed in the world of Satie, we were touched, often deeply moved by the trust he shows in his interpreters." -- Alexandre Tharaud

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Piano And Four Hands Piano Works
Label:	KML RECORDS (ITALY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	KML 1120CD

"Fresh from their recent triumphs at the Proms, Katia & Marielle Labèque present their first recording of the music of Erik Satie. The disc starts with the two pianists taking turns interpreting his everpopular Gymnopédie. The other solo works are divided between Katia and Marielle in consideration of their respective temperaments. The pair are finally reunited in duets from the first and last collections of Satie's pieces for four hands."

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Piano Music Vol. 5
Label:	MDG SCENE (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.50
Catalog #:	MDG 6131067CD

"The piano music of Erik Satie is a natural successor to Steffen Schleiermacher's award winning series of the music of John Cage. Steffen Schleiermacher has been awarded numerous prizes for his work on music of the twentieth century, both as a composer and pianist. Satie's solo piano music has become a favorite of film directors as background for foggy, melancholy scenes. Satie was famous for giving frivolous seeming names to his pieces like 'Sleeping Preludes' and 'Really Sleeping Preludes' both dedicated to a dog. Most of the music on this collection is dedicated or inspired by dogs in Satie's life."

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	42 Vexations (1893)
Label:	SUB ROSA (BELGIUM)
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.50
Catalog #:	SR 294CD

Erik Satie's 1893 Vexations; performed by pianist Stephane Ginsburgh. This piece is musique d'ameublement -- literally, "furniture music," the phrase coined by Satie in 1917, where he identifies sound as drapes, tiling, wallpaper -- items belonging to the environment and changing it simply by being in it, by actually becoming elements of the space. This recording is the second installment in a series of furniture music (after Marcel Duchamp's Musical Erratum), and is unique in that it calls for 840 repetitions of a single motif. John Cale recalls a particularly grueling 1963 performance under the direction of John Cage: "Between 9 and 10 September 1963, I was one of a relay team of pianists, under the direction of John Cage, who played Vexations by Eric Satie at Pocket Theatre, 100 Third Avenue near 13th Street, in 18 hours and 40 minutes. The 180 notes of this 80-second work were played 840 times. The whole thing was John Cage's idea. The admission was $5, but members of the audience got a refund of five cents per 20 minutes, and those who stayed to the bitter end got a 20 cent bonus." Had Satie envisioned playing the piece? Who knows. Neither do we know if Duchamp's Erratum musical was meant to be executed. What can be said, however, is that when played in its entirety, Vexations inevitably becomes a performance for both players and listeners. An experience in repetition -- repetition without the slightest variation, except for the unavoidable tempo shifts that occur over such a lengthy performance, alterations in how the piano keys are hit, in other words, everything that falls within the realm of the mechanically involuntary. What would you say about a ritornello that lasts between 18 and 24 hours? Includes a 16-page booklet containing the essay "Cage's Place In The Reception Of Satie" by Matthew Shlomowitz.

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Inside The Dream
Label:	WERGO (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	ALC 5107CD

"Inside the Dream evolved out of a live, multimedia performance, complete with multi channel sound and augmented with club-style electronics. The brain-child of Jurgen Grozinger, this project glorifies the surrealist movement in general and the work of Robert Desnos in particular. The disc includes a selection Grözinger's arrangements of Satie's works (including his beloved 'Gnosiennes'), flanked by Grozinger's own works, which were written as an homage to Satie. All are performed with the perfect balance of melancholy and desire by the European Music Project, under the direction of the composer/arranger."

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