Browse by Artist: SATIE, ERIK

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Francis Poulenc Plays the Piano Music of Satie and Poulenc
Label:	EL RECORDS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	ACMEM 078CD

"Exquisite set of historic recordings from the early fifties of Erik Satie and Francis Poulenc piano music played superbly by Satie's friend Poulenc. This Poulenc Plays Satie and Poulenc album is one of the most sought after by Erik Satie followers and completists. The sensitivity of the performance rivals any. With the interpretations of Aldo Ciccolini it is regarded as the finest and the sound is pristine. Satie and Poulenc are amongst the most important European composers of the 20th century. The work of both belongs to today and Satie especially is quoted as an inspiration by international modern musicians in the fields of jazz and rock and experimental music such as Frank Zappa and Brian Eno. Eno especially actively developed Satie's minimalism and ideas about furniture music toward the ambient music and 'muzak' of today. A lovely performance of Satie's best known composition 'Gymnopedie No 1' is included here along with other famous pieces such as 'Gnossienne No 3' and 'Descriptions Automatiques.' The Poulenc numbers are also a delight. His most popular piece 'Mouvements Perpetuels' which was used by Alfred Hitchcock in the film Rope is included in this programme along with 'Suite Francaise' that was a hit of its day and much admired by Stravinsky. Erik Satie's legacy is his position as a progressive composer and his cross pollination of musical forms and contexts that mixed the artistic high culture with the trivial. Since the sixties especially he has received worldwide appreciation and the recognition of his importance he so truly deserves."

Artist:	SATIE, ERIK
Title:	Socrate/Mass For The Poor/Piano Pieces by Francis Poulenc
Label:	EL RECORDS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	ACMEM 130CD

"These recordings of Erik Satie's symphonic drama Socrate (1916) and the beautiful Mass for the Poor are both very rare. They have been out of print for five decades and here are restored and released digitally for the first time. Erik Satie's compositions have been recorded by such diverse musicians as John Cage, Gary Numan, Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and one of his greatest admirers was Frank Zappa! Erik Satie has an international fan-base amongst whom he has attained god-like status. These completists alone will deliver good sales. Satie's sumptuous melodies (what he described as 'Furniture Music') remain attractive to the modern ear; compositions such as 'Gymnopedies' (included here in a performance by Francis Poulenc from 1956) are amongst the most famous of the 20th century. Classical, avant-garde and independent outlets the world over, should all do well with this little beauty."

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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