# Satie



## Lisztfreak

Fancy a little Satie?


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## Guest

Didn’t he compose the music of the opera : “The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat”, about a dysfunctional man from a case history by Oliver Sacks?
It has always struck me as an unjustifiably neglected work - not least because of its ending, when the psychiatrist tells the poor patient that the best cure for his ailment is "More Music."


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## Guest

That's Michael Nyman who did that.

Satie's much too early to have done anything with the Sacks book, which first came out in 1970.

Any road, Lisztfreak, whaddya have in mind? Socrate? That was Cage's favorite, as I recall. Or Vexations? (My favorite. In its complete version, only, of course!)


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## Lisztfreak

some guy said:


> Any road, Lisztfreak, whaddya have in mind? Socrate? That was Cage's favorite, as I recall. Or Vexations? (My favorite. In its *complete version*, only, of course!)


The twelve-hours-long one?

Only short piano pieces, that's what I heard from Satie. I especially like the Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes, Sonatine bureacratique, Deux réveries nocturnes, Jack-in-the-Box, Préludes flasques (pour un chien).


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## Guest

Lisztfreak said:


> Fancy a little Satie?


I quite like Satie. He was a bit of an odd-ball, and a lot of his music is quite austere, but there's definitely a touch of genius there.

I find his style rather cold and clinical but not lacking in melody. He was, of course, one of the early impressionists who had a major influence on the likes of Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc. His style is obviously completely different from the roughly similar period late Brahms piano solo, and it's almost as if the two composers came from different planets.

Last year I acquired a CD of his more famous pieces by Jean Yves-Thibaudet, called the Magic of Satie, which lasts for 79 minutes. I can recommend this unhesitatingly for the selection of material and playing quality.


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## Guest

You'd have to really zip through them to get all 840 repetitions done in only twelve hours. I think the one I heard (on KPFK back in the day) was about sixteen. I guess you could do it in twelve, but why rush?


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## cato

I love Satie!  

His piano works are wonderful!  

I love to listen to Satie on a rainy day, sit in a chair with a cup of coffee, and watch the rain fall outside, as I listen to those beautiful piano notes.

And Mango...... right on dude!  

I love that CD, Jean Yves-Thibaudet rules!  

Like you, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CD!


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## rojo

Satie`s works are indeed lovely and finely crafted, but I don`t feel the need to hear them very often. They tend to depress me, and some of them leave me feeling, well, blah, which I don`t like. Also, there`s just not enough there to keep me interested anymore. Some of them could almost be considered minimalist in their simplicity. I played one of his Gymnopédies for an exam many moons ago, and I liked it a lot at the time, and I enjoyed hearing them played by orchestra (two of them were orchestrated by Debussy,) but his works are not among my favourites. Maybe I`ve just heard them too often. I should try some of his other works; haven`t really heard all that many, tbh.


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## EricIsAPolarBear

I quite like Satie. Aldo Ciccolini's _Satie: Popular Piano Works_ is very good.

If you ever find yourself in Honfleur, visit the Satie museum. It is one of the best museums i've ever been to, equally as quirky as its subject.


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## neoshredder

I also enjoy it. Very interesting chords and colourful. Yeah I got Satie's: Piano Works by Aldo Ciccolini as well.


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## regressivetransphobe

Satie's my favorite. I tend to like the more grave, meditative interpretations--less "wit," more clarity and soul.


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## elgar's ghost

Lisztfreak said:


> Fancy a little Satie?


I fancy quite a lot of Satie - his works always sound fresh. I don't have any of his songs, though - could anyone please recommend a recording?


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## Tapkaara

Not too familiar with him. I should check out his piano works, it seems. I have a CD of his orchestral works and, while they are nice, they have failed as of yet to snag my interest. I think I need to get beyond thinking of him as a silly weirdo and just focus on the music.


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## neoshredder

elgars ghost said:


> I fancy quite a lot of Satie - his works always sound fresh. I don't have any of his songs, though - could anyone please recommend a recording?


This recording seems to have high remarks. You can get it used for a very good price. http://www.amazon.com/Satie-Piano-W...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1320709158&sr=1-1


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## Manxfeeder

I really like his music. He anticipated many developments in the 20th Century and influenced a lot of composers. Socrate is one of my favorites, along with Sports et Divertissements. I also like his nocturnes and sarabandes. He wrote some nice pop songs as well. But Gnoissiene No. 5 is at the top of my list; it's what got me back into classical music.


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## Manxfeeder

EricIsAPolarBear said:


> If you ever find yourself in Honfleur, visit the Satie museum. It is one of the best museums i've ever been to, equally as quirky as its subject.


Does Ornella Volta still run that? She used to advertise it as the world's smallest museum.


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## clavichorder

So far, my exploration of Satie has extended into the Gnossienes(my favorites), Gymnopedies, and some other solo piano pieces on my disc. I used to really tout up Sonatine Beaurocratique without realizing that it came from a the famous Clementi Sonatina, because it was played so smoothly and wonderfully and was such a dramatic shift is style. Its a cute pieces with funny text, and that Clementi sonatina is pretty catchy.


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## Manxfeeder

clavichorder said:


> I used to really tout up Sonatine Beaurocratique without realizing that it came from a the famous Clementi Sonatina, because it was played so smoothly and wonderfully and was such a dramatic shift is style. Its a cute pieces with funny text, and that Clementi sonatina is pretty catchy.


That's a clever parody. He also did a send-up of Chopin's funeral march and Chabrier's Espana.


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