A Weird Famous Guy... What Else Is New?

OK... so I know that I am writing about music again, but I feel that the last two columns of every chapter just doesn't do the musical giants of the 20th century justice. So, to give them their just desserts, let's talk about Erik Satie.

Firstly, I would like to say that the book spelled his name wrong... its' EriK Satie... because he changed his name from Eric to Erik in 1886 to honor his mother who was Scottish. Sometimes people still spell it Eric... but they are clearly incorrect. :-)

On to the music! The first thing that caught my eye in the paragraph that mentioned him was the fact that it said he used typewriters and doorbells in some of his music. Unfortunatly, I wasn't able to find any of this music online. What I did find however, surprised me to my great delight. The book makes him seem like some crazy guy who composed weird music, so when I went searching for songs I was expecting some weird spastic stuff that no one would like. However, the pieces that I found are absolutely beautiful! Take a listen...

Gymnopédie No.1 (orchestra version)

Gnossienne No.2 (piano version)

Aren't they just amazing??? The slow, haunting melodies are totally different from what I was expecting! I find them almost relaxing and definitely enjoyable music. In fact, according to several websites about Satie, he pretty much invented the idea of background music. It was his intention to create something that you wouldn't necessarily listen to, but just kind of enjoy from a distance.His laid back style even inspired some of the other composers of his time, such as Debussy, in their creations as well.

These two pieces almost make Satie sound like a normal guy.... but, like any famous artist/writer/musician/poet/sculptor, he wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it was a amusing sort of weird that I very much enjoy. Satie was not only creative, he was witty. He would write comments on the side of his sheet music that had to be specifically asked to not be read aloud because they were so funny. And instead of using traditional musical elements to describe his pieces like "allegro, forte, allegretto," he opted for the non-traditional variety and wrote things that he made up, such as "don't make your fingers blush", "from the top of your back teeth", and "do your best"! Throwing musical function out the proverbial window, EriK sometimes refused the use time signatures or even measures! He also came up with super random and creative titles for some of his works. Flabby Preludes, as the book mentions, was one of them. The actual title is apparently Flabby Preludes (for a dog). While the music doesn't sound at all flabby to me, the unusual title was certainly an inventive marketing technique!

But Satie's humor wasn't limited to his writing. His music was funny as well. Like this piece that he composed titled Vexations; an 18 measure song that he wrote with the intention of it being played 40 consecutive times for a total of 18 hours... I would hate to have been at that premiere concert....



Good thing they took turns! Oh, and it took the combination of pianists 19 hours and 20 minutes to complete the piece!

So, while Satie had his eccentricities (starting his own one member church and only eating white foods, to name a few) he was an incredible musical genius with a flair for beautiful melodies and a great sense of humor. And for all you naysayers of 'classical music', here's a list of all the more modern songs that have elements of Satie's music which, if you'll note, includes Frank Zappa. So the next time 'Apostrphe' comes on the radio, grab yourself some mashed potatoes and thank EriK Satie.

Arrangements in popular music

• In 1968, Blood Sweat & Tears released their second album, which included an adaptation of Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopédies (arranged by Dick Halligan) which they titled as Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie (First and Second Movements). Its instrumentation consisted only of flutes, an acoustic guitar and a triangle and the song's length was 2:35. In 1969, Halligan received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance for "Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie" from the album Blood, Sweat & Tears.

• In 1980, Gary Numan's 7-inch "We Are Glass" featured "Trois Gymnopedies (First Movement)" on the B-side.

• In 1999, electronic music act Plaid's CD "Restproof Clockwork" included a track called "Tearisci" which is an uncredited version of Satie's "Pièces Froides, No. 2: Danses De Travers: III. Encore".

• In 2000, ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett released the album, "Sketches of Satie", performing Satie's works on acoustic guitar, with contributions by his brother John on flute.

• Frank Zappa was also a devoted fan of Satie, incorporating many elements into both his rock and orchestral works.

• The English electronic duo Isan recorded versions of the three Gymnopédies for a 2006 7-inch single, "Trois Gymnopedies" on the Morr Music record label.

• The 2nd movement of his Gymnopédies has been used in the original soundtrack of 2010japanese animated film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya by Kyoto Animation studio. The full Gymnopédies as long as Gnossiennes are included in the 2nd CD of this OST.

• Ogive Number 2 (incorrectly labelled Ogive Number 1) was re-recorded electronically by William Orbit on his album Pieces in a Modern Style