The first 840-repeat performance of Vexations was organised by John Cage in 1963, with 12 pianists taking turns, and took 18 hours. Admission was $5, and audience members who left early received a nickel refund for every 20 minutes attended. By the end of the concert, there was only one person in the audience left from the very beginning of the concert. After the last chord, he stood up and yelled "Encore!" :D
Too true and three cheers for John Cage. Vexations is truly among the most hilariously tediously sardonic yet profoundly sophisticated, haunting and poignant works ever composed and not surprisingly seldom performed. So just for fun and in order to prove that it's possible, here's an admirably tediously lengthy single-musician-driven performance by Nicolas Horvath, one pianist who appears to have been genuinely inspired by Satie. Bet that worked up an apatite... th-cam.com/video/gImDzmNuEDA/w-d-xo.html "Everybody offers to buy one a drink; but nobody ever dreams of offering to buy one a sandwich." - Erik Satie
We went to his house in Honfluer, now a museum dedicated to his life & filled with his music. Definitely a strange fellow, but a genius living his own way and composing wonderful timeless music that we will love forever.
Started learning piano at the start of the COVID 19 lockdown (March 2020 in Wales) and of course Gymnopedie no.1 was one of the first songs I started to learn. I didn't realise how fascinated I would be with Satie himself. Really enjoyed this documentary!
Too true. Usually Satie's works have that pleasantly gentle effect - that is unless the piece requires some lighthearted and hilariously shockingly LOUD POUNDING, as is sometimes the case. But the occasional sardonic pounding just adds to the overall entertaining contrast. Vive Satie!
They left out the best story about Relâche: the toast of Parisian society, plus the obligatory music critics, were all invited to a special preview performance of the new ballet. But when they got to the theatre, all they saw was a little sign in the window that read "Relâche" ("closed for repairs"). :D
I think his music is brilliant because it's different from everything else I've heard. Some of it sounds like it's wrong yet it works. Somehow it sounds right. Impressive and very clever.
I believe that E.S. intuited a way to transcend time, a way to rise above the planes of time and just be. It can be extremely energizing/healing. Music without a beginning, without an end, without bar lines open doors within the mind to new worlds-of-possibilities. Glass discovered this and so did Cage... and a number of others as well. A mystical way to enter "the timeless dimensions" some have called it. It is an ancient skill known by the Theraputi of Greece and Egypt in ages past.
His satirical 'phonometrician' description is hilarious. I remember reading this is Rollo Myers monograph of Satie's life. A singular character indeed.
Well in that case and just in case you haven't seen it already, here's another classy art film (by René Clair) that you might enjoy th-cam.com/video/Gu8E_s3km8A/w-d-xo.html featuring Saint Satie himself being canonized in slow motion, a camel-drawn hearse and Karl Marx dancing in a tutu (cool beans!) Watch it if you DARE!
Beautifully done, although I wound have liked for you to have brought up some things about his Rosicrucian period and then his personal religion. Debussy as well as a number of other artists became Rosicrucians. This fraternal organization predates them all. Thanks.
Interesting that first de Leeuw plays Gymnopedie no. 1 painfully slow - and then minutes later, a commercial plays the same piece ridiculously fast! :D Joanna MacGregor's tempo is just about right for my ears, though.
Interestingly or not (most likely...not), many violinists and violists suffer from a curiously lopsided form of self-inflicted left-ear-deafness simply as a result of playing their instruments in the Mc-modern, post-viol style. Seriously: th-cam.com/video/9d-JIj2NOvI/w-d-xo.html (The information section of the video may explain much.) Luckily for me, my hearing is A(440)-okay in both ears...because I was lucky enough to be inspired by Satie. "Experience is a form of paralysis (or, in some cases, nerve damage.)" - Erik Satie
@@lkym2481 I had forgotten about deleting that video. Thank you for reminding me. The ergonomics of violin playing may be an interesting albeit arcane subject. If you'd like to learn about an exceptionally healthy way to play the violin (for all ears), here's a functional link featuring a detailed explanation. th-cam.com/video/zTui2HRi0ps/w-d-xo.html The information section may seem a little confusing (strictly intentional), but it's fairly sensible. Plus if anyone is bored enough to read all the way to the bottom I included an additional link to another video that visually demonstrates my healthy violin technique. Bottom line: Play the violin any way you want. Just grab a violin and get to know it. I like to play many styles, but I've been inspired to play lots of works by Satie. So if you look through my uploads you'll find all of Satie's Gnossienne, Gymnopedies and also a work entitled Pièces froides, Airs à faire fuir. Stay healthy and happy New Year.
@@davidw.montague5376 i googled procession point and found a post you put on a fiddler's forum linking to a previous version of the same video: th-cam.com/video/5GuluDIBJzI/w-d-xo.html i certainly agree that health and ergonomics take precedence over tradition! you ever see a transverse flute player? of course that's an awkward position. i really wish they made them easily playable. i've looked up different attachments to make them functional while held similar to a clarinet, but the attachment is ~2000$.. yikes!
@@lkym2481 That was admirably diligent of you. You managed (via a very old 'fiddlers' post) to look up my long-dead TH-cam channel that Google-tube wrongfully and illegally locked me out of (seriously, locked me out of) simply because I wouldn't give the dishonest creeps my phone number. Creepy dishonest Google. Oh well. Anyway, too true about both violins and transverse flutes. That's why I prefer to play recorders. Plus I think recorders have a pleasantly interesting sound: th-cam.com/video/NxJMa3PZOiE/w-d-xo.html (From my current, large Gooftube channel-portfolio.) Yes, good idea - think with originality in the name of ergonomic comfort and authentic health. Satie would appreciate that. Have a Satie-empowered day. th-cam.com/video/cOqiSlGJmsI/w-d-xo.html
I find it intolerably obnoxious that Boulez and Messiaen dismiss this composer, one of the most independent, authentic and original of composers. How does it make the World a better place, or even enhance their own positions to be so vicious and vindictive ? What threat does he pose to them ? To speak so disparagingly of a colleague is as widespread today as it has ever been, and it is just as foul. Talent, good manners and friendliness, apparently, often don’t seem to mix ...
Too true and very well put. To be Cesar Franck about it, Boulez was a suspiciously well-connected, thoroughly artificially facilitated and quite possibly overrated composer (and politician of "the arts") whose minimal popularity has only decreased over time, while Satie's well founded popularity does nothing but increase. Thus does the unpleasantness of politics within "the arts" often reflect the unpleasantness of politics in general. That stated, at least Messiaen had some actual game. Still, there are no valid excuses for being so boldly mean and inaccurate. Vive Satie! "The artists of our day are becoming businessmen and think like attorneys." - Erik Satie
Boulez was always opinionated, to put it mildly. As for Messiaen, I'm not sure what he actually said of Satie. But musicians are entitled to their opinions.
Thanks. I'm not sure about that decision now. Or about the technicalities of this version. It's very difficult acquiring one's ancient works from the BBC say - this was from Andrew Hugill's personal cd!
Exactly. This is so wrong. One of the beauties of Vexations is that it starts with the unaccompanied melody which is harmonized after that (again and again and again). This is essential to the piece.
I might be wrong. I probably am wrong. But wasn't it Satie who invented the 'avant garde'? Conceptualism, minimalism, pop art etc etc etc. I mean, didn't his ideas pre-date Cubism, Found Art, etc etc by 30 years or so?
Did Satie even get out of his chair when nature called (for comfort breaks) or to eat or wash? A personal question, but was he in a state of depression that prevented him from moving?
In the arts, it may be best not to be too literal. Besides, most fine artists experience bouts of colorful gloominess. For instance, Satie's friend Debussy... “The color of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams.” - Claude Debussy
CampaignsIlraon yes. it's supposed to sound kind of like a jukebox. and if you listen to the song, it has added sounds that make it sound exactly like a jukebox.
The first 840-repeat performance of Vexations was organised by John Cage in 1963, with 12 pianists taking turns, and took 18 hours. Admission was $5, and audience members who left early received a nickel refund for every 20 minutes attended. By the end of the concert, there was only one person in the audience left from the very beginning of the concert. After the last chord, he stood up and yelled "Encore!" :D
Typical modern self indulgence and GARBAGE
Too true and three cheers for John Cage. Vexations is truly among the most hilariously tediously sardonic yet profoundly sophisticated, haunting and poignant works ever composed and not surprisingly seldom performed. So just for fun and in order to prove that it's possible, here's an admirably tediously lengthy single-musician-driven performance by Nicolas Horvath, one pianist who appears to have been genuinely inspired by Satie. Bet that worked up an apatite... th-cam.com/video/gImDzmNuEDA/w-d-xo.html
"Everybody offers to buy one a drink; but nobody ever dreams of offering to buy one a sandwich."
- Erik Satie
Thank you for your input!
Just for the record: Igor Levit performed Vexations during one of his house concerts last year. It took him 16 hours.
@@christinemarion1321 A similar concert staged in Chicago took 9+ hours - the pianist may have been playing a good deal faster.
Love his work, Satie was the reason I got into listening to Classical piano works.
Thank you for this performance of:
Erik Satie: Things Heard From the Right.
You said it for me.
Satie was and still is the best, no one can never come close to his genius nor music.
Yeah he is definitely up there
He is cool. Not much else. But I love his coolness.
We went to his house in Honfluer, now a museum dedicated to his life & filled with his music. Definitely a strange fellow, but a genius living his own way and composing wonderful timeless music that we will love forever.
Satie, in my mind the greatest piano solo composer.
Started learning piano at the start of the COVID 19 lockdown (March 2020 in Wales) and of course Gymnopedie no.1 was one of the first songs I started to learn. I didn't realise how fascinated I would be with Satie himself. Really enjoyed this documentary!
I could listen to Philip Glass talk about Erik Satie all day
Not on mono. It's only coming through one earpiece ffs
That would be preferable to listening to his music. (Glass' , not Satie)
So soothing, it's like when you listen to it you feel like all stress is locked outside.
Too true. Usually Satie's works have that pleasantly gentle effect - that is
unless the piece requires some lighthearted and hilariously shockingly LOUD
POUNDING, as is sometimes the case. But the occasional sardonic pounding
just adds to the overall entertaining contrast. Vive Satie!
At last I’ve found an artist who understands me. Kudos on a loving homage.
They left out the best story about Relâche: the toast of Parisian society, plus the obligatory music critics, were all invited to a special preview performance of the new ballet. But when they got to the theatre, all they saw was a little sign in the window that read "Relâche" ("closed for repairs"). :D
I think his music is brilliant because it's different from everything else I've heard. Some of it sounds like it's wrong yet it works. Somehow it sounds right. Impressive and very clever.
I’ve fallen in love with Satie!! ♥️♥️😍💋✍🏻✨💖🎵🎶
Yeah. Sometimes I can hear his (probably unintentional) humor in some of the pieces.
Thank you so much for putting this up!
I believe that E.S. intuited a way to transcend time, a way to rise above the planes of time and just be. It can be extremely energizing/healing. Music without a beginning, without an end, without bar lines open doors within the mind to new worlds-of-possibilities. Glass discovered this and so did Cage... and a number of others as well. A mystical way to enter "the timeless dimensions" some have called it. It is an ancient skill known by the Theraputi of Greece and Egypt in ages past.
Thank you
Loved it, thanks.
Makes me like Satie even more, good old avant-garde. For the record: (BBC 1992)
Good job!!!! soy de Buenos Aires y sería bueno que haya traduccion al habla hispana. Congratulations!!!!
Things seen to the right and the left, but only heard from the right.
Great documentary though
Haha. yes bit of a bummer to only have mono
Thank you!
Satie to chyba mój ulubiony artysta.
He eats his lunch in the space of three minutes, he must have had a lot of brothers and sisters.
Ralph Richardson Solid hypothesis.
No Satie only had one sibling, his brother Conrad,
His satirical 'phonometrician' description is hilarious. I remember reading this is Rollo Myers monograph of Satie's life. A singular character indeed.
thanks for this
If only one could bring Satie and Marina Abramovic together!
Came across this documentary about Erik Satie which is excellent if one likes Satie as I do.
Well in that case and just in case you haven't seen it already, here's another classy art film (by René Clair) that you might enjoy th-cam.com/video/Gu8E_s3km8A/w-d-xo.html featuring Saint Satie himself being canonized in slow motion, a camel-drawn hearse and Karl Marx dancing in a tutu (cool beans!) Watch it if you DARE!
Beautifully done, although I wound have liked for you to have brought up some things about his Rosicrucian period and then his personal religion. Debussy as well as a number of other artists became Rosicrucians. This fraternal organization predates them all. Thanks.
Erik Satie: Things Heard to the Right
Noah Scahill ...and seen to the left 😆
Interesting that first de Leeuw plays Gymnopedie no. 1 painfully slow - and then minutes later, a commercial plays the same piece ridiculously fast! :D Joanna MacGregor's tempo is just about right for my ears, though.
42.40 the man talking sounds like the one in THE CHILL OF DEATH by Charles Mingus.. wow
It must not be forgotten that there are two other gymnopédies (that I also play).
Only coming thru one speaker?
If only my left ear could listen to this... it'd be very pleased!
Interestingly or not (most likely...not), many violinists and violists suffer from a curiously lopsided form of self-inflicted left-ear-deafness simply as a result of playing their instruments in the Mc-modern, post-viol style. Seriously: th-cam.com/video/9d-JIj2NOvI/w-d-xo.html (The information section of the video may explain much.) Luckily for me, my hearing is A(440)-okay in both ears...because I was lucky enough to be inspired by Satie.
"Experience is a form of paralysis (or, in some cases, nerve damage.)"
- Erik Satie
@@davidw.montague5376 i am super intrigued to learn more about your thoughts on the ergonomics of violin playing but the link is no longer active :
@@lkym2481 I had forgotten about deleting that video. Thank you for reminding me. The ergonomics of violin playing may be an interesting albeit arcane subject. If you'd like to learn about an exceptionally healthy way to play the violin (for all ears), here's a functional link featuring a detailed explanation. th-cam.com/video/zTui2HRi0ps/w-d-xo.html The information section may seem a little confusing (strictly intentional), but it's fairly sensible. Plus if anyone is bored enough to read all the way to the bottom I included an additional link to another video that visually demonstrates my healthy violin technique. Bottom line: Play the violin any way you want. Just grab a violin and get to know it. I like to play many styles, but I've been inspired to play lots of works by Satie. So if you look through my uploads you'll find all of Satie's Gnossienne, Gymnopedies and also a work entitled Pièces froides, Airs à faire fuir. Stay healthy and happy New Year.
@@davidw.montague5376 i googled procession point and found a post you put on a fiddler's forum linking to a previous version of the same video: th-cam.com/video/5GuluDIBJzI/w-d-xo.html
i certainly agree that health and ergonomics take precedence over tradition! you ever see a transverse flute player? of course that's an awkward position. i really wish they made them easily playable. i've looked up different attachments to make them functional while held similar to a clarinet, but the attachment is ~2000$.. yikes!
@@lkym2481 That was admirably diligent of you. You managed (via a very old 'fiddlers' post) to look up my long-dead TH-cam channel that Google-tube wrongfully and illegally locked me out of (seriously, locked me out of) simply because I wouldn't give the dishonest creeps my phone number. Creepy dishonest Google. Oh well. Anyway, too true about both violins and transverse flutes. That's why I prefer to play recorders. Plus I think recorders have a pleasantly interesting sound: th-cam.com/video/NxJMa3PZOiE/w-d-xo.html (From my current, large Gooftube channel-portfolio.) Yes, good idea - think with originality in the name of ergonomic comfort and authentic health. Satie would appreciate that. Have a Satie-empowered day. th-cam.com/video/cOqiSlGJmsI/w-d-xo.html
17.30 "On my scales, a common F# registered 93 kilos. It came out of a fat tenor i also weighed" Priceless! What a unique mind.
Everyone needs to look up the documentary about Henry Darger.
Love Darger! Check out Austin Osman Spare while you're at it.
I find it intolerably obnoxious that Boulez and Messiaen dismiss this composer, one of the most independent, authentic and original of composers. How does it make the World a better place, or even enhance their own positions to be so vicious and vindictive ? What threat does he pose to them ? To speak so disparagingly of a colleague is as widespread today as it has ever been, and it is just as foul.
Talent, good manners and friendliness, apparently, often don’t seem to mix ...
Too true and very well put. To be Cesar Franck about it, Boulez was a suspiciously well-connected, thoroughly artificially facilitated and quite possibly overrated composer (and politician of "the arts") whose minimal popularity has only decreased over time, while Satie's well founded popularity does nothing but increase. Thus does the unpleasantness of politics within "the arts" often reflect the unpleasantness of politics in general. That stated, at least Messiaen had some actual game. Still, there are no valid excuses for being so boldly mean and inaccurate. Vive Satie!
"The artists of our day are becoming businessmen and think like attorneys."
- Erik Satie
Boulez was always opinionated, to put it mildly. As for Messiaen, I'm not sure what he actually said of Satie. But musicians are entitled to their opinions.
I think Satie is a better composer than Boulez or Messiaen.
It's very French. And of course composers - Satie included - view others through a prism of their value to their own work. Chill.
@@davidw.montague5376 Boulez => t.Edison, Satie => Tesla ?
Why was only the first verse of the Vexations performed?
Love this doc! Even if my left ear was lonely ;)
Planning a festival this year. :D
Thanks. I'm not sure about that decision now. Or about the technicalities of this version. It's very difficult acquiring one's ancient works from the BBC say - this was from Andrew Hugill's personal cd!
Exactly. This is so wrong. One of the beauties of Vexations is that it starts with the unaccompanied melody which is harmonized after that (again and again and again). This is essential to the piece.
Chris, who is the elderly lady who knew Satie?
I might be wrong. I probably am wrong. But wasn't it Satie who invented the 'avant garde'? Conceptualism, minimalism, pop art etc etc etc. I mean, didn't his ideas pre-date Cubism, Found Art, etc etc by 30 years or so?
Bro, I've been saying this for a while satie is the father of modern music and his furniture music is pretty much video game music.
Did Satie even get out of his chair when nature called (for comfort breaks) or to eat or wash? A personal question, but was he in a state of depression that prevented him from moving?
In the arts, it may be best not to be too literal. Besides, most fine artists experience bouts of colorful gloominess. For instance, Satie's friend Debussy...
“The color of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams.”
- Claude Debussy
10:54
anyone knows the name of the piece at 23:29?
What's the name of the piece at 34:14?
39:25 Nail clippers
Takes 3 months to learn a piece… may i ask what piece is it…?
what is the first song playing in the background?
+nirvanadrainyou101 one of the Gnossiennes.
+Christopher Hale ok thank you! Ill try and find it
+nirvanadrainyou101 My friend, the piece is called: Erik Satie - Embryons desséchés, II. D'Edriophthalma.
See above for actual piece.
THank you!
2:31 video starts
what's the piece that plays in the start of the doc?
Please let me know
Purple Haze, I believe.
23:40 way too fast, fine in every way but way too fast lmao
The analogy of Vexation's in this is very interesting.
no sound
What is the piece around 34.15?
42:04
55:20 is that really how the piece is supposed to be played????
CampaignsIlraon yes. it's supposed to sound kind of like a jukebox. and if you listen to the song, it has added sounds that make it sound exactly like a jukebox.
34:15
The edges are the center ...
Erik Satie: Things Heard to the Right and not the Left*
Thanks for uploading this! Awfull audio though
I'm desperate to find an English version of Uspud. Anyone know of a good place to find one?
The text or a recording?? Suggest you contact Andrew Hugill - contact on line I think.
+Christopher Hale Either. I've spoken with him. He has sent me his own orchestra copy in English. Thanks! 😃
+Christopher Hale I'm also in dire need of Socrate in English sheet music as well! 😭
Ah France . ! Still , despite so many changes , the true Centre of Culture
in Europe . ( et je ne suis pas Francais !! )
I find much of Satie and Warhol's personalities seem to overlap in viewpoints and philosophy and creativity.
can somebody tranlate this in to spanish please?
Pues aprende ingles
No
Uspud for president
Hearing socrates sung by a female sounds so wrong
what year was this done...???
What's the name of the piece at 34:14?