Composer of the Week – Erik Satie

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to French composer and pianist, Erik Satie! Satie was one of the, shall-we-say, more colorful characters in early 20th century Paris.

Satie spent most of his life moving into, then falling out of different circles. It started in school when he entered the Paris Conservatoire – he was universally panned by his professors as being an untalented pianist, and left the school, then came back a couple of years later as a composition student, but with the same result. He spent some time with the group at Le Chat Noir, then later on with the Groupe des six, and then later still with the Dadaists.

Satie died from cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 59. He reportedly had not invited anyone into his apartment in 27 years, and his friends discovered a cache of unpublished compositions throughout his belongings.

Gymnopédie No. 1

Gnosienne n.3