As a little art project, I recently made a version for MS-DOS and AdLib [2] that starts with a piano-like sound and gradually distorts the timbre every repetition by flipping a random bit in the AdLib’s registers.
I never made a recording of it because I was envisioning it as an “if you got to see it in person, cool” type of thing, but I should probably go back and do that
Live performances of Vexations are illuminating in their own right.
But as a reminder for those who don't know: from the score it's clear Satie was satirizing the practice of composers taking on the long, boring process of drilling inane counterpoint exercises in the hope of eventually writing "serious" music, only to teach themselves the singular lesson of how to write long, boring phrases of music.
Probably he's also satirizing the arbitrariness of the received wisdom, as evidenced by his surprising voice-leading decisions for the phrase in Vexations. (Digression-- I find the common-practice prohibition on parallel fifths funny given there are near-constant parallel fifths sounding as an accident of the harmonic series, especially prominent in step-wise basslines in the cello or bass part. Did Rameau or anyone every address that? I don't remember...)
Counterpoint is like any other musical technique. If you're a hack you can get it "right" and never say anything expressive with it. But if you have a creative musical sensibility it can add interest and complexity that wouldn't be possible otherwise.
Some of the world's most cherished music is much older than that. Is it your general expectation that musical compositions, regardless of merit, will inevitably lose their appeal over time?
Both, but mostly for his music. Listen to Gymnopédie No. 1 and Gnossienne No. 1 for good beginner pieces.
But apparently hackernews loves to point out how "weird" he was.
Music website: https://gnossiennes.mousereeve.com/ (slightly better on Desktop).
Talk: https://youtu.be/ANYMii3Sypg
Abstract: https://www.thestrangeloop.com/2019/minimalist-piano-forever...
It doesn't use markov chains (to my knowledge) but can generate some pretty impressive sounding Bach-like preludes / fugues using a weighted rule based approach across notes and melodic phrases.
Most people don’t intentionally listen to 100-year-old music, sure, but you’re underestimating how much we absorb this stuff as background music in ads, movies, TV shows etc.
Most classical music is very niche but a few pieces become cornerstones of popular culture -- think of “flight of the bumblebee” or the William Tell overture. Satie has a disproportionate number of hits. His style is exceptionally simple, distinct and timeless.
I think I heard it more or less since childhood.
My favourite interpretation of Satie's is played by Reinbert de Leeuw. He plays very slow, playing just a bit behind the beat, with astonishing precision and expressiveness.
When I used to play piano, I once timed myself playing them to my own preference. As I recall, it was around 11 minutes at the speed that makes sense to me.
Chacun a son gout. (Satie himself claimed to only eat foods that are white, after all.)
The pieces were more conventional than I was expecting. I like the album and the music, it's a different side to Satie more reflective of the era, provides some context and perspective on his works.
Still looking forward to listening!
I highly recommend
Eric Satie's complete piano works on 2 x CD
has all the music from this wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Erik_S...
I tried to play some of these on classical guitar and failed dismally.
You simply have to decide to hear it.