It is an extraordinary thing. Presumably this is the side of Satie that Cage was thinking about when he wrote that form is defined by means of time lengths. I just find it unbelievable that the piece was written in 1892!
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Yes but there were precedents! I'm sure Satie would have been aware of songs composed about 20 years earlier by Mussorgsky which made use of pretty remote chord changes,Originally posted by Mandryka View PostComment
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From the programme notes to the Duanduan Hao CD with (Naxos) on it:
Uspud, was not originally intended for piano.
Conceived as a Christian ballet/shadow play in three acts
by J.P. Contamine de Latour, Satie’s music required flutes,
harps, and strings. Although it was composed in 1892, it
was not premiered until almost a century later, on 9 May
1979 at the Opéra-Comique.3 Satie’s bitterness that it was
not performed at its intended location was expressed on
the title page of the score: ‘présenté au théâtre national de
l’Opéra de 20 décembre 1892’ – ‘presented to’ but not
‘performed at’. The play bears a striking resemblance to
Rivière’s La Tentation de saint Antoine, which Satie
witnessed some five years previously. As one might expect,
De Latour and Satie take the hermetic theme to the point of
absurdity, resulting in a mock-serious spiritual exercise,
provoking both enthusiastic appreciation and strong
criticism when Satie played it through on the piano one
evening to a group of acquaintances at the Auberge du
Clou. Uspud is the sole character, while everyone and
everything else – from saints and angels to demons and
humans with animals heads – appear as figments of his
feverish, fantastic imagination. The music was probably
intended not to be continuous, but rather to highlight
particular features of the tableaux and commentary.Comment
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I like this more than Nicolas Hovarth’s recording, which is the one I was listening to before. Thanks for mentioning it.Originally posted by Bryn View PostLoved it since first hearing it in the Riri Shimada triple CD set.
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Some suggestions as to what to listen to would be appreciated. It’s about 15 years ago since I last heard Songs and Dances of Death, a concert with Thomas Quasthoff I remember. Is that what you’re thinking of?Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostComment
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Next week, in commemoration of Satie's death, a century on:
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Seeing reference in the final programme to Satie's Enfantines of 1913, I knew that Milhaud also composed three of his own - as happens, that very same year:
Possibly Milhaud was the first of the future Les Six lot to recognise Satie - Koechlin, Debussy and Ravel already had, of course.Comment
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This has been one of the best COTWs in a very long time. It would have been lovely to have had translations of at least some of the poems set by Satie.Comment
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Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
The entire Satie Week from last Saturday was very good IMV, and I learnt a great deal about him. Radio 3 at its best.Comment
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Missed the whole lot due to clash with Wimbledon on TV but will catch up especially in light of positive comments. I have two discs of Satie songs, both worth acquiring. One has full texts and translations - Holger Frank on MDG. The other with Jane Manning on Audiophile does not. Limited availability - DiscogsOriginally posted by Serial_Apologist View PostComment
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