Vexations is a noted musical work by Erik Satie. It consists of a short chordal passage and a bass line which is repeated twice in each repetition of the piece. The piece is to be repeated 840 times and on the score, it is suggested that, "In order to play this motif 840 times consecutively to oneself, it will be useful to prepare oneself beforehand, and in utter silence, by grave immobilities."
The work was first played in public the requisite 840 times, by a team of pianists: John Cage, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, Viola Farber, Robert Wood, MacRae Cook,
John Cale, David Del Tredici, James Tenney, Howard Klein and Joshua Rifkin, with two reserves, on September 9, 1963, from 6 p.m. to 12:40 p.m. the following day. One person was present for the entire performance: Karl Schenzer.
Harmonically the Vexations appear to be an exercise in non-resolving tritones, one of the anathemata of conventional harmony (in conventional harmony tritones are not forbidden as such, but they should be immediately resolved in the next chord, what doesn't happen in the Vexations).
Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.
Self portrait of Erik Satie. The text reads (translated from French): Project for a bust of Mr. Erik Satie (painted by the same), with a thought: "I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old"
note; i had the luck to see a performance of this piece by a friend of mine.(with others of course) I almost made it to the end.
This version was like an opium den of music as people were nodding out in a meditative bliss. Others just slept.
Listen to Satie
HERE.
sorry this post does not do the piece or the man's genius justice as i need to SLEEEP.
Vexations is a noted musical work by Erik Satie. It consists of a short chordal passage and a bass line which is repeated twice in each repetition of the piece. The piece is to be repeated 840 times and on the score, it is suggested that, "In order to play this motif 840 times consecutively to oneself, it will be useful to prepare oneself beforehand, and in utter silence, by grave immobilities."
The work was first played in public the requisite 840 times, by a team of pianists: John Cage, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, Viola Farber, Robert Wood, MacRae Cook, John Cale, David Del Tredici, James Tenney, Howard Klein and Joshua Rifkin, with two reserves, on September 9, 1963, from 6 p.m. to 12:40 p.m. the following day. One person was present for the entire performance: Karl Schenzer.
Harmonically the Vexations appear to be an exercise in non-resolving tritones, one of the anathemata of conventional harmony (in conventional harmony tritones are not forbidden as such, but they should be immediately resolved in the next chord, what doesn't happen in the Vexations).
Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures (and writes down) sounds") preferring this designation to that of "musician," after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.
Self portrait of Erik Satie. The text reads (translated from French): Project for a bust of Mr. Erik Satie (painted by the same), with a thought: "I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old"
note; i had the luck to see a performance of this piece by a friend of mine.(with others of course) I almost made it to the end.
This version was like an opium den of music as people were nodding out in a meditative bliss. Others just slept.
Listen to Satie HERE.
sorry this post does not do the piece or the man's genius justice as i need to SLEEEP.
