Rodolphe Salis

Je te veux (Music: Erik Satie (1897) / Text: Henry Pacory)

A figure that stands aloof and isolated from mainstream French Composers, Satie remains as enigmatic as ever. Undoubtedly a composer of great substance, he was nonetheless capable of writing strange and deliberately “meaningless” music. His rebelliousness makes him a very interesting figure. He claimed to despise the Impressionists with their fanciful nature-evocations, parodying them with titles of his own such as “Three pieces in the shape of a pear” and instructing musicians to play a certain passage “Like a nightingale with a toothache.” While hating conformism he nonetheless had deep respect and [read more…]