Great Composers: Erik Satie

[@MalabarTheGreat]

Mr. Satie carried a hammer, for protection during his long, night-time commutes back home, from his cabaret jobs. He didn't carry one due to any eccentricities, and thankfully he was never forced to use it! I love your channel!

[@michaelsims6429]

Yes. When he move to Arcueil, the small suburb just south of Paris, he would walk home from Montmartre or Montparnasse at night--often stopping under streetlamps to jot down musical or other ideas. The hammer was very likely carried due to the marauding gangs known as Les Apaches.

[@WanderInobo427]

It's actually quite clever A hammer doesn't outwardly look like a weapon so it wouldn't arouse much suspicion on them terms ifn it were discovered he'd just look weird

[@katherinegallup-strom6324]

Another favorite anecdote, Satie is arguably the creator of the music video, in his piece 'Entre Acte', the first synchronous shot by shot film score. The accompanying film features Satie himself jumping around with a cannon.

[@soumilbiswas5231]

Hats off to Satie! A true weirdo, but an excellent composer!!

[@nadiaboulanger9323]

LOL. Couldn't have said it better, or more succinctly.

[@reginaldobittencourt878]

The fisrt time I heard Satie was a unique moment in my life. I put on the CD, the first music was "Gnossienne nº1". Luckyl, I met Satie with his best interpreter, Reinbert de Leeeuv. I remember that I felt as if the time stopped around me; t'was a crazy experience. Since then, I heard pretty much of his works, but there are still lots of music I didn't hear yet. My personal Olympus Mons of composers are: Beethoven, Chopin. Ligeti... and, of corse, Satie.

[@glensheppard1056]

The violist diss is perfect

[@jordan98127]

But how did he get the piano on top of the other piano if he was the only person who went in the apartment

[@ClassicalNerd]

There's no way to get a piano into an apartment without help, so I would assume that, when he got the apartment initially, the last people other than himself to set foot in it would have been the piano delivery people. On the other hand, this being Satie, I wouldn't put it past him to rig up some kind of elaborate pulley system ...

[@xavierlopez62]

It was from a performance in which one piano was set atop another piano.

[@ramprasada7451]

History tv18- is this a work of aliens?

[@tonl4738]

The period of Spiritualism was when Satie was living. A medium in Paris actually lived in that period of time who created amazing feats: Daniel Dunglas Home was a Scottish physical medium with the reported ability to levitate to a variety of heights, speak with the dead, and to produce rapping and knocks in houses at will. His biographer Peter Lamont opines that he was one of the most famous men of his era. Born: March 20, 1833, Currie, United Kingdom Died: June 21, 1886, Paris, France Not to say this is how Satie caused the piano stacking, but who knows?

[@waterkingdavid]

@@tonl4738 It's almost certainly the case!

[@thelonious-dx9vi]

Satie was a certain kind of genius. He invented many, many moments of intensely concentrated beauty, and in idioms that weren't laid out for him. I think his gifts would have aligned well with the requirements of modern songwriting. So, he just made up "gnossiene"? I wondered where that came from, cheers. I strongly agree that Ravel, Debussy and Satie are strikingly *dis*similar with respect to each other ... so the whole who-copied-whom thing is facile. It's interesting to me that both Debussy and Ravel were imposingly colossal in terms of musicianship, craft, etc. whereas Satie was essentially a tunesmith doing his thing.

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

WOW!! You really know your onions on music, Classical Nerd!! GREAT Stuff!!

[@Bhaerts]

Sigh

[@laraoneal7284]

His music is beautiful.

[@gingerdurbin9425]

He was like smurfette. He had 12 rotating identical outfits.

[@ttaboy]

I heard mark Zuckerberg took a similar approach to style with grey t shirts

[@satanslefttoee]

Because of personal taste, for me, Maurice Ravel and Erik Satie are neck and neck as my favorite pianists

[@r0mmm]

You mean composers?

[@billbergendahl2629]

Erik Satie was a very interesting person, and I also like his music.

[@ShorkGamer]

Nice! Some day you could publish a book with all your summaries on composers. :-)

[@kenhorton2855]

I loved the video and your presentation. I was very depressed today and sought solace in Satie's music (as I have for 30 years). I then picked your documentary and it comforted me such as to subscribe. Thank you for making this channel.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you so much for the kind words. If you like Satie and my work on him, I'd encourage you to check out my latest in-progress series covering Les Six-Satie comes up quite a bit in there, plus a much higher production quality that comes from more recently produced episodes.

[@ferguscullen8451]

I agree w/ you, re: Vexations. His tragedy was personal.

[@KuroiPK]

The part with the hammer is really funny

[@belentapialedezma9863]

I loved your channel! Thank you very much for doing this. Greetings from Chile :>

[@EmiliesPiano]

Love this. Satie was a weirdo lol but now I don’t feel so bad about my crappy work ethic and laziness in my practicing. We musicians are a strange crowd aren’t we?

[@EmiliesPiano]

@Mark Andrews Poetry Corner and Piano Lounge I am just now seeing your response! I find your preference of lifestyle more ideal than the traditional path most follow. A fellow musician indeed!

[@kookamunga2458]

His music is very seductive and hypnotic and I love musicians who are weird and nutty .

[@itsgoubie]

The lobster thing made me think of Salvador Dali taking his anteater for a walk also in Paris hahaha

[@EmiliesPiano]

150 oysters in ONE sitting? I bet that was one fantastic bathroom trip the next morning.

[@michaelfitzurka5659]

That was spectacular

[@HoratioTalbot771_a]

satie was scottish and french and these backrounds contribute to his unusual style . A ScoTtsman in FRANCE

[@matthewforsee5092]

Thanks for the great video! I love Satie and really enjoyed learning more about him from you.

[@goonyougoodthing]

I must have been Satie in a previous life. I'm too lazy to practice and I'm nuts lol

[@agamaz5650]

same haha

[@noutsakh.2135]

Oh, hi, nuts! And I'm Nutsa :D

[@jackminto7062]

That's called a musician my friend :)

[@segmentsAndCurves]

But did you put a piano on top of another piano?

[@imrangraham5596]

sorry to be offtopic but does anyone know of a tool to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost my password. I would love any tips you can offer me

[@LouisWaltersSouthAfrica]

Thanks so much. This was awesome.

[@enragedkaiser237]

Erik Satie was 4chan in a human form

[@joshuam4835]

Careful now, this violist might shoot back... :-)

[@ericrakestraw664]

Since we're on the subject of eccentric musicians, could you do a Great Performers video about the pianist Glenn Gould?

[@ClassicalNerd]

It's in the request pool, but it's still going to be a while yet-lots of stuff to get to between now and then.

[@emmahattaway1075]

so much passion thank you

[@LiliVG]

Excellent video!! I have loved Satie for years and a French teacher introduced me to his piano music. At night for relaxation I play his 4th Gnossienne. An eccentric man for sure. I didn’t realize that he apparently walked a lobster through the streets of Paris….wow, if true.

[@jonhansard826]

Debussy and Satie, pure bliss...

[@RedMeansRecording]

I feel a deep deep connection with satie via this video. Amazing. What a dude.

[@satanslefttoee]

Hearing a pianist you love and then learning their backstory gives 10000000000x more meaning to the music

[@danielarmstrong9080]

I absolutely love the part about the lobster opera. Do you happen to have on hand the place you read that? Great video also! Love your content as always.

[@mintyfresh4987]

Thanks from Canada. I am enjoying these, and grateful that you don'y "dumb down" the theoretical stuff.

[@cobraki00]

This guy is my hero. Satie is funny

[@MariosGiannakouliasyesitsme]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out but gymnopedie was a festival were naked boys were doing gymnastic exercises in ancient Greece. It's a Greek word.

[@erniepianezza8940]

I love Satie! Im weird and play and teach Piano as well :-) :-)

[@d1i9n2a2]

Thanks for that info, I was watching Mr Robot, in one of the episodes they play gnossienne and, being completely clueless about music, I had to look up what was playing. Do you think he's unofficially part of the dada movement, given his nonsensical titles and his eccentricities. If I may offer some friendly critique, I would move the camera farther to show more background. It's a bit too close for comfort :)

[@ClassicalNerd]

Most musicologists would agree that Satie was the spiritual predecessor-or even the godfather of-musical Dadaism; _Parade_ was outright Dadaist and the brief moment of fame he experienced during his life coincided with the generally accepted flourishing of Dada. He was ahead of his time. This video is well over a year and a half old, and every video I've made since the Aaron Copland episode in August 2018 has been with a significantly larger set. I was as happy as anyone else to see this old one gone!

[@d1i9n2a2]

@@ClassicalNerd ha ha, yes I see! Still the content is great :) thanks!

[@dormaettu302]

This is great

[@MoxieCom]

thank you ;)

[@therelaxedhousekeeper]

Thanks for this video!

[@autsni2082]

Lovely

[@morimori7456]

Luna Lovegood is the Erik Satie of Harry Potter

[@aMFm_]

Greatest composer ever. 🐐🐐🐐

[@2msvalkyrie529]

The most loveable !

[@SnakebearerMaria]

Bach's music as a result bored him is such a mood

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

You might have mentioned Debussy Harp Dances, Ravel Piano Concerto Second Movt.. They would not exist without Satie. In fact, they were probably an intentional tribute paid to him by both supreme composers.

[@definitelynotreyes]

Erik Satie was that internet troll way ahead of his time. But other than that his gymnopedie pieces are amazing.

[@jourellelane1686]

Je vous en remercie Pour le expliquer de le vie De Erik Satie.

[@interrexclamacion]

"thank you To explain it from life by Erik Satie" is Google's translation. did you mean to explain the life of Erik Satie?

[@cerveraux]

We play a performance with a bunch of other players of Vexations in Chile took 26 hours or so.....

[@jackdolphy8965]

Fine sketch of Satie. Than You!! I’d love to hear your scholarship on his Socrate, which dare I mention that some say was as at the greatest of his artistic excursions as …. his lobster?

[@remuspioli5549]

The lobster thing seems like an heritage of Gérard de Nerval who did the same thing before

[@carleneelizabeth7703]

You should do a great composers video on Caroline Shaw.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I've actually met Caroline Shaw! I gave her an avocado. As much as I'm a fan of her music, I'm very hesitant to do a "Great Composers" video on _any_ living composer, especially one as young as Shaw. With any contemporary artist, there's more they have left to give to the world, so it's impossible to do the kind of career and historical retrospectives that constitute a "Great Composers" video. I'm very open to the idea of going in-depth on some of her work, though; the Partita for Eight Voices would make an excellent "Great Pieces" video ...

[@carleneelizabeth7703]

A "great pieces" would be great and it does make sense to not do a "great composers" video about her. Thank you for answering!

[@dutchpropaganda558]

15:17 postulate within yourself

[@elionthekeys]

Great composers next episode maybe Peter Warlock? :)

[@ClassicalNerd]

You're in luck-Peter Warlock is coming up rather soon in the request queue!

[@williammullikin2076]

very interesting

[@matthieujoly424]

Thanks.

[@MANS4ON-Ce137]

Subscribed

[@WBradJazz]

Please do one on Luciano berio!!

[@ClassicalNerd]

You already requested Berio.

[@harpmanb]

Satie didn't wear the velvet uniform for the rest of his life. He did wear it for 10 straight years, then the suits and bowler until his death.

[@david8905]

Nightingales? Nightingales have an astonishingly rich repertoire, able to produce over 1000 different sounds, compared with just 340 by skylarks and about 100 by blackbirds. This is because the part of the brain responsible for creating sound is bigger in nightingales than in most other birds. No mentions of teeth that I could find. It has a strong, pointed beak that enables it to find invertebrates, such as worms, caterpillars, insects and spiders in the soil and leaf litter. The nightingale also uses its beak to feed on berries, which provide it with fuel for its long migration.

[@davidkelsall6164]

I think the lobster walking habit belonged to Gerard de Nerval.

[@johannesbowman2194]

17:18 "All of the pieces are about dried up sea cucumbers 🥒" Me, a Spongebob fan: NOT KEVIIIIIIIN! (Kevin the Sea Cucumber)

[@smashissocool65]

Hes too strong for so eccentric music 🧽

[@Ziad3195]

I adore Satie

[@Dubov1933]

Most surprising thing to me was that he no knowledge of counterpoint at 40 lol

[@liltick102]

19:36 where does this info come from I want to know everything about him

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

Satie was the living embodiment of Dada. He is probably the only person who could coherently explain how and why America has currently lost its mind and elected a snake oil salesman as its leader.

[@J.Livermore]

... don't You have another You Tube Channel where you review Cannabis Strains??🤔 ohhh.... I get it!. 🤫

[@yahiaessam2248]

The original troll, he’s the master.

[@p.r.h.7283]

What about doing a piece on Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber or Henry Brant

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@p.r.h.7283]

Damn

[@adrianoseresi3525]

@@p.r.h.7283 no no. That’s a good thing.

[@morimori7456]

is there a video about Ling Ling? because he's aMaZInG

[@erikaxner8363]

"Gymnopaedia, in ancient Sparta, was a yearly celebration during which naked youths displayed their athletic and martial skills through the medium of war dancing."

[@glauberyuri8159]

Ginastica

[@neo-eclesiastul9386]

2:28 of course i heard about the Gymnopedie. This is from MINECRAFT!!! :D

[@williampuckett5440]

Minecraft doesn't have that piece

[@Ziad3195]

No, C418 was inspired hy Gymnopédies though, I think.

[@georgealderson4424]

If Mr. Satie had been seen to do anything "normal" it would have been seen as "abnormal" by anyone who knew him, so the poor chap "couldn't do right for doing wrong" and therefore he is a great teacher ie. Live life to suit yourself (even if the suit is grey velvet and one of several!) What happened to Conrad I wonder? Thank you sir. Blessings and peace.

[@252Ron]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Satie was friends with Debussy, but grew jealous of his success?

[@DanDoroshDetroitMusic]

I don't believe the word gymnoppedie was entirely made up. He was said to have replied he's a gymnopedist when asked what is your profession by the owner of le chat noir. It's meaning is an obscure group of ancient naked male dancers and surely his play on this. This oddness played in perfectly to the popular avant-garde of the time and its this marketing that assured him not only a job playing there but new born friendships with the likes of Debussy.

[@LChem1]

Chopin nocturns are ofen mood music not unlike Satie.

[@brianstefans9108]

Lobster = Nerval

[@optimisticdork8380]

Those 3 dislikes are from violist who chose to respond to your “could shoot a violist, though” joke xD

[@VannaSsus]

Nothing will dissuade me from the belief that he was just a very competent shitposter

[@pascalxavier3367]

The gymnopedies are not very hard to play, they are fit for a piano beginner.

[@Silly.Old.Sisyphus]

the tra jim nopadees :) only an american could say that with a straight face!

[@ClassicalNerd]

I'm guilty as charged ... but I think everyone knows what I'm saying. This is also an older video so I hope you don't hold that against me.

[@Silly.Old.Sisyphus]

@@ClassicalNerd even though English is a mongrel language, no American can be forgiven for the way in which they mangle it. but in this instance, we can make an exception, as your bio of Satie is grand decor - with the exception that you missed his sardonic humour in regards to lift music - so much of what he said was the opposite of what he meant - his compositions are so arresting that no-one hearing them can prevent their being stopped dead in their tracks in astonished admiration that so much can be conveyed by so little. Which is surely exactly what he intended.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

You want to hear mangled English ? Suggest you visit any of following places : Basildon / Barnsley / South Shields / Birkenhead etc, etc. . Why do prats like you think that every Brit sounds like James Mason .? As for sneering at Americans : there are no thicker , uneducated people in Europe than your average Brit !!

[@mannyglover]

I enjoyed this, but why not take pauses and play the music you’re describing? I have heard his most famous piece of two, but none of the others you mentioned. That would’ve been nice.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Two things: 1) I often run into issues of copyright strikes if I use examples, and fighting them is a drain on the time I otherwise devote to researching these videos. Even public-domain recordings are often struck, and most of the example-heavy videos have to be re-edited and re-uploaded lest they get falsely taken down by the notorious algorithm. 2) If people are interested in listening to the pieces I mention, they're free to do so. There are a lot of people who upload pieces of classical music to KZbin, but very few who are devoted to biography and context. That's why I generally focus on the big-picture stuff with composers, to give the context of a composer's life and work for others to have when listening to their pieces.

[@mrridikilis]

Great video! (Unfortunately, the pronunciation of French words was less than stellar)

[@ClassicalNerd]

Please consider that this video was made in 2017. I was an undergrad.

[@dudove1]

He was a meme lord. Lol

[@satanas237]

D3 deficiency

[@julianmanjarres1998]

Hahaha satie was such a weirdo 😆

[@lubernaut]

La peinture est pour les dentistes. 🧇

[@GCorvetti]

Maybe he didn't like the period in which he lived, so he behaved as he wanted by coming off the labels of the period.e

[@leoboivin3224]

Your French is quite rusty

[@ClassicalNerd]

"Rusty" would imply that I had any ability to speak French to begin with, aside from what little I picked up during my week-long stay in an Acadian fishing village in Nova Scotia in 2014. ('Tis a long story.)

[@leoboivin3224]

Thank you for the correction

[@robertmicelli2946]

Sir, i am guessing that you got beat up for your lunch money in school every day

[@ClassicalNerd]

What a deeply weird thing to assume about someone.

[@normac9011]

How weird he might be, i don’t like the pejorative tone of your presentation while forcing a compliment in between. Either be sincere about your opinion or be objective.

[@Bhaerts]

So poor in history Classical Nerd. Get deeper in the topic, please. For example: the Gnossiennes are not similar, look it up or listen to them. It has also a reference to knossos (in Greece)......You have to do your best with Eric Satie. He deserves it!

[@ClassicalNerd]

I've played the Gnossiennes. The ones that were published as a collection in Satie's lifetime were more thematically and structurally similar than the ones published after his death and titled "gnossienne" without Satie's ability to consent to such an appellation. Also, if you're going to critique a video that's over three years old and two (close to three) sets/bookshelves ago, the least you could do is spell his first name with a "k" ...

[@Bhaerts]

And Erik with a k indeed. I speak Dutch, French, English and German. Spelling can be confusing. It is a poor critique...

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

Sweet irony. Criticizing someone for not 'getting deeper' while spelling the name wrong. .That's just lazy . .Satie indeed deserves better .

[@vaughangarrick]

you lost me at elevator music .........bye

[@ClassicalNerd]

👋

[@shizutu]

Good reading of pre-existing material but your French pronunciation is awful. Stress should be on the first syllable of Satie. Like Sah-tee not satee and Deh-bew-see.