Erik Satie | History's Weirdest and Most Eccentric Musician

Erik Satie was a French composer and pianist, born on May 17th, 1866 and by all accounts, he was thought of as a talentless musician in his formative years. At least that’s how Georges Mathias, his professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire described him. "Insignificant,” “laborious," and "worthless" were his exact words.
Émile Decombes, another one of Satie’s piano professors called him "the laziest student in the Conservatoire."
It’s true, Satie wasn’t much of an accomplished piano player -- he was a horrible sight reader -- but he was a master composer.
His compositions have been featured on everything from The Simpsons and How I Met Your Mother to The Royal Tenenbaums, Dr. Who and The Benny Hill Show, not to mention hundreds of commercials.
#Satie #gymnopedie #weirdhistory

[@WeirdHistory]

Who do you think are some of the most eccentric musicians today?

[@armwrestlingfan6804]

Basically any SoundCloud rapper who made it big.

[@Augfordpdoggie]

Geddy lee-history's most multi talented musician

[@tomatobagel]

Vitas from Russia.

[@Paethgoat]

Buckethead?

[@Maybachdemon]

can I just thank you for uploading this video? I've been searching for the name of the song in the beginning of the video for weeks

[@__________Troll__________]

*The real reason he never speaks while eating is because he only got four minutes to eat*

[@mariusbraun450]

Finally someone cutting through the BS. That's my boy right there

[@benjaminorwell2514]

Brings back memories of Basic Combat Training

[@tylerbrandon460]

Lol. He probably had a food diversion and sensory disorders. My little nephew has it, some textures of food or colors will make him gag or choke or throw up.

[@benjaminorwell2514]

hank hill Guess there are such things as Cock Colors

[@tylerbrandon460]

@@benjaminorwell2514 haaaa maybe that's what was wrong with him, tormented by wanting what he couldn't have due to fear of being chastised. You figured it out!

[@vojtechkubin1590]

840 times repeat? He wrote the 28 hour version for youtube. Clever visioner.

[@Touppii]

he basically predicted lofi hiphop radio - beats to relax/study to

[@timmcinnes2594]

I walked out after the 832nd repetition. It was getting to be a bit much. To balance, I started watching the 3 second long first motion picture ever made, but walked out after 1 and a half seconds.

[@CH3CH2OCH2CH3net]

I played it, in a live performance. I had an IV tube hooked up to me so I'd stay hydrated (and nourished), and had a urinary drain catheter inserted (uncomfortable!) so I wouldn't have to worry about having to pee. All 840 repeats. At the end of the performance, someone shouted, "Encore!" So, I played it one more time.

[@koolkitty108]

Touppii or just ambient electronic, it’s a real genre

[@AlifNurfakhri]

@@timmcinnes2594 "it was getting a bit much" 😂

[@hunsoupe]

Are we not going to acknowledge the fact that his last dying word's were "Ah, the cows" ???

[@poncdoug789]

"la vache", means something along the lines of "oh damn" in french, that's probably what he said

[@rgnyc]

@@poncdoug789 ... unless he was asking for some Armenian bread (lavash).

[@mscateye4777]

I'd prefer my last words to be the cows

[@aqdrobert]

Gary Larson fan.

[@inr63]

Oh my goodness - is this so?? That’s so perfect - thank you for sharing. This changes everything; those shall be my last words too. Lbs

[@p.terodactyl6848]

Gymnopedie No. 1 is one of the most hauntingly beautiful compositions ever made. It's so minimal yet so invoking and oddly nostalgic, and it never fails to put me in a relaxed mood. You hear it and probably think "the composer must have been one of the most laid back and relaxed people ever"...and he was. He likely was one of the least self conscious people ever to live and had been out of fricks to give about what others thought of him since he was born, and that's something I think a lot of us envy.

[@cmb6087]

Thats how I felt with erik satie gnossienne 1. It was what set off this rabid interest in classical music.

[@markpage9886]

It breaks my heart...

[@phyllespo3712]

I totally agree! Love the haunting Gymnopedie #1

[@BillGreenAZ]

I agree. It seems so simple yet it evokes so much emotion and the composition itself brings out complex sounds.

[@rainieb.104]

Well, the opium probably has something to do with the “relaxed” bit

[@clxs8091]

Satie is the internet, embodied, 100 years ahead of his time. The original troll

[@nublex]

you read my mind :)

[@CANControlGRAFFITI]

Fuckin millennials

[@richshekelstein5190]

aleister crowley as well.

[@clxs8091]

@@CANControlGRAFFITI sounds like someone's aged poorly😆

[@mrjilian07]

Ever heard of Diogenes? He was the real first troll, 2000 years ago

[@enelabe]

Here's another curious fact about him the video failed to mention: he used to post drawings of huge fantastic houses and castles he designed on local newspapers saying he was selling them (when, of course, none of them really existed). He would occasionally receive letters of potential buyers but he'd ignore all of them.

[@FauZhee]

pre-internet era troll.

[@DGA2000]

Here's an anecdote I read about him. He collected umbrellas and one day a friend saw him returning from a piano engagement in the pouring rain, an umbrella tucked away under his arm. When his friend asked him why he wasn't using his umbrella, Satie informed him the umbrella was too valuable to get wet... Satie's music was written in his own way as well. I was studying piano and have never seen music written like that before or since. He included notes for the performer of his music something like "Play this like a sparrow with a toothache". He truly was one of a kind. LOVE his music...

[@renz6634]

He's my spirit animal

[@aitotem]

Sounds like he would have loved the internet

[@24-karat-plonker]

I'm already a fan based on just this one fact...

[@pottersmiles7238]

This guy was clearly telling jokes with a straight face and the gullible swallowed it. Nothing has changed

[@parzival8331]

I still enjoy his music either way though.

[@smithfield06]

Beautiful music who cares

[@pottersmiles7238]

@Jesus Christ ahhh still crying from being nailed I see

[@GnomeHats]

@@pottersmiles7238 LMAO

[@jail2634]

You sound so smart😯 you are clearly above Average intelligence. I see that in the way you are criticising modern Society to be stupid and to not get jokes told with a straight face. Epic👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@jpeopolis]

My father, now 69, began listening to Satie when he was an adolescent. Became obsessed. My parents' honeymoon was basically two weeks of hitting up every location in France that held some significance to Erik(somehow she's stuck with him for 45 yrs. lol). I didn't really appreciate the brilliance of Satie until I got. bit older. There may have been some jealousy involved in my hesitation to accept the composer. I mean, my dad baked a birthday cake for this dead Frenchman every May 17, yet not one for his youngest daughter! haha Anyhow, having OCD really helps me feel a special connection to Satie. His use of triplets, his need for rituals and routines, his general ambivalence and/or disdain for others. Well, the last part is more my pops. Still, I'm glad ES is finally getting the attention he deserves, yet would have hated had he still be living:)

[@animalsarebeautifulpeople3094]

at least you got to eat the cake baked for ES's birthday right? 🤪

[@unreactivecontent]

nice

[@thebeatnumber]

Your dad sounds as eccentric as the man whose music he loves so much

[@frequencymanipulator]

Your dad is a legend.

[@soph6064]

Fun Fact! He also once found himself in a party with business men. Each of them talked about their trades, and when the subject came to him, he claimed himself to be a "Gymnopedist". When asked what that was, he responded "I don't know." and promptly left, went home and began to compose the Gymnopédies that we adore today.

[@koolkitty108]

That is iconic

[@lisaa6099]

I think his simple piano style is unbelievably beautiful.

[@g.h.7661]

Lisa A agreed wholeheartedly

[@marleybu7984]

Absolutely. His music is amazing 😀

[@erichale8047]

I go to sleep by satie and have awake rational.

[@gabrieleferrari9383]

I don't like it at all

[@callmejrob1]

It gives the music space to breathe

[@balooko31]

Weird, I actually work a lot with his music playing in the background because I like something to break the silence but not actually listen to it. It's like he wrote it with me in mind. Thanks Erik.

[@koolkitty108]

You have to listen to aphex twin!

[@russt44]

The narrator should at least work on his French accent. And who decided to play the ridiculous accompanying music?

[@memchetalefelamed1358]

I draw to his music

[@gbkgames2087]

Me: plays gymnopedie Everyone else: OMG ITS THAT MINECRAFT SONG

[@LatinPlayer10]

Is this supposed to be a joke, or is the song really in Minecraft? This song sounds like I've heard it on Minecraft, but I think they're just similar. I thought I was the only one who made that connection.

[@gbkgames2087]

@@LatinPlayer10 they have a similar chord progression but they are quite different in melody

[@HelderGriff]

Hahaha I only know how to play Wet Hands and I wanted my next piece to be Gymnopedie n1 lol

[@igfalcomeira690]

@@HelderGriff same!

[@ivanivanovic5857]

@@LatinPlayer10 It was in The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. I watched it when I was 13 and this one song was the only thing apart from the name of the movie that I still remember 15 years later.

[@plsarguewithme2665]

Is no one going to ask how tf did he stack those two grand pianos in his apartment?

[@nicholasfiona]

and how did he get them up stairs?

[@sushisaihara6679]

seriously lol

[@wormswithteeth]

He took the legs off the top piano and placed it above the one below with the lid down. This was in his flat in Arcueil, south of Paris on the first story of the block.

[@stevenbaggley1257]

carefully?

[@Boppsta712]

I guess not

[@coreymoncure7653]

The meaning of "Vexations" seems abundantly clear to me, given the target was his "next door neighbor" in a city apartment. In a different era this is the same as pressing your speakers up to the walls and putting "Baby Shark" on repeat for 28 hours.

[@openize1928]

finally

[@ArabicNameGuy]

purupurupururin

[@Alix777.]

@@ArabicNameGuy kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6bCYWajirWafrc

[@baseballbatbadass321]

I feel ya

[@timbeaton5045]

"Turn up the Eagles, the neighbours are listening...!"

[@pamelatorres156]

"Two Preludes for a Dog?" "Dry Embryos?" "Do Not Drink Chocolate with your Fingers?" These sounds like titles from an unreleased Frank Zappa record! :D

[@gavinreid5387]

Very Dada

[@jacobbeaird3188]

S P L E E N

[@Cadwaladr]

"Dry Embryos" sounds more like a Nirvana song to me.

[@robertlittle7314]

Apparently he also included strange directions in his music. Two that come to mind are "like a nightingale with a toothache" and "here comes the lantern."

[@calbanks176]

I was gonna say this! Some of my favorites are interrogate, arm yourself with clairvoyance, from the far end of thought, postulate within yourself, advise yourself accurately, haggard of the body, etc...

[@EMVelez-qb1zu]

Well…he was drunk a lot.

[@YoChoppa_]

Imagine getting frustrated with the audience because they're actually listening to your music!!!

[@AblackGenie]

This is just a thought of mine but remember when the guy on the video said something like "music that should be heard but not listened to"? I guess he meant that Satie didn't want those compositions to be critized/analyzed. He wanted them just to be there, like the natural ambient and keep doing your thing. People judged the repetitiveness of some of his compositions. But I think that one of the purposes of his ambient music was to sound something similar like the natural ambient. Let's say you go for a nature walk, you'll hear bugs making the same sounds over and over. But you shouldn't stop and question, you should just keep on moving.

[@Katya_Lastochka]

@@AblackGenie I think it was a joke.

[@AblackGenie]

@@Katya_Lastochka Well, it was just one of my short thoughts

[@nijemosquedaiv4634]

@@AblackGenie I agree.

[@philosci7830]

According to Brian Eno, one of the pioneers of modern ambient music, "Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." Here is one of his albums, called "Ambient 1: Music for Airports": kzbin.info/www/bejne/rH_aiqeiod6nabM

[@ahobimo732]

I'm pretty sure the "schedule" he described was entirely sarcastic, with the intent being to mock such rigid routines.

[@kittycatrina1861]

I feel like his entire outward public appearance was just a giant life spanning intentional sarcastic joke thing idk like a shitpost or smth but making fun of muscians

[@kittycatrina1861]

Maybe his personal life too.. he knew he was living in a simulation so he just lived it

[@bauble2618]

If he really ate the kind of meals he described and ate them within 4 minutes then we have to hope it was satire lmfjdksk

[@erice.stewart3020]

Nah bro... It's Kabbalistic numerological fascination.

[@Wyzard01]

@@bauble2618 I think you mean Satie.

[@stephenkutos6400]

Satie was one of the all time great jokers and subscribed to the Dada movement. Many of the things spoken of in this video were supreme jokes played on friends and society. The thing missing from this video is the fact that he was a very serious composer and suffered with the lack of recognition he received as a composer. He once said, " I once thought to compose music to bring a little happiness into the world. From there, all my troubles began." The idea that Satie should be lumped together with these pop "musicians is a travesty and a complete misunderstanding of Satie the man and of Satie as a composer. In almost every way, Satie was Ravel's and Debussy's equal.

[@jasperiscool]

It seems that this video doesn’t want to describe Satie’s life, but they just wanted to make a video with some random anecdotes without researching the context of them. Quite disappointing, doesn’t do him right.

[@stephencarroll230]

And Dada was hardly just a joke.

[@tr7938]

Well, I agreed with your comment up till the end. He was NOT the equal of Debussy and Ravel.

[@tomrogerlilleby2890]

Life is easy to make complicated.

[@RaihanVissandjee]

to me useless debate, i consider them all as inspiration and i like them (satie, debussy, ravel) i like less nowdays mainstream music ...

[@Bobbnoxious]

At a rehearsal of his ballet "Parade", a flute player stood up and yelled, "Monsieur Satie, you must think I'm an idiot!" Satie replied, "I don't think you're an idiot. But I could be wrong". Satie had no tolerance for stupid people and loved trolling them with irony and facetiousness.

[@barrywerdell2614]

After a complete, live performance of Vexations a masochist yelled "Encore!"

[@shombie2737]

Haha! Reminds me of an intermittently aurically painful John Cage performance once, but I got up and stuffed my ears in the ladies room

[@krokodyl1927]

Barry Werdell LOL 😆

[@MCFC111]

Lol!

[@MCFC111]

@@shombie2737 I could not even imagine, oh God!

[@benjaminorwell2514]

jw zacher possibly a sadomasochist

[@armwrestlingfan6804]

It's like he wanted to be weird on purpose. What a meme.

[@jesusdiscipledon1499]

** I’ve seen you around here before.

[@Herehear49]

He was probably like a lot of us, totally disenchanted with all the current bullshit and decided to put the turd in the punch bowl with some musical ideas.

[@junepassingthrouthegate8810]

Dali did a good job at that.

[@clairev.g.7361]

if he was alive today.. i would be one of his fans as a living meme and genius.

[@MrYowen88]

yea I definitely think he was trolling the rest of humanity/future generations with some of this stuff!

[@AlisonBryen]

Me (cooking): is 4 eggs too many for an omlette? Satie: *laughs in albumin*

[@jeansibelius5843]

It's not a song "IT'S A FKNG PIECE"

[@LageYouTube]

hi sibelius

[@debrabrabenec3731]

I remember learning that someone told him his songs had no form, so he wrote "Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear"-one of my favorites!

[@ngyufeng6205]

yes!

[@debrabrabenec3731]

@Neo Sannyasin Claude Debussy.

[@clareselgin3208]

His pieces don’t follow the western forms (with tension and resolution). Debussy appreciated them and he also appreciated gamelan.

[@mannequinchaos]

Lol

[@muffyrodriguez]

Realty? Wow autistic perhaps ❤

[@drpool2424]

Me: “Do you know your fly is open?” Satie: “Know it? I WROTE it!”

[@skattyopt]

This made me giggle quietly to myself

[@miguelsantiago4610]

Laughing in a minor

[@juilietpritchard6560]

lol

[@maxwelll1978]

Bravo. That is the shortest version of one of the very best jokes ever told. I'd forgotten it, so thanks for reminding me.

[@p4nky130]

I dunt get et

[@LikFlyTuff]

it's such a relief i'm not the only one who stacks two pianos on top of each other and use the top one as a box

[@mattnorman3915]

Satie was a Genius! As an Artist He went completely on his own, with very little to light his way. His music is so far ahead of anything written in his time period, his influence is everywhere, from trance, house, and many electronic genres to indie post punk and Jazz as well, a powerhouse of creativity in a very humble shell.

[@tr7938]

You've given more accolades than apply.

[@erikobanani]

@@tr7938 Nah hes right.

[@huntrrams]

Satie is a real life Wes Anderson character

[@KetchupOverdose]

Fun Fact: Gnossienne No. 1 was used in The Royal Tenenbaums

[@InuranusBrokoff]

You win... Everything...

[@alio2269]

Nail. On. The. Coffin.

[@magatrone100]

1980: they wanna join my band? 1890: they wanna join my cult?

[@vzzniko]

Satie was a genius. It's very pitiful he was so underrated and unrecognised. He would have called me an arse, if he had found out I listen to his music mindfully because it gives me great feeling of calmess.

[@likhochokri6849]

Ikr? 😂

[@gaetanodragonetti3942]

Satie can’t be compared to any of those you mentioned. I highly believe the eccentricity of his character was real and not just to grab attention like some of the contemporary artists these days, plus many “eccentric” artists in the present behave in such fashion due to drugs. So no. Just like Nikola Tesla, Satie was a true genius, freak, eccentric and visionnaire. Way ahead of his time.

[@scottjampa6374]

"nobody can eat 50 eggs." Erik Satie: "hold mon beer svp"

[@marijevos6393]

Chubbyemu: "Hold my Mountain Dew.."

[@anomienormie8126]

You mean boiled cold wine

[@agent-sz2qj]

@Mind Control Experiments "the LA beast" probably

[@DGA2000]

I hit the like button just because of the "svp"

[@ramlathers8182]

he was the Cool Hand Luke of his day.

[@gilibertopaparauchas5959]

EATING 150 OYSTERS CHALLENGE!! Satie Would be a youtuber nowdays.

[@adityarajkhowalama]

Mukbang

[@koolkitty108]

Probably a famous one too honestly

[@revibard-harvey6919]

WHAT UP IT'S YA BOI THE VELVET GENTLEMAN BACK WITH ANOTHER CHALLENGE

@@revibard-harvey6919 TODAY I WILL PRANK MY NEIGBOUR BY SHITTING ON HIS DOORMAT! LETS GOOOOOOO

[@kissarococo2459]

bit of a lolcow too

[@rat-in-the-void]

Okay but his weird titles sounds exactly like most of playlist on Spotify nowadays. Truly a man ahead of his time.

[@pinkchihua]

The way you said ‘pianist’ sounded like something else...

[@Mr.X2]

As someone who plays satie a lot i hate how he’s unrecognised while his music is used a lot

[@McEnroe911]

Mr. X how is he unrecognized? He’s one of the most famous composers of all time. Even my deaf mother knows who he is.

[@Mr.X2]

@@McEnroe911 in the netherlands his music is used in a lot of documentaries. Nobody knows nor cares about the composer and that upsets me. And, people who don't care much about classic piano music for sure don't know him, while they might know about bach and chopin.

[@McEnroe911]

Mr. X there’s quite a bit of territory between “Bach” and “unrecognized”. Of course he’s not as famous as Mozart or Bach or Beethoven, but he’s certainly in the top 10 classical composers.

[@oleum5589]

THIS! I love his music. It has a sense of intimacy like Van Goghs paintings.

[@I.luv.my.choppa]

@Derek Huynh then my friend you have ass taste in music, just my opinion.

[@juliaromero7512]

I love most of Satie's compositions, especially the Gymnopedies. They're minimalistic yet, they make you feel something unexplainable.

[@pascalxavier3367]

And the gnossiennes; the N°6 is especially difficult, so weird.

[@koolkitty108]

Gymnopédie no. 1 hits different my dude

[@abandonedmuse]

Exactly. He was a troll, yes. But a damn good one.

[@abandonedmuse]

@@koolkitty108 for me the gnossiennes take me somewhere else. Not so much with the gymnopédie

[@koolkitty108]

@@abandonedmuse what about la Belle excentrique? It’s grande ritournelle that’s pretty as heck

[@InfiniteHorizons2]

and yet he composed some of the most emotional music ever played (the gymnopedies and gnossiennes) that fine line between madness and genius certainly seems to fit Satie

[@jr8573]

The fact that he invented ambient music makes him my favorite classical artist

[@koolkitty108]

Yo, same...

[@Leit2290]

Imagine coming up with elevator music before the elevator was invented

[@B1RDSEYE]

Not to be that guy, but I think the elevator actually was invented by then. Not that music would be played in them at that point though.

[@JosueHernandez-nj9bc]

Beautiful

[@recoverytips6541]

Elevators and pulley systems have been used to lift people and things for over 2000 years! I'm definitely certain music has been played during these lifts previously, but not through standard elevator speakers. Funfactsforlyfe

[@deeznuts-rp2ms]

@@B1RDSEYE but music doesn't play in elevators? lol

[@B1RDSEYE]

cheems1839 clearly you and I do not frequent the same elevators.

[@jesusdiscipledon1499]

Was he eccentric enough to know that one day someone would watch a motion picture about him while pooping? Probably not.

[@mhDarkWolf]

Two someones

[@plinkitee]

He'd probably get a kick out of it 😁

[@agileanalyst214]

And yet

[@serendipitousslim1529]

Watching while pooping as well

[@bubblevest1544]

Pooping and jerking off.

[@akurei123]

"You sir and dear friend are an arse, an arse without music", the best sentence ever uttered.

[@missbethpiano380]

This is so delightful! FYI in classical music, a piece of instrumental music is referred to as a "PIECE" of music - not a song. A song is sung. Love, love, love, Satie!!

[@greatbritishentertainmentl5636]

Visiting his birthplace home in Honfluer was an absolute treat as it's now a Museum of his eccentric lifestyle & filled with those 100 umbrellas and hundreds of little paper notes he would write to himself of music ideas to develop later. The building is spread over many twisting floors linked by strange angled stairways - he loved dark, obscure rooms for his lonely existence, but his music is hauntingly beautiful.

[@charlynegezze8536]

"Haunting". That's the word I was looking for.

[@Lee-nl5vm]

He eats for 3 minutes?? Also I wish my inspiration worked on a schedule

[@MCFC111]

I was thinking the same, but for sure, that was not true, if he was able to eat oysters and drink wine, for sure it is not true.

[@beckc.5084]

Maybe that's the joke he was trying to make, an artist can't really schedule his inspiration

[@koolkitty108]

Bruh, for real... give me some of that inspiration, Erik

[@stevtomato]

To be fair though, Satie never instructed anyone to perform the Vexations 840 times. He just wrote something along the line of: to play this motive 840 times in succession, it would be good to first prepare oneself, in the greatest silence with serious immobilities. Hilarious xD

[@kobakoba3209]

Tbh, I'dd need to mentally prepare playing something 840 times . 😂😂😂

[@rimtaud5951]

the fact he composed music for different situations is magnificent, I do the same. associating moments/places/situations with music shows a great interest in arts in general, he was probably influenced by cinema at some point in his life, I think. it also denotes that he was a extremely creative human being and a formidable artist, moreover he could not only listen the music but feel it in the smells, colours, seasons and situations, I can relate. he was a superb artist and a top tier dreamer.

[@gabrielthompson9800]

Vexations was actually even weirder, it didn't require you to play it 840 times, it just said that if you were to play it 840 times, change some small thing

[@Find-Your-Bliss-]

Gabriel Thompson Brilliant

[@mudsharkbytes]

Paraphrased, he said before playing it 840 times to prepare yourself with serious silence and immobility. John cage used this as inspiration for his famous silent piece 4’33”, which originally was titled “Silent Prayer.”

[@koolkitty108]

But... why

[@gabrielthompson9800]

@@koolkitty108 That's John Cage for you

[@PurpleSixBeats]

🎵 I always wanted to buy 7 identical outfits for each day.

[@jehielemacale9707]

Purple Six Beats me tooooo! Imagine not having to worry what to wear. Lol!

[@koolkitty108]

Honestly, mood sometimes

[@michaelshaw2576]

Bert & Ernie

[@reoire843]

He and Batman have a similar approach to their wardrobe

[@gwaynebrouwn844]

"You've probably heard this song" Me: *inhales* ITS A PIECE!!!!!!!!!

[@mariamatedei]

you mean inhales

[@gwaynebrouwn844]

@@mariamatedei yes thank u i fixed it

[@lauriejanes6511]

You shouldn’t refer to him as a jerk. I love his eccentricity in its entirety. Those song titles are hilarious as is the dancing horse in the ballet. He was a genius no matter how you look at it. God bless all artists! 🙃

[@nickilievski82]

He might have been weird and eccentric, but his gymnopedie 1 and gnossienne 1 are two of the finest music pieces ever composed.

[@elyssathompson905]

Thank you for acknowledging such an influential composer. Love this channel.

[@Niji.K]

"or just been around on earth, you've probably heard this song." Me immediately: iT's a piEcE (I am aware that most ppl don't care about the difference but I must take the role of the pretentious musician to provide corrections lol)

[@segmentsAndCurves]

haha funny yeah.

[@inr63]

Hey - you’re self aware and up-front about it; I like that.

[@CH3CH2OCH2CH3net]

Satie is one of the composers I've played everything -- and I mean literally *everything* he wrote for piano. Satie is like Mozart: easy enough for beginners to play, almost too difficult for everybody else. To pull off playing Satie in performance, you have to play it *perfectly*. It has to be an absolutely polished performance, and it has to feel spontaneous -- very, VERY hard to do. A misplaced articulation, one note which in perfect balance with the note before and after it -- ANY mistake you make will stand out like a very sore thumb. His music is undeniably eccentric, but it has all the hallmarks of a genius. The weirdest composer? Probably Kaikhosru Sorabji. His music is so complex, and so extraordinarily difficult that only a handful of people can perform it. His are the only pieces which have an actual curse given to the performer.

[@koolkitty108]

What about Liszt? I’d consider that a curse

[@michael.d.]

Liszt is more flashy than outright difficult. A lot of the figurations are exceptionally pianistic and fit very nicely in the hand, making them quite manageable (albeit, not necessarily “easy”). Sorabji, on the other hand? Nightmarishly difficult, to the point where the vast majority of pianists will not even attempt any of it.

[@koolkitty108]

Michael D. A curse for trumpets = any dizzy gillespie jazz solo A curse for flutes = flight of the bumblebee or any Ian Clarke piece (seriously, look them up)

[@kaloarepo288]

Is he the Iranian-British Parsee composer whose pieces last for days?

[@sitarnut]

Mmmmm that heap right.. I have had his, "Sports and Divertissements" for twenty years, there's twenty of them and I cannot begin to play half of them being just a lover of Satie, and a beginner, never trained.. I suspect no one but a seasoned player with proper technique could pull these off. It's bloody hard.

[@barrywerdell2614]

You might say Erik Satie's invention of "Elevator music" had it's ups and downs

[@lorax8172]

lolololololololol

[@InuranusBrokoff]

Brilliant.

[@wesleyalan9179]

Hahaha

[@gunungmerapiapi1933]

Hahaha good one 😂

[@davidcopson5800]

That comment just floored me.

[@jackperricone9575]

Satie was respected by and had a profound influence of Debussy and Ravel, a fact that the above video fails to note.

[@user-bp9zj9xs2y]

If i'm not wrong, Debussy helped Satie to popularize some of his works

[@LegoDonut18]

@@user-bp9zj9xs2y yeah the orchestral version of the 3rd and 1st gymnopedie (in that order) arranged by Debussy helped the Gymnopedies become well know to my understanding

[@jail2634]

This Video had never the Intend of talking about satie's influences and by whom he was respected. It's an entertaining Video about the quirks this eccentric musician had and gives us an insight into how he lived a hunnid years Ago. I'm also interested in the different influences musicians have and Who respected them but that doesnt make for a such a funny Video like this one.

[@tlome8033]

Probably Thomas Newman as well.

[@kateflynn8803]

Yes ! Good point sir.

[@liberkhalipse]

This man is officially my favorite composer

[@abandonedmuse]

Him and Chopin. And his trollish ways are right up my alley

[@peivandryks5217]

The song names thing reminds me of Melvins and Frank Zappa. Satie was an eccentric genius and deserves more attention as an important member of the avant-garde

[@koolkitty108]

What about aphex twin? His titles are pretty weird

[@segmentsAndCurves]

He's already popular.

[@cattybound2011]

"You are an arse. An arse without music." I have now found my new favorite insult. And if Satie were alive today, I'm positive he'd be in the company of people like Don Van Vliet and Frank Zappa (nevermind the fact that they're dead) and probably David Lynch.

[@southamptonswave7964]

Well actually my arse can be quite tuneful.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

"What I sh*t, is better than what you have ever thought!" - Beethoven.

[@DeidreL9]

And Kate Bush, absolutely.

[@everestjarvik5502]

Weird History: "Satie, the weirdest and most eccentric musician" Frank Zappa: *cries*

[@gregoryfortenberry741]

Franks anti- formulation, was push against the norn

[@mishibijiwpiano3481]

*cries in obukhov*

[@theplaylistguru6027]

Frank lived relatively normal

[@bobcoleman9045]

I was gonna say he was like straight edge and didnt act no crazy at all

[@itsaUSBline]

Zappa's music was certainly out-there, but not so much his personal life.

[@longlivepeatmos]

Eric satie: i finish dinner in only four minutes every day. Also Eric satie: ate an omelet of 50 eggs and 150 oysters in 1 setting.

[@KingOfShadows1500]

0:03 There should be a 100$ fine for calling a piece that's not a song a song.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

And send it to me.

[@krokodyl1927]

Erik Satie was a genius. His departure at only 59 years of age was a tragic loss for us all, except for his critics. Frank Zappa must’ve been related to him. RIP you two geniuses. 👍👍

[@TulilaSalome]

Why did he die of cirrhosis of the liver, do you know? The video did not mention him drinking to excess.

[@withelisa]

@@TulilaSalome his diet, no doubt. Nonalcoholic fatty diets, or those high in copper (*cough* oysters), can cause cirrhosis.

[@bobcoleman9045]

Hahahaha no way man totally different mind sets

[@fluisex4510]

@@TulilaSalome actually he abused alcohol

[@NoOne-ky1er]

And just white coloured food.

[@poot6365]

Bro Erik Satie was just a French shitposter.

[@voievodultitirezsocolescuy7121]

a genius shitposter

[@HeathenMetalhead221]

He was like the Sam Hyde of his day

[@popespalace823]

@@HeathenMetalhead221 more like contrapoints tbh

[@SilvioPorto]

@@popespalace823 not a shitposter

[@Tine_of_Nice_Dreams]

Shitposting and dada are basically the same

[@TheAcdcninja]

Hey bro, wanna come to a party this weekend? Nah bro, I can’t. I’m being inspired that day

[@claudineesait]

He was such a big influence for the next upcoming years! His Ambient music is an actual thing today The sounds used in the Ballet "Parade" were one of the first examples of concrete music He started the minimalistic music movement (indirectly, I think) He inspired John Cage, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and many others that admired his work and mostly his ideas John Cage, if I'm right, premiered Vexations live using several musicians and critics took turns to hear it, because it was the complete piece. What an incredible man, I like Erik Satie

[@thebadlung]

How did he stack two pianos if he never let anyone into his apartment? Ever tried to lift a piano?

[@benjaminorwell2514]

Niall Doran Satie was very very eccentric......

[@thebadlung]

@@benjaminorwell2514 doesn't make him super human.

[@benjaminorwell2514]

Niall Doran maybe Satie was. He paid the price with his awkwardness.

[@thebadlung]

@@benjaminorwell2514 but one person can't lift a piano.

[@benjaminorwell2514]

Niall Doran apparently Satie could. I mean that letter he wrote “Sir and dear friend- You are an arse, an arse without music!” Erik Satie That’s just too epic. I would expect nothing less of singlehandedly lifting a piano from an individual like him.

[@rams6702]

he probably made vexations just so he could play it to annoy his ex

[@Emiliapocalypse]

rams That’s exactly what I was thinking. They said she was his neighbor after all. He called it vexation because he wanted to vex her!

[@aaronalcala1192]

The actual story is that his (soon to be ex) asked him to write something for her first art opening ad he was in one of his more popular periods. They broke up before the show but he still wrote the piece for her. The piece is very, very unnerving. (Most pianist can't memorize it despite being only 16 bars.) Patron would come to her show and quickly be driven out. The show was a flop. It was kinda genius.

[@enriqueali]

Years ago when a performer did actually perform the full-length Vexations, at the end of the 28-hour marathon, one of the few remaining audience members who lasted till the end called for an encore! 😆😆😆 Another of his weird titles was "Dessicated Embryos".

[@user-uu5jf3jo3o]

Oh! I ate 144 oysters in a row for my birthday! Because it was all you can eat at the Buci in Saint-Germain, ... 20 years ago.

[@DJVevyVevs]

Holy shit, Satie was an anime character that always had a wardrobe full of the same clothes

[@erikobanani]

People didnt have several sets of clothes back then. Except for the rich ;)

[@ziggy8253]

“What a weirdo.” -Mozart and Beethoven.

[@bigpoppa192]

@Stephen Branley Who cares? It's a joke

[@halfwit533]

Mozart was pretty weird himself

[@orb3796]

@@halfwit533 Mozart was into scat and beethoven was often confused for a drunk homeless hobo, so yea, classical musicians were wild in their own ways

[@koolkitty108]

"What a weirdo" -Scott Joplin

[@darrellid]

If all elevator music sounded like Satie's Gymnopedies or Gnosseinnes compositions, I'd never leave the elevator.

[@amandajones5764]

Right?!?

[@maxsmith4412]

His music always feels stabbing in the heart, especially gymnopedia no 3. i love it!

[@daveteves]

Not to mention, he called himself a gymnopedist. Until now, nobody knows what it means.

[@humannaturedj]

@stephen stewart are u serious??

[@daveteves]

@stephen stewart Actually, what's worse is that "Gymnopaedia" is a kind of Greek festival or dance where young boys are naked. So it's kind of weirder that Erik Satie called himself a specialist of dancing naked boys.

[@miguelmarquez4192]

@@daveteves i thought that was the case too! Such a vague memory but i remember hearing about that in hight school orchestra.

[@daveteves]

@@miguelmarquez4192 About the meaning of gymnopedist or gymnopaedia?

[@miguelmarquez4192]

@@daveteves -paedia.....the not going to the gym one That is a total dad joke haha.

[@roytheboy0066]

This guy was just a hipster of his time, simple.

[@justyourturn]

roy gutierrez somebody had to say it.

[@lastinline1958]

Way before the term was always followed by the word "douche".

[@erikkaye1114]

He was friends with Jean Cocteau (who wrote La Belle et la Bete-- aka The Beauty and the Beast) and Pablo Picasso. He performed with DaDa groups, in the tradition of Marcel Duchamp. His 28 hour composition was performed in the 50s by John Cage, Merce Cunningham and friends. He wrote oddball titles before Frank Zappa wrote Hot Rats and Weasels Ripped my Flesh. He was a hipster before the hip, a prankster before the prank, a beatnik before the beat. Thank you for this great video. Satie was more original than I had hoped in my wildest dreams.

[@roytheboy0066]

Erik Kaye very interesting

[@martalobos7822]

@@erikkaye1114 amen

[@El3ctroclash]

Satie translated his feelings to his masterpieces perfectly. Every piece is filled with emotions. Btw, he was probably the founder of trolling with that schedule.

[@jessicanoone1839]

I am obsessed with his music. Thank you so much! Now into the rabbit hole I go!

[@businessbuilder92]

So close to just being named satire

[@koolkitty108]

Half of the things he did do sound pretty satirical though

[@robertword1357]

The truth is that Satie had a deep horror of being anything at all like anyone else.

[@ludovica8221]

relatable

[@kookamunga2458]

I find gymosepities , and I know the spelling is wrong, and much of his music soothing , relaxing and seemingly having inherent healing properties.

[@kookamunga2458]

@@garynilsson416 Yes I like Satie too but he suffered from bouts of melancholy or depression. Another one affected by depression was Tchaikovsky which by the way is my favorite composer after Wagner . I usually play Eric Satie and Sibelius in the autumn and winter because that is the time of the year when I look inward more . Beethoven and Wagner reminds me of spring and summer meanwhile Tchaikovsky seems to have a foot all seasons .

[@btetschner]

A+ video! LOVE IT! Fascinating video about the eccentric musician!

[@BLITZKRIEG1]

you are forgetting about Carlo Gesualdo. Not only did he compose in some long forgotten language, he also got away with murder.

[@Floobie2956]

Weird History: "Erik Satie is the weirdest musician who ever lived." Carlo Gesualdo: "Hold my wife."

[@VexaS1n]

LMAO that's fire

[@dalestubitsch6253]

LOVE it! He certainly had his quirks about him!

[@jamieedmonds574]

Came here just to say that. :-)

[@vividedwards8909]

Percy Grainger: Hold my whip

[@dogueacademy]

Sati was undoubtedly on the ASDandlived his life according to his disorder. I think some of his work is brilliant; that said, he was mighty determined and highly motivated if he stacked pianos.

[@akaiseigo5664]

Next on Hoarders. Erik Satie. "GET OUT OF MY EFFIN ROOM, MOM!"

[@stephen0793]

He made his life a work of art as well. RIP Satie

[@CrafterVSWild]

I love Erik Satie , his music is nostalgic yet very calm and beautiful

[@nedludd7622]

Suzanne Valadon was a famous artist in her own right. She was part of a group of other famous artists on Montmartre and was the mother of Utrillo. She had an eventful life of her own.

[@goodtimes8229]

Every sentence I think it can't get weirder, until the next sentence comes and I see how very wrong I was...

[@tachiebillano6244]

LOL. Satie would have a fun time in the 21st century... at first. Then he’d get frustrated because he’d have to rethink his eccentricities and ground-breaking ideas, just to stay ahead of all our “strange” ideas and ways.

[@ThumpingAbyss69]

You should do one on Mozart the weird things they didn't teach you in school 😂

[@NoirOrchestre]

You forgot to mention the weirdest interpretation indications he used to write on his scores.

[@mishapurser7542]

Erik Satie's Gnossienes No. 3 is one of the most inspirational and relatable pieces of my life.

[@VitaEx]

Is the 28 hours long song the first example of KZbin trance chill relaxation video meme songs

[@hoosierhiver]

Do an episode on Tiny Tim, everyone knows him for his performance art, but he was an accomplished musician that recorded music for the Smithsonian that would have otherwise been lost to time.

[@vanillawaterfae]

hoosierhiver - yes! And he wore diapers! Fantastic musician but odd and I love him! ❤️

[@hoosierhiver]

I never heard that before. I have a customer who used to attend the same church as him and Miss Vicki, he said that in person he was friendly and kind of quiet.

[@koolkitty108]

I know him from spongebob haha

[@alicelafontaine4199]

"Excentric" is the right world. He was a magnificent composer.