Erik Satie

[Old San Antone]

I've been listening to this one

Satie: Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes (also Sarabandes and other works)
Håkon Austbö



Interesting pianist whose Satie is very listenable.  This program is a little nicer than usual: yes, there's the two works that are recorded very often, but then, the other works filling out the set are nice to have and the entire collection is well-played, IMO.

[aligreto]

Satie: The Early Piano Works [de Leeuw]





I have always liked Satie's musical language and that soft, easy compositional style and presentation which, on the surface, appears simple but yet is so profound. The music just seems to float on the air. His dreamworld soundscape also appears to inhabit a space that seems to exist somewhere between the conscious and the unconscious. There is some particularly wonderful and atmospheric music here. De Leeuw's playing and interpretations are exquisite throughout the set.


I will now set about reading through this thread in the hope of gaining some knowledge of this composer.

[George]

Satie: The Early Piano Works [de Leeuw]





I have always liked Satie's musical language and that soft, easy compositional style and presentation which, on the surface, appears simple but yet is so profound. The music just seems to float on the air. His dreamworld soundscape also appears to inhabit a space that seems to exist somewhere between the conscious and the unconscious. There is some particularly wonderful and atmospheric music here. De Leeuw's playing and interpretations are exquisite throughout the set.


I will now set about reading through this thread in the hope of gaining some knowledge of this composer.

Hi my friend,

I have the later Leeuw recordings of Satie and enjoy them. The earlier ones you listened to stuck me as too slow the few times I tried them online. I know his early Satie has fans though and I am glad you enjoyed it. 

[aligreto]

Following my completion of the de Leeuw set above I subsequently went back to listen to my only other Satie piano collection [by Pascal Rogé]





As usual with things like this I am always surprised at how different interpretations can be for the same music. This has been touched upon earlier in the thread so I will not comment further other than to say that I was initially disconcerted at the tempi employed by de Leeuw. However, as I progressed through the set I grew to like it. It brought a different dimension to the music for me.

[aligreto]

Hi my friend,

I have the later Leeuw recordings of Satie and enjoy them. The earlier ones you listened to stuck me as too slow the few times I tried them online. I know his early Satie has fans though and I am glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers, George.

I went and read through this thread after I had initially posted above and I was somewhat surprised to see that you were a considerable fan of Satie. I should say that the surprise was that I do not see you in the What Are You Listening To thread. Something of a dark horse then? 
Yes, I did, eventually enjoy the set when I became accustomed to the interpretation and presentation.

As I have said earlier I do enjoy the Satie sound world but these two sets will suffice my needs.

[George]

Cheers, George.

I went and read through this thread after I had initially posted above and I was somewhat surprised to see that you were a considerable fan of Satie. I should say that the surprise was that I do not see you in the What Are You Listening To thread. Something of a dark horse then? 

I have limited my participation in this forum to a few threads/sections, mostly the recordings section, the composer section and the non-classical section.

Yes, I did, eventually enjoy the set when I became accustomed to the interpretation and presentation.

Glad to hear it!

As I have said earlier I do enjoy the Satie sound world but these two sets will suffice my needs.

Roge's Satie is one of my favorites. Thibaudet is the only Satie pianist I like more, and it's very close.   

[aligreto]

I have limited my participation in this forum to a few threads/sections, mostly the recordings section, the composer section and the non-classical section.

A man wise with his time allocations 

[milk]

For a long time I didn't really get Satie. It just sounded like a bunch of chords. Then, suddenly a light switched on. I have a playlist with various compositions like the Nocturnes, Sarabands, Le Fils, Ogives, Preludes, etc.
The mood of Satie is not really like anyone else. He absolutely achieves a state of being that is consistent, that sustains itself - and it's very near the line between total isolation and a kind of shining ecstasy. And it's absolutely sincere music. I find Satie to be one of the most mysterious composers. He seemed to be always striving but never fully accepted or celebrated in his day.   

[Karl Henning]

I listen to this one quite a bit

[George]

I listen to this one quite a bit

I bet that's great. His Poulenc is excellent.

[aligreto]

For a long time I didn't really get Satie. It just sounded like a bunch of chords. Then, suddenly a light switched on. I have a playlist with various compositions like the Nocturnes, Sarabands, Le Fils, Ogives, Preludes, etc.
The mood of Satie is not really like anyone else. He absolutely achieves a state of being that is consistent, that sustains itself - and it's very near the line between total isolation and a kind of shining ecstasy. And it's absolutely sincere music. I find Satie to be one of the most mysterious composers. He seemed to be always striving but never fully accepted or celebrated in his day.

Well said. There is, for me, also a sense of mystery to the piano music.

[Iota]

Satie: The Early Piano Works [de Leeuw]





I have always liked Satie's musical language and that soft, easy compositional style and presentation which, on the surface, appears simple but yet is so profound. The music just seems to float on the air. His dreamworld soundscape also appears to inhabit a space that seems to exist somewhere between the conscious and the unconscious. There is some particularly wonderful and atmospheric music here. De Leeuw's playing and interpretations are exquisite throughout the set.

Nicely put. And a big +1 to the bolded text. For me De Leeuw revealed a dimension to the music I had not realised was there before. I'm a big fan.

[MusicTurner]

Agree about the superb and unique De Leeuw solo piano recordings, but as hinted at above, his slowing down is focusing on aspects of the music, that must be very far from the performances in Satie's own days or environment.

[aligreto]

In this context it is just always interesting how a completely different approach can sometimes force one to reconsider a piece of music whether one likes the presentation or not. It asks questions like why do I not like this or why do I prefer the original presentation? When I heard the de Leeuw version of the Gymnopedie, particularly, my attention was totally arrested and I was forced to listen very hard. It was quite enlightening in a way.

[milk]

I've been listening to this tonight. I didn't know this performer but I find this to be a very warm sensual taker on music that's often presented as cold and desolate.

And with this, the haunting beauty of Olgives. There's a love in this and the sound quality is also particularly good - IMO. It's very straightforward and clear in that regard. Maybe it's because he's a sound engineers as well as a performer.

[milk]

I think this is a really wonderful series from a pianist I didn't really know. I like this much better than Ogawa, whom I find rather jagged. There's nuance and lots of curves in Gorisek. Some of Satie's music is so light and fluffy, while other pieces are just devastating.

[staxomega]

I think this is a really wonderful series from a pianist I didn't really know. I like this much better than Ogawa, whom I find rather jagged. There's nuance and lots of curves in Gorisek. Some of Satie's music is so light and fluffy, while other pieces are just devastating.

That might have been my impression of Ogawa as well (YMMV I heard this a while back, I might need to revisit it), I only listened to the Gnossiennes, and the playing sounded a bit brash in places, which didn't have me too keen to hear more. Nice sounding Erard even if BIS' recording sounds a bit wonky. I'm wondering if this is a function of the instrument and not Ogawa; Jan Michiels recorded a volume of French music, Le Tombeau de Debussy, where it sounds like he might be wrestling with the Erard in more dynamic passages. This makes me think that though these are pianos from Debussy's time that they are better suited for music like Chopin. My favorite sounding period piano for this French music is a 1901 Steinway, which sounds only subtly different from a modern Steinway.

[milk]

That might have been my impression of Ogawa as well (YMMV I heard this a while back, I might need to revisit it), I only listened to the Gnossiennes, and the playing sounded a bit brash in places, which didn't have me too keen to hear more. Nice sounding Erard even if BIS' recording sounds a bit wonky. I'm wondering if this is a function of the instrument and not Ogawa; Jan Michiels recorded a volume of French music, Le Tombeau de Debussy, where it sounds like he might be wrestling with the Erard in more dynamic passages. This makes me think that though these are pianos from Debussy's time that they are better suited for music like Chopin. My favorite sounding period piano for this French music is a 1901 Steinway, which sounds only subtly different from a modern Steinway.

do you have a recording in mind with that Steinway? I'm sure there's something in the back of my memory about one.

[staxomega]

do you have a recording in mind with that Steinway? I'm sure there's something in the back of my memory about one.

Bavouzet plays Ravel.

[Mandryka]

Johannes Schöllhorn's orchestration of Satie's Uspud in this new release - this is worth hearing I think if you're interested in the music, you can here Act 1 for free

https://zafraanensemble.bandcamp.com...n-s-rigraphies