erik satie
ltm catalogue



Eccentric yet visionary French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) is today regarded as a key modernist composer. As well as influencing contemporaries such as Debussy and Ravel, his tendancy towards simplicity and repetition continue to inform modern avant-garde genres such as minimalism and ambient.

"The smallest work by Satie is small in the way that a keyhole is small. Everything changes when you put your eye to it. Or your ear" (Jean Cocteau); "It's not a question of Satie's relevance. He's indispensable" (John Cage); "Satie was the only musician who had eyes" (Man Ray)

To read our short Satie biography click here. To purchase Satie CDs click here.


VEXATIONS (LTMCD 2389) £10
Written by Satie in 1893, the extraordinary score for Vexations is just three lines long, yet a complete performance (840 repetitions) may last for anything between 14 and 28 hours. First performed by John Cage in 1963, this radical yet enigmatic work is now recognized as a significant musical milestone in the avant-garde canon. This meditative 69 minute recording features 40 repetitions of the motif, performed by Alan Marks on piano in 1987. Booklet contains extended essay on the piece by Stephen Willington. To read Stephen's essay click here. Full tracklist: Vexations.

Reviews: "Vexations has become a cause celebre within the avant garde, anticipating many of the arguments about the serious intentions, or otherwise, of John Cage's 4.33 by nearly 60 years. The score consists of three lines of music and Satie's instructions "to be repeated 840 times." On this recording, Alan Marks makes do with a mere 40 repetitions over 70 minutes, but it's enough to reveal the brilliance of Satie's concept. The slippery chromatism he employs means it's easy to become disorientated even well into the piece, and he demands that listeners keep their ears open throughout. Satie issues a visionary warning about the vapid nature of ambient listening, spanking George Winston and weighing in on the side of Morton Feldman before either had been born." (The Wire, 11/05); "There are a number of pieces of music that have attained mythical status. Cage's 4.33 is one, and Satie's Vexations is another. Vexations is one of those pieces I had only read about. It sounded great on paper, but I was sceptical whether or not it translated into actual music. While I haven't stuck the CD on repeat for 24 hours I do think it works fantastically. The music is written to be nearly impossible to remember, and no matter how many times I listened to it I couldn't find my place in the motif. Alan Marks has done a wonderful job here, and he seems comfortable with the piece. A nice introduction to Satie's infamous work" (brainwashed.com, 2005); "Very, very brave indeed" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 02/06); "Vexations is one of those curiosities bequeathed by one generation, which only later generations have the aesthetic tools to handle. It's no wonder that the work meant so much to Cage, whose views on harmony were trailed by Satie all those decades earlier" (International Piano, 7-8/06); "Alan Marks is as persuasive an advocate as we are likely to find for a piece that creates its own time-zone" (The Gramophone, 07/91); "So frighteningly ahead of it's time, it's like finding a medieval laptop" (Plan B, 02/07)


DADA WORKS & ENTR'ACTES (LTMCD 2474) £10
An enthusiastic Dada activist in Paris between 1920 and 1924, Satie collaborated extensively with Tristan Tzara, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, wrote often in Francis Picabia's journal 391, and was a sworn enemy of the proto-Surrealist faction lead by Andre Breton. According to Man Ray, Satie was "the only composer who had eyes." All of Satie's principle Dada-related works are included on this unique 70 minute CD, including: Trois morceaux en forme de poire, performed by Satie in July 1923 at Tzara's notorious Soirée du Coeur a barbe, at which fighting broke out between Tzara's supporters and the proto-Surrealist faction; Ragtime Dada, an extract from the ballet Parade performed at a series of Dada soirees by Kurt Schwitters in 1922; Entr'acte and Cinéma, both scores for Picabia's multi-media 'instantaneist' ballet Relâche performed in 1924. Cinéma was Satie's custom score for the celebrated intermission film by René Clair, while for their curtain call Satie and Picabia drove onstage in a tiny car, resplendent in jewels and furs, the whole production amounting to a dazzling act of anti-art provocation. Both are Satie's arrangements for solo piano. All pieces are performed on piano by Bojan Gorisek, and the booklet includes archive images and detailed historical notes by James Hayward. To read sleevenotes click here. Full tracklist: Trois morceaux en forme de poire, Ragtime Dada, Entr'acte (Pt 1), Cinéma, Entr'acte (Pt 2).

Reviews: "Here are the Satie (piano) pieces which relate to Dada is Paris, confidently and unpretentiously performed by Gorisek, and neatly rounded off with text by James Hayward. LTM's intelligent and detailed liner notes resemble miniature art catalogues, and only add to the historical value of the CDs in this series" (Westzeit, 03/07); "Highly recommended. There's an appropriately sprightly, trashy feel to much of this music. The main draw her is the ballet in two parts Relache, premiered just a few months prior to Satie's death. The first part is dominated by quirky, unlikely harmonic combinations, while the second sounds more overtly provocative as a venture into 'low' art. Nevertheless there;s still an element of disruption and dislocation lurking under the surface. Similarly Entr'acte (Cinema) opens with a superficially playful movement still underscored with an ominous sense of repetition and borderline discord" (BoomKat, 03/07); "These Dada Works are hilarious" (Plan B, 02/2007)


CUBIST WORKS 1913-24 (LTMCD 2406) £10
Four works written by Satie for his collaborations with the artist Pablo Picasso, including the 'Cubist' ballets Parade (1917) and Mercure (1924). Both scores are presented here in arrangements for solo piano as well as full orchestra. CD also includes two rarely-heard Satie avant-garde miniatures, The Puppets Are Dancing and Diversion (The Statue Found). Bojan Gorišek - solo piano. The New London Orchestra. Gnac. Booklet includes images and detailed liner notes by James Hayward. 38 tracks, 57 minutes of music. To read Satie/Cubist liner notes click here. Full tracklist: Les Pantins dansent, Trois Valses distinguées du précieux dégoûté, Parade (piano, 4 hands), Mercure (piano), Divertissement (La Statue retrouvée), Parade (orchestral), Mercure (orchestral)

Reviews: "Cubist Works shows the artist less concerned with playing catch-up with the innovations of other media than unpacking its implications for his own work. The album collects Satie's collaborations with Pablo Picasso, with Parade and Mercure presented in both solo piano and full orchestra arrangements, as well as two lesser-known incidental pieces. The liner notes are excellent, and by drawing out the explicit links between Satie's work and the frenetic, sectarian art world of Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, LTM has done a great service to Satie's legacy, allowing the listener to index just how much Satie was both of and ahead of his time" (Dusted, 06/07)


MUSIQUE DE LA ROSE+CROIX / PAGES MYSTIQUES / USPUD (LTMCD 2469) £12
Double CD set performed by Goran Gorisek and Richard Cameron-Wolfe, combining Satie's celebrated Rosicrucian compositions (1891-94) with an instrumental performance of the esoteric 'christian ballet' Uspud (1892) and the sublime Pages Mystiques (1893). For a brief period Satie was appointed official composer for the Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique du Temple et du Graal, founded in Paris by the flamboyant mystic Joséphin Péladan. Although brief, this so-called 'Rosicrucian adventure' produced some of the composer's most enigmatic and extraordinary works. To read more about Satie and the Rosicrucian Order click here. 18 tracks, 96 minutes of music. Full tracklist: (disc one) Trois Sonneries de la Rose + Croix: Air de l'Ordre, Air du Grand Maitre, Air du Grand Prieur; Premiere pensee Rose + Croix, [1er] Prelude du Nazaréen, [2e] Prelude du Nazaréen, Prelude de la Porte Heroique du Ciel, Pages Mystiques: Vexations (detail), Priere, Harmonies (x3); (disc two) Le Fils des étoiles: La Vocation, L'Initiation, L'Incantation; Uspud (Acts I to III).

Reviews: "Archetypal examples of Satie's games with tonality - chord sequences that create the illusion of reaching goals, and melodies that nag provocatively at the conventional relationship between melody and accompaniment" (The Wire, 12/06); "Satie is one of those composers who contemporary pianists tumble over one another to drop into their influences box, and with due cause. The Frenchman in his career wrote some of the most beautiful solo piano music ever to grace our ears, and this double CD package features some of the most haunting melodic flourishes in Satie's rich repertoire. All the works included find Satie at his best, writing deeply emotional and spiritual piano music, deceptive in its simplicity and sparse structure. If you have enjoyed records by Sylvain Chaveau or Goldmund recently then you should really find out where the seeds were sown in the first place" (Boomkat, 10/06); "Some of the most beautiful piano music Satie ever wrote" (Plan B, 02/07)


SOCRATE + MELODIES (LTMCD 2459) £10
The acclaimed 1990 recording of the sparse but haunting 'symphonic drama' Socrate (1918) together with a collection of Satie songs written between 1886 and 1923, grouped together as Trois Melodies (1886), Trois Autres Melodies, Quatres Petites Melodies (1920), Trois Melodies (1916) and Ludions (1923). Originally released by Factory Classical in 1990, this digital recording was conducted by Richard Bernas and features Robin Bowman (piano) and Susan Bickley, Eileen Hlse and Patricia Rosario (sopranos). Booklet includes new artwork, new liner notes by James Hayward, and the texts of the lyrics in English in French. To read Socrate sleevenote click here. 21 tracks, 61 minutes of music. Full tracklist: Portrait de Socrate, Bords d'Illissus, Mort de Socrate, Les anges, Elégie, Sylvie, Le Statue de Bronze, Daphénéo, Le Chapelier, Chanson, Chanson médiévale, Les fleurs, Elégie, Danseuse, Chanson, Adieu, Air du Rat, Spleen, Le Grenouille américaine, Air du poete, Chanson du chat.

Reviews: "Musically Socrate is respectfully reticent, providing an unruffled static sound decor, but its effect is unexpectedly impressive, and the stark simplicity of the telling of Socrates' death is very moving. It is admirably performed by the singers and instrumentalists, and the recording is bright and clear. In the songs there is a simple melodic charm, and I salute Eileen Hulse's rapt tone in Les Anges and Chanson, and Patricia Rosario's ringing soprano in Le Chapelier" (The Gramophone, 10/91); "Satie's account of the last days of Socrates, written for voices and orchestra, and typically the piece finds a meta-drama through aloofness and the removal of operatic stylisation" (The Wire, 12/06); "Beautiful, moving and compassionate" (Yahoo.com, 10/06); "A revelation - a piece for voices and orchestra that somehow manages to sidestep all bombast and hysteria and emerge as a pulsating human document" (Plan B, 02/07)


AVANT-DERNIERES PENSEES (SELECTED PIANO WORKS VOL 1) (LTMCD 2501) £10
This 46 track, 70 minute CD features several of Satie's best known compositions, including the poised Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes, as well as more experimental pieces such as Descriptions automatiques, Avant-dernières pensées and Sports et divertissements, an extraordinary collection of 21 miniatures from 1914 with illustrations by Charles Martin. Also included is Satie's neo-Dada lyric play Le Piège de Méduse, comprising 'seven tiny dances for Jonah the Monkey'. Performed by Bojan Gorisek, solo piano. Booklet includes detailed liner notes by James Hayward and facsimile illustrations by Charles Martin. Full tracklist: Trois Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes 1-7, Je te veux, Caresse, Musiques intimes et secretes, Embryons desséchés, Le Piège de Méduse, Descriptions automatiques, Sports et divertissements, Avant-dernières pensées.

Reviews: to follow!


FESTIVAL DADA PARIS 1920-23 (LTMCD 2513) £10
A unique CD based on the piano repertoire performed at two landmark Dada events in Paris, namely the Festival Dada on 26 May 1920, and the infamous Soirée du Coeur à Barbe on 6 July 1923, an event to which Satie contributed and disrupted by violent confrontation between Tristan Tzara's Dada faction and Surrealists lead by Andre Breton. The CD also includes other pieces such as Satie's bizarre playlet Le Piège de Méduse. Performed by Peter Beijersbergen van Henegouwen, piano. Booklet includes detailed liner notes by James Hayward, as well as archive images. To read full sleevenote click here. Full tracklist: Erik Satie Trois morceaux en forme de poire; Darius Milhaud Caramel Mou (shimmy); Georges Auric Adieu, New York (Fox-trot); Igor Stravinsky Trois pièces faciles à quatre mains; Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes Le Nombril interlope; Francis Picabia La nourrice américaine (fast); Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes Pas de la chicorée frisée; Erik Satie Le Piège de Méduse; E.L.T. Mesens Drie composities voor Klavier; Marcel Duchamp Musical Erratum; Francis Picabia La nourrice américaine (slow); Igor Stravinsky Rag-Time (1925 recording by Marcelle Meyer); Le Pelican (fox-trot) (wax cylinder recording).


COCTEAU, SATIE & LES SIX (LTMCD 2402) £10
The celebrated L'Album des Six of 1920 is recognised as a landmark in 20th Century modern music. Similarly the artful relationship between the composers who formed 'Les Six' and their mentors Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau forms an important cornerstone of the inter-war avant garde. This 74 minute anthology also includes music composed by Satie (Parade) and Les Six for spectacles staged by Cocteau between 1917 and 1920, as well as Arthur Honegger's futuristic Pacific 231, and music by Georges Auric for five Cocteau films made between 1930 and 1959. To read liner notes click here. For full tracklist click here.

Reviews: "Urgently recommended to everyone who has even a passing interest in works of this period" (Fanfare); "Emily Benyon plays quite beautifully throughout. This is a welcome record" (The Gramophone)

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