Satie Trois Sarabandes

Eric Satie composed Trois Sarabandes (Three Sarabandes) in 1887:

1. (F minor)

2. "à Maurice Ravel" (D# minor)

3. (B flat minor)

An interesting introduction to this work by Alexander Carpenter appears on the website of AllMusic, a music guide service:

"The Trois Sarabandes for piano number among Satie's best known "trinitarian" piano works, including the Trois Gymnopedies, and the Trois Gnossiennes. In 1916 Satie's good friend Roland-Manuel described the Sarabandes thus: "these Sarabandes mark a date in the evolution of our music: here are three short pieces of an unprecedented harmonic technique, born of an entirely new aesthetic, which create a unique atmosphere, a sonorous magic of complete originality." Certainly this is true of much of Satie's early music, but especially the Sarabandes. These three pieces introduced a number of Satie techniques that would typify his early style, including the use of modes, and unresolved dissonances."

Érik Satie (1866 – 1925) was a French composer and pianist, as well as a colorful figure in the early twentieth century Parisian avant-garde. He is perhaps best known for his short piano pieces, such as the Gnossiennes.

Averse to the Romanticism of Richard Wagner, he produced fascinating music of a simple, timeless, directionless, repetitious, eccentric, whimsical, satirical, and humorous nature. He was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd.

Tutorials

• No. 1

On no, watch that first RH chord