ERIK SATIE (1866-1925)

A charlatan or a genius?
“A precursor both brilliant and clumsy.”
Maurice Ravel

"Less is more, and too much is always less."
Erik Satie

Satie was the ideological, aesthetic mentor of a new generation of composers—Les Six—who gained prominence after WW1 and who epitomized the dry ironic wit of the intellectual climate of the times.

Represents a complete break with 19th-century romanticism, a violent reaction against Wagnerism, excessive emotionalism, and overwrought large forms.

Entered the Paris Conservatoire at 13. School records say “gifted, exceptionally lazy, often absent, incapable of sight reading.”

1880's at Le CHAT NOIR. The Cabaret Artistique was a revelation for Satie: its ironic tone, eccentric humor, revolutionary and intellectual debates, and bohemian lifestyle fed Satie’s predisposition in this realm.