Most famously known for his piano composition ‘Gymnopédie No. 1’, Erik Satie has been praised by historians for having paved the way for minimalism in classical music. His witty and unconventional musical style had a profound influence on 20th century music, particularly in France.

The Life of Erik Satie

Erik Satie was born on May 17, 1866 in Honfleur, France to his parents Alfred Satie and Jane Leslie. After the Franco-Prussian war, Alfred sold his business as a shipping broker and moved the family to Paris where he set up as a music publisher. Following Jane Leslie’s death in 1872, Erik and his brother Conrad were sent back to Honfleur to be raised by their grandparents. In 1874, Erik began taking piano lessons with local organist Gustave Vinot, who introduced him to old church music, particularly Gregorian Chant. 

In 1878, Satie’s grandmother passed away, and the family moved back to Paris where Erik was informally educated by his father. Prior to this, Erik had only attended a local boarding school in Honfleur where he excelled at Latin and history, but none of the other subjects. However, under his father’s care, Erik attended many lectures at the Collège de France and was educated in Latin and Greek. In January of 1789, Alfred Satie married Eugénie Barnetche, a piano teacher and salon composer, whom twelve-year-old Erik Satie was not particularly fond of. Eugénie became heavily invested in developing Erik’s career as a professional musician and enrolled him in preparatory piano classes at the Paris Conservatoire. 

Satie, an unaccomplished student, was known as “the laziest student in the Conservatoire” according to his piano teacher, Émile Decombes, and was eventually expelled in 1882. After returning to the Conservatoire a few years later, only to drop out once again, he eventually took up a position as a café pianist at the Chat Noir in the 1880s. It was during this period of his life that he began composing works, mostly for solo piano. 

In 1886, Satie’s father published three of his works titled “Elegie,” “Trois Melodies,” and “Chanson.” They were soon followed by more eccentric works such as “Gymnopedies,” “Ogives,” and “Gnossiennes.” In 1887, after moving to become the second pianist at the nearby Auberge Du Clou, Satie befriended the famous French Impressionist Composer Claude Debussy. 

Satie later enrolled at the Schola Cantorum in 1905, where his studies were more successful than at the Paris Conservatory. It was not until 1911, when he was in his mid-forties, that Satie came to the notice of the musical public in general. He was seen as “the precursor and apostle of the musical revolution now taking place” and became a focus for young composers. His composition “Parade” in 1917, with music by Satie and sets by Picasso, gained significant attention and marked a turning point in his career. He also created his masterpiece, “Socrate,” in 1918. 

In his later years, Satie became a journalist and contributed to various publications. Despite being a musical innovator, he was uninterested in modern technologies and struggled with financial troubles. He died in 1925 at the age of 59 due to cirrhosis of the liver.

Music Style and Significance

Satie is widely recognized as the first composer to break away from the Romanticism movement in 19th century France. Instead of focusing on grandiose sentiments and transcendence that were heavily popular at the time, Satie’s music embodied a parodic and witty characteristic. He completely disregarded the traditional forms and tonal structure of mainstream classical music, often mocking the Romantic Era for its pretentiousness and sentimentality. Satie gave his pieces flippant names, like “Trois morceaux en forme de poire,” which translates to “Three Pieces in the Shape of the Pear.”

Satie’s music finds parallels in the Dada and Surrealist movements in art. These were artistic, literary, and intellectual movements of the 20th century that rejected traditional artistic conventions and embraced absurdity, chaos, and irrationality. Artists created art that often challenged societal norms and mocked established institutions. Satie’s music, with its unconventional style and satirical tone, perfectly captured the spirit of these movements.

The ‘Eccentric’ Personality of Erik Satie

Erik Satie, the 20th century composer, was anything but ordinary. Known for his eccentricity, he never fails to captivate classical music enthusiasts with his unique persona. One of his most notable compositions is Vexations, a piece meant to be played a staggering 840 times in immediate succession. It is uncertain whether the piece was composed for keyboard instruments, as it consists of a single bass line with chords notated above it. Above the staff, a text instruction reads, “In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, through serious immobility.” 

Satie was a deeply spiritual man, and he even founded his own religion. During his tenure as the composer-in-residence for the Mystical Order of the Rose and Cross of the Temple and Grail, an occult sect founded by Joséphin Péladan, he composed numerous pieces that would go on to influence the work of his successors. However, after a falling out with Péladan, Satie founded his own sect of occultism called the Église Métropolitaine d’Art de Jésus Conducteur, where he remained the sole congregant of the church. 

Despite his contributions to classical music, Satie lived in poverty for most of his life, which made him an outsider to the elitist inner circle of musicians. To protect himself on his walks to and from performances, he carried a hammer. Satie’s diet was also quite peculiar, consisting solely of white foods such as eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coconuts, chicken cooked in white water, mouldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese, cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish. He even boiled his wine and mixed it with cold Fuchsia juice. 

When Satie passed away, his landlord allowed his friends and family into his apartment, which had been off-limits for years. They were surprised to find it chaotically filled with over 100 umbrellas among other things. The apartment also contained two grand pianos, one stacked on top of the other. The upper piano was used for storing parcels and envelopes. 

In summary, Erik Satie remains a relatively underrated figure amongst 20th-century composers. Nonetheless, his innovative yet simplistic compositions played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of French classical music, leaving an enduring legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of composers, including luminaries such as Claude Debussy and Francis Poulenc.