840: Satie, Poulenc, Andriessen, Francaix

The number 840 appears above the score of Satie's Vexations. It indicates the amount of repeats of this piece with a length of only one minute and a half. Now it suddenly takes not less than 16 hours to perform it. This is a good example of the innovative and sometimes absurd genius of Erik Satie. Some early reviewers called him a charlatan, but according to Stravinsky Erik Satie was one of the great composers of his days besides Bizet and Chabrier. Debussy arranged two Gymnopedies for orchestra successfully, whilst Roussel praised his impeccable counterpoint and John Cage pronounced Satie the 'indispensable' and 'art's most serious servant'. He was a man who raised opinions.On this CD all tracks are somehow related to the music by Erik Satie; five of them are arrangements of his piano works which are combined with pieces that carry the idea's of Satie.

Tracks: Poulenc: Improvisation XII, Hommage a Schubert / Satie: Petit Ouverture a Danser / Angel: Iguaque / Kleynjans: Hommage a Satie / Satie: Vexations / Paradiso: Notte A Venezia - Tramonto Veneziano / Notte A Venezia - Lullaby Veneziana / Notte A Venezia - Aurora Veneziana / Poulenc: Sarabande / Presti: Etude Nr.2 / Satie: Pieces Froides / Drozd: Adagio Opus 44 (Ommagio A Johann Sebastian Bach) / Orton: Herbert’s Story (from The Movie Nebraska) / Francaix: Preludio From Serenata / Van der Staak: Tombeau / Andriessen: Un Beau Baiser (from The Theatre Production George Sand) / Angel: Acuarela Nr.3 (Homenaje A Erik Satie) / Angel: Acuarela Nr 7 (Memorias De Un Navegante, Para Enno Voorhorst) / Satie: Gymnopedie Nr.1 / Cage: 4'33" / Satie: Allegro