Satie: Seen Through His Letters

by Ornella Volta, Ornella Volta (Editor), John Cage (Introduction)

This whimsical book about the eccentric Parisian composer Erik Alfred Leslie Satie (1866-1925) confirms his position as one of the most bizarre personalities in music history. Gathered by a determined iconographer, thedirector of the Satie Foundation in Paris, and arranged somewhat chronologically by topic, such as "Friends," and "Lawsuits," these lettersto Cocteau, Debussy, Milhaud, Picasso, Ravel and Stravinsky, among others,many of which have not been previously published, give us a picture of Satie the friend, student, neighbor, composer and musical influence, and of the only adherent to a religion that he founded. Illustrated with line line drawings by Cocteau, Magritte and Picasso, as well as Satie's own musical scores and logos, this book will entrance and delight those interested in Parisian cultural life in the early 20th century.

Genres: Music

220 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Eddie Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An appropriately playful book that becomes a biography of Erik Satie by allowing his letters to friends (and enemies) and peers and family to speak for themselves. It's a delightful and charming book filled with drawings and illustrations and it gives a great sense of Satie's unpredictability, strange wit, and generally odd (but usually calculated) behavior.

There are letters to Tristan Tzara, Poulenc, Debussy's wife, Brancusi, etc. that give a lively sense of all the artistic activity of the time, but especially of all the in-fighting and spite that was flying around.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Everybody offers to buy one a drink; but nobody ever dreams of buying one a sandwich."

[rogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Satie's room in Arceuil which was filled with a "jumble of heterogeneous objects," this book is a delightful collection of anecdotes, insults, periodicals, 130 gorgeous illustrations, guest appearances by Picasso, Ravel, Brancusi, Man Ray, et al., excerpts from Satie's memoir and the memoirs of others, and (of course) letters too. This pile of items gave me an intimate and slightly scandalous feeling, like I was given the opportunity to rummage through his room.

I went from page to page discovering the many different Erik Saties. Satie the "artificial zebra," a "gentle medieval musician who turned up in our century," "the sphinx man, the woodenheaded composer," "a strange voluble little man," an "esoteric slut," "the semi-failure," and "a clumsy but subtle technician engaged in the search for delightful, often bizarre new sonorities." This book let me see all these facets of him. I was touched by Satie's sweetness toward his friends, until on the next page he would transform into a vengeful feuding lunatic. Then back to the gentle Satie who tenderly captures the scenery around him in a letter to his brother. This is Satie as he is -- erratic but a true original, and true to himself.

Favorite quote: "Before writing a work, I walk around it several times and I get myself to go with me."

[Leonard]

Saties impeccable correspondence proves once and for all he is the very 1st rock n' roll rebel.His musical affiliations w/ such artistic greats as Picasso, Debussey, Coceteu, and Milhaud (who taught Brubeck)is complete w/ fist fights and freak outs.All set against the backdrop of turn of the century to WW1 Paris, this book reads like a whos who of the social luminaries of a golden day and age in art history-the modernist movement. Plus it is replete w/ funky doodles and weird pictures. You just gotta read this one...

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

En helt lysande exposé, inte bara över Erik Satie (1866-1925) och hans liv, utan som ett sätt att få en känsla för alla kulturella förändringar som var på väg vid förra sekelskiftet och det tidiga 1900-talet fram till dadaisternas revoltlusta. Att Satie skrev så mycket brev är en nyckel både till hans eget verk och ett levandegörande av en epok. Boken är så nära 5 stjärnor man kan komma. Förutom Saties brev och Ornella Voltas förtydligande kommentarer, är boken fylld av bilder, inte minst porträtt eller karikatyrer av de flesta omnämnda personerna.

[Kimley · Rating 5 out of 5]

VH1 really needs to do a Behind the Music on Satie.

[Michael A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone who is at all interested in Monsieur Le Pauvre!