Erik Satie
Erik Satie (Original 1895)
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May
1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French com-
poser and pianist. Starting with his first com-
position in 1884, he signed his name as Erik
Satie.
Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist"
in 1887, shortly before writing his most fam-
ous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later,
he also referred to himself as a "phonometro-
graph"
or
"phonometrician"
(meaning
"someone who measures (and writes down)
sounds") preferring this designation to that
of "musician," after having been called "a
clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on
contemporary French composers published
in 1911.
In addition to his body of music, Satie also
left a remarkable set of writings, having con-
tributed work for a range of publications,
from the dadaist 391 to the American Vanity
Fair. Although in later life he prided himself
on always publishing his work under his own
Selfportrait of Erik Satie. The text reads
(translated from French): Project for a bust
of Mr. Erik Satie (painted by the same), with
a thought: "I came into the world very young,
in an age that was very old"
name, in the late nineteenth century he ap-
pears to have used pseudonyms such as Vir-
ginie Lebeau and François de Paule in
some of his published writings.
Satie was a colourful figure in the early
20th century Parisian avant-garde. He was a
precursor to later artistic movements such as
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erik Satie
1
minimalism,
repetitive music,
and
the
Theatre of the Absurd.
Life and work
From Normandy to Montmartre
Erik Satie’s youth was spent alternating
between living in Honfleur, Basse-Norman-
die, and Paris. When he was four years old,
his family moved to Paris, his father (Alfred),
having been offered a translator’s job in the
capital. After his mother (born Jane Leslie
Anton, who was born in London to Scottish
parents) died in 1872, he was sent, together
with his younger brother Conrad, back to
Honfleur, to live with his paternal grandpar-
ents. There he received his fir