Search - Erik Satie :: Vexations

	Erik Satie Vexations Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, Pop, Classical Track Listings (1) - Disc #1 Vexations, for piano Written by eccentric French composer Erik Satie in 1893, the extraordinary score for Vexations is just three lines long, yet a complete performance (840 repetitions) may last for anything between 14 and 28 hours. First per... more » « less
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CD Details

All Artists: Erik Satie
Title: Vexations
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: LTM
Release Date: 10/11/2005
Album Type: Import, Original recording remastered
Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, Pop, Classical
Styles: Techno, Europe, Continental Europe, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 5024545360127

Synopsis

Album Description

Written by eccentric French composer Erik Satie in 1893, the extraordinary score for Vexations is just three lines long, yet a complete performance (840 repetitions) may last for anything between 14 and 28 hours. First performed under the supervision of John Cage in 1963, this radical yet enigmatic work is now recognized as a significant milestone in avant-garde music. This meditative 70 minute recording features 40 repetitions of the motif, performed by Alan Marks on piano. The recording was produced by Thomas Wilbrant. 2005.

CD Reviews

GET YOUR THETA-WAVES HERE...

Sébastien Melmoth | Hôtel d'Alsace, PARIS | 07/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

".

Satie is sometimes credited with the invention of ambient music. It may be true; however, nearly contemporaneously, Scriabin created an ambient music of lesser repetition (cf. his Sonatas Nos. 5-10, and later piano pieces). Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas

In any case, this recording of Satie's Vexations is a very unusual disc which features a 70 min reading of a piece Satie designated to last almost 24 hours: a continuous performance of a few lines repeated ad infinitum to create a meditative background ambient: remarkable.

Continuous audition induces theta- brain waves which accompany a meditative or dream-like state.

."

How Vexations can vex u!

H. van den Berg | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 03/20/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There are few recordings on the market of this exceptional piano piece by Erik Satie. This version by Alan Marks does almost 70 minutes of Satie's Vexations, and is currently probably the only version on the market. Vexations is a piano piece which ought to be repeated 840 times. The piece itselfs takes about 90 to 210 seconds. The fact that it should be repeated 840 times is vexing. Play this recording repetitively and you're getting close to what Satie wanted.

Alan Marks's rendition is clear, the recording is flawless. This is one of the best recordings I know, fluent, laid-back and that is the way I appreciate it. Compare this with Aldo Cicciolini's recording (too fast) and Reinbert de Leeuw's recording (slow and concise, probably one of the best).

Alan Marks's is today the best recording that money can buy."