Random photos, comics, etc.

[Randy Stankey]

There are three versions of "Gymnopédie." They were published in the order #1, #3, then #2. Satie could be a bastard like that, making people wonder what happened to #2. All three versions are really just variations of each other, changing chord progressions, etc., to sound dissonant or harmonious in different ways.

Satie called himself a "phonometrician" (one who writes or records sounds) rather than a musician. Most of his work could be considered experiments in combining notes, chords and rhythms.

I like Satie, too. In high school, I liked to listen to a lot of obscure music like King Crimson and Brian Eno. One of my faves was Brian Eno's "Music for Airports" which was conceived as "environmental music" or "background music" for various settings such as the bustle of people moving around an airport terminal. When I discovered Satie, I thought his work bore an interesting similarity to Eno's. When I eventually read up on Satie, I learned that he often conceived his music in the same way, as environmental, background music.

I'd suggest that, to listen to Satie, you shouldn't actually "listen" to it. Just play it at a moderately low level then go about your business. As you do, you'll notice that it blends in nicely and often punctuates events as they happen.

If you try to intentionally listen to a lot of Satie's work, you might find it difficult or even unsettling. If you listen to the three "Gymnopédie" compositions in order you might find them interesting on an academic level but boring or even maddening on a musical level.

I could not imagine listening to somebody practicing Satie, over and over, for years, especially when played badly, at the wrong time signature.

I would probably go postal on the guy!

When I worked at the Tom Ridge Center, I made a mix CD to play in the theater during intermission. Because it was a state-owned facility, I tried to keep it to more classical music than modern. Of the songs in the mix was "Gymnopiédie" #1, #2 and #3. At the time, I didn't know that they were published in the order, #1, #3 then #2. That was the only music on the disc that anybody commented on. People either loved it or hated it. I even got one request for a copy of the CD.

Eventually, I ended up taking #2 and #3 out of the lineup and replacing them with Mozart's "12 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je, Maman."

It was fun listening to people try to figure out what the song was.

Hint: "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman", "Twinkle, Twinkle," "Baa-Baa, Black Sheep" and the "Alphabet Song" are all the same tune.

[Harold Hallikainen]

I first heard Satie on an album by Chicago when I worked in radio. Really like it.

[Leo Enticknap]

Satie was a rather strange bird. He was an Absurdist, a Dadaist and he supposedly had some rather strange habits.

One of the more notable ones being the consumption of Absinthe, over decades, in quantities that existing knowledge about the effect of alcohol on the human body suggests should have killed him within a couple of hours.

His music, if you listen to it carefully, is rather strange, too.

And if you try to play it, it'll have you reaching for the bottle, too. He took Dave Brubeck's penchant for weird time signatures one step further, by doing away with them altogether in some of his compositions. I had to learn Jack In the Box for grade 6 piano, which is pretty conventional by his standards, but still includes some pretty nasty contrapuntal banana skins to slip on, especially in the left hand.

[Frank Cox]

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[Frank Cox]

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