In Letter(s) to Erik Satie, Bertrand Chamayou celebrates the works of Erik Satie (1866-1925) and John Cage (1912-1992).
Satie and Cage might seem an unusual pairing, yet both were idiosyncratic composers, separated by time and geography. The cabarets of 19th century Paris were Satie's training ground, whereas Cage a conceptual artist from California was blooming musically in the 1940's and 1950s.
In producing this fascinating album, Chamayou has laid his hands on some little-known compositions of Cage. Through Cage's writings and transcriptions Chamayou has (re)discovered Satie.
The album opens with a charming gymnopedia à la Cage* entitled, All Sides of the Small Stone, for Eric Satie. It mimics Satie's rocking Gymnopédie No.1. and its joyous, lilting melody might stay in your head for days!
The interweaving of Satie and Cage pieces works beautifully on this album. Chamayou is the master of curation.Instead of playing a block of Satie Gymnopédies or Gnossiennes in chronological order, he mixes them up and wraps them around Cage's works. At times - pieces, with similar musical ideas, are played back to back; Satie's La Balençoire (A Swing) alongside Cage's Swinging for instance. As for Cage's experimental works, like Room -they are a complete joy!
An impressive musical project by Chamayou, one which lets us rediscover Satie and Cage in all their irreverent glory!
KH
*Might also have been composed by James Tenney, John Cage's student!
Letter(s) to Erik Satie, Bertrand Chamayou released on Warner Records (Erato) 17th November 2023
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