Piano Music - Erik Satie

Erik Satie


1866 - 1925
Erik Satie was a French composer who coined the term "furniture music."



📖 “I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old.”


📖 “I am by far your superior, but my notorious modesty prevents me from saying so.”


📖 “I am tired of always dying with a broken heart.”


📖 “When I was young, people used to say to me: Wait until you're fifty, you'll see. I am fifty. I haven't seen anything.”


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


📖 “I have never written a note I didn't mean.”


📖 “Why attack God? He may be as miserable as we are.”


📖 “An artist must regulate his life.
Here is a time-table of my daily acts. I rise at 7.18; am inspired from 10.23 to 11.47. I lunch at 12.11 and leave the table at 12.14. A healthy ride on horse-back round my domain follows from 1.19 pm to 2.53 pm. Another bout of inspiration from 3.12 to 4.7 pm. From 5 to 6.47 pm various occupations (fencing, reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, dexterity, natation, etc.)
Dinner is served at 7.16 and finished at 7.20 pm. From 8.9 to 9.59 pm symphonic readings (out loud). I go to bed regularly at 10.37 pm. Once a week (on Tuesdays) I awake with a start at 3.14 am.
My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead animals, veal, salt, coco-nuts, chicken cooked in white water, mouldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in camphor, pastry, cheese (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their skin). I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the Fuschia. I have a good appetite but never talk when eating for fear of strangling myself.
I breathe carefully (a little at a time) and dance very rarely. When walking I hold my ribs and look steadily behind me.
My expression is very serious; when I laugh it is unintentional, and I always apologise very politely.
I sleep with only one eye closed, very profoundly. My bed is round with a hole in it for my head to go through. Every hour a servant takes my temperature and gives me another.”

Quotes by Erik Satie


🔔 Reload the page a few times if you see orange widgets instead of books and music.







Recordings of Piano Music by Erik Satie


Alexandre Tharaud plays Erik Satie (2009)
1. Gnossienne No.1
2. Petite Ouverture à danser
3. Première Gymnopédie
4. Véritables Préludes flasques (pour un Chien)
5. Gnossienne No.2
6. Les trois Valses distinguées du précieux dégoûté
7. Gnossienne No.3
8. Le Piccadilly
9. Descriptions automatiques
10. Gnossienne No.4
11. Les pantins dansent
12. Le piège de Méduse. Sept Pièces pour Piano
13. Pièces froides
14. Avant-dernières Pensées
15. Gambades
16. Embryons desséchés
17. Gnossienne No.5
18. Valse-Ballet
19. Heures séculaires et instantanées
20. Première Pensée Rose+Croix
21. Poudre d'or
22. Gnossienne No.6




Piano Works by Erik Satie


Allegro, 1884 (1997) [based on F. Bérat: Ma Normandie, 1850]

Valse-ballet, 1885 (1887)

Fantaisie-valse, 1885 (1887)

[4] Ogives, 1886 (1889, 1965)

[3] Sarabandes, 1887, rev. 1911 (1911)

[3] Gymnopédies, 1888 (1888, 1895, 1888), nos.1, 3, orchd Debussy, ?1896 (1898)

Gnossienne [no.5], 1889 (1968, 1989)

Chanson hongroise, 1889, in Wehmeyer (1974), 32

[3] Gnossiennes [nos.1–3], 1890–93, separately, as ‘nos.1, 6, 2’ (1893); as set (1913)

untitled piece, 1891 (1968, as Première pensée Rose+Croix)

Gnossienne [no.4], 1891 (1968, 1989)

Leit-motiv du ‘Panthée’ [monodic, no inst. specified], 1891 (1892)

Fête donnée par des Chevaliers normands en l’honneur d’une jeune demoiselle (XIe siècle), ?1892 (1929)

[9] Danses gothiques, 1893 (1929)

Vexations, 1893 (1969)

Modéré, pf/?org, 1893 (1997) [possibly intended for Messe des pauvres]

Gnossienne [no.6], 1897 (1968, 1989)

Pièces froides, 1897 (1913): 1 [3] Airs à faire fuir, 2 [3] Danses de travers

Aline-Polka, ?1899 [by H. Pacory, arr. Satie]

Verset laïque & somptueux, 1900 (1997)

The Angora Ox, ?1901 (1997) [pf version completed by J. Fritz]

The Dreamy Fish, music for a tale by Lord Cheminot, alias Latour, 1901 (1970, 1997)

Je te veux, ?1901 (1904)

Poudre d’or, ?1901–2 (1902)

Tendrement, 1902 (1903)

Illusion, 1902 [after waltz song Tendrement]

3 morceaux en forme de poire, 7 pieces, pf duet, 1903 (1911) [using material from 1890 onwards, incl. cabaret songs]

La diva de l’Empire (Intermezzo américain, arr. H. Ourdine), 1904 (1919)

Le Piccadilly (La transatlantique), 1904 (1975)

Fugue-valse, 1906 [used as Danse de tendresse in Mercure]

Passacaille, 1906 (1929)

Prélude en tapisserie, 1906 (1929)

[3] Nouvelles pièces froides, 1907 (1968)

Aperçus désagréables, 3 pieces, pf duet, 1908, 1912 (1913)

Fâcheux exemple, 1908 (1968) [counterpoint exercise]

Désespoir agréable, 1908 (1968) [counterpoint exercise]

Petite sonate, 1st movt only, 1908–9

Deux choses, c1909 (1968): 1 Effronterie, 2 Poésie

Profondeur, c1909 (1968) [minuet exercise]

Songe-creux, c1909 (1968) [minuet exercise]

Le prisonnier maussade, c1909 (1968) [minuet exercise]

Le grand singe, c1909 (1968) [minuet exercise]

En habit de cheval, 4 pieces, pf duet/orch, 1911 (1912)

2 préludes pour un chien, no.1 inc., 1912, no.2 as Prélude canin (1968)

Préludes flasques (pour un chien), 1912 (1967): 1 Voix d’intérieur, 2 Idylle cynique, 3 Chanson canine, 4 Avec camaraderie (orig. Sous la futaille)

Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien), 1912 (1912): 1 Sévère réprimande, 2 Seul à la maison, 3 On joue

Descriptions automatiques, 1913 (1913): 1 Sur un vaisseau, 2 Sur une lanterne, 3 Sur un casque

Croquis et agaceries d’un gros bonhomme en bois, 1913 (1913): 1 Tyrolienne turque, 2 Danse maigre (à la manière de ces messieurs), 3 Españaña

Embryons desséchés, 1913 (1913): 1 d’Holothurie, 2 d’Edriophthalma, 3 de Podophthalma

Chapitres tournés en tous sens, 1913 (1913): 1 Celle qui parle trop, 2 Le porteur de grosses pierres, 3 Regrets des enfermés (Jonas et Latude)

Vieux sequins et vieilles cuirasses, 1913 (1913): 1 Chez le marchand d’or (Venise XIIIe siècle), 2 Danse cuirassée (Période grecque), 3 La défaite des Cimbres (Cauchemar)

L’enfance de Ko-Quo, 1913 (1999): 1 Ne bois pas ton chocolat avec tes doigts, 2 Ne souffle pas dans tes oreilles, 3 Ne mets pas ta tête sous ton bras

3 pièces, 1913, as Trois nouvelles enfantines (1972)

Menus propos enfantines, 1913 (1916): 1 Le chant guerrier du roi des haricots, 2 Ce que dit la petite princesse de tulipes, 3 Valse du chocolat aux amandes

Enfantillages pittoresques, 1913 (1916): 1 Petit prélude à la journée, 2 Berceuse, 3 Marche du grand escalier

Peccadilles importunes, 1913 (1916): 1 Etre jaloux de son camarade qui a une grosse tête, 2 Lui manger sa tartine, 3 Profiter de ce qu’il a des cors aux pieds lui prendre son cerceau

[21] Sports et divertissements, 1914 (1923)

Heures séculaires et instantanées, 1914 (1917): 1 Obstacles venimeux, 2 Crépuscule matinale (de midi), 3 Affolements granitiques

Les trois valses distinguées du Précieux dégoûté, 1914 (1916): 1 Sa taille, 2 Son binocle, 3 Ses jambes

Avant-dernières pensées, 1915 (1916): 1 Idylle, 2 Aubade, 3 Méditation

Sonatine bureaucratique, 1917 (1917) [after Clementi: Sonatina op.36/1]

Rag-time Parade, 1917 (1919) [extract from Parade, arr. H. Ourdine], arr. brasserie orch (1918)

Nocturnes nos.1–3, 1919 (1919)

Nocturnes nos.4–5, 1919 (1920)

Nocturne no.6, 1919, completed by R. Orledge (1994)

Rêverie de l’enfance de Pantagruel, 1919 (1921) [arr. of Trois petites pièces montées, no.1]

Premier menuet, 1920, in Feuillets d’art, ii/1 (1921), 51–4 separately (1922)







Homepage Piano Lessons London | Tuition Elements | Piano Composers A-Z