The composer, Erik Satie, was a goof-ball. On the other hand, his music isn't. Probably one of the most enjoyable music from the 20th century has come from this eccentric figure. Again, this was music that was married to our family wall paper. I was pretty much raised by the album cover with the portrait of Satie by Picasso. Perhaps one of the great album covers of all time! The trio of recordings performed by Aldo Ciccolini of him doing Satie's music is a landmark recording. Volume one is very much the hits. Volume 2 is the b-sides, and Volume 3 is for the fans. This is a great collection, for one, it's the more obscure music by Satie. In a sense, it's going to the closet and cherry picking the pieces.
Satie was fortunate to be in the right place and history. His contemporaries from Debussy to Francis Picabia were his partners in crime. The music on Volume 3 is from 1887 to 1913. One of the great things about this album, besides the music (of course), are the liner notes. François Lesure had put together specific writings by Satie on some of the pieces here. As well as commentary by Lesure which puts the whole package into a perspective of time and place.
One can take one work by Satie, which is fine and dandy, but it's a better ride to get all of his music. Such an exceptional artist, and a witty and of course, a bizarre sense of humor. Satie had one foot in the 19th century, but his other foot was clearly planted on the 20th side of the world. Aldo Ciccolini does the great composer extremely well.
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