New Millennium Strings

Erik Satie (1866-1925)

Gymnopedies

Erik Satie was considered by many to be an eccentric person. Some of his peers believed his musical taste included being anti-Romantic and anti-Impressionistic (although Debussy was one of his friends). He was regarded as one of the French avant-garde, or as the "First Surrealist." Others compare him to the great artists of his day like Picasso and some group him with Dadaism. He loved to offend the critics of the day, and his lack of regard for them and for money was famous.

Satie's music was minimalist and he experimented with what he called "furniture music" or music that should not be listened to but heard in the background. He composed music to be listened to from different angles, similar pieces divided into several parts. One of his most famous short piano pieces was Vexations (1893), which was based on a repetitive mofit. Satie suggests: "To play this motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities." The piece was not published during Satie's lifetime, but it later caught the attention of John Cage who had it performed in New York in the 1960s.

Satie's piano composition Gymnopedies (three similar piano pieces from 1888) was warmly received at the time it was published. It happened that Debussy was at the home of Gustave Doret (1866-1943), who was also a composer. Doret had been a student of Massenet, and he was known throughout Europe as a conductor who enjoyed performing new French compositions. Satie positioned himself at Doret's piano and gave the first performances of the Gymnopedies, but the performance was loaded with many incorrect notes. So Debussy persuaded Satie to allow him to play his composition, "Come on, ... I"ll show you what your music sounds like." Debussy later asked Satie if he would mind if he orchestrated the piece; of course, the prospect of this was much to Satie's delight.

This brings me to the performances of Gymnopedies at these concerts. The esteemed arranger Donald Ontiveros, who is himself a musical institution in the Bay Area, first orchestrated this piece in 1991, and it was premiered the same year with the Artea Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dusan. Curiously, one of our soloists, Gwyneth Davis, was performing in the orchestra for the Symnopedies premiere in 1991. It is a small world.

Mr. Ontiveros is a sought after arranger for symphonic jazz and big band charts. The San Francisco Symphony, San Franciso Opera and Ballet Orchestras, and the California Symphony have all performed his arrangements. His unique jazz background ensures the warm, sensuous and rich tonality of this piece. While moving from the end of one movement to another, he saves an unresolved cadence for the audience to linger on.

-- program notes by Laurien Jones

August, 2003