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Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born Honfleur, 17 May 1866 - died Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer, performing pianist and publicist. He also described himself as a "gymnopedist" (in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies ), and later as a "phonometrograph" or "phonometrician" (someone who measures and writes down sounds - preferring this definition of his profession to musician, after he had been called a "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers in 1911). Eventually, in the last year of his life, he would also become a cameo film actor ([1] - Entr'acteFor Entr'acte the film by Rene Clair, and Relache the ballet by Erik Satie see 4th example below. Entr'acte is French for "between the acts". It can have the meaning of a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonym to intermission, but is more). He can also be seen as a serial precursorThis article is not about the fictional alien race. See Precursor (Star Control). for that information General In generic terms, a precursor is something that existed before and was incorporated into something that came later. Also known as a forerunner o, stretches ahead of many 20th century19th century 20th century 21st century more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901- 2000 in the sense of the Gre avant-garde artistic ideas, see below .

He is best known as Erik Satie (changing the "c" at the end of his first name to "k" as a kind of artist's nameA pseudonym or allonym is a name (sometimes legally adopted, sometimes purely fictitious) used by an individual as an alternative to their birth name. Pseudonyms in print When used by authors, a pseudonym is also called a pen name or (in French) nom de pl, from his first composition in 18841884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). Events January 4 The Fabian Society is founded in London. February 1 Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published. March 13 The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on Janu on). Although in later life priding himself in always publishing his work under his own name, there appears to have been a brief period from the end of 1888 on that he published articles under the pseudonymA pseudonym or allonym is a name (sometimes legally adopted, sometimes purely fictitious) used by an individual as an alternative to their birth name. Pseudonyms in print When used by authors, a pseudonym is also called a pen name or (in French) nom de pl of Virginie Lebeau.

1 Life

1.1 Early years

Erik Satie spent his youth alternatively in Honfleur ( Basse-Normandie) and Paris:

When he was 4, his family moves to Paris (his father, Alfred Satie, being offered a job as translator in the capital).
After his mother (born Jane Leslie Anton) dies in 1872, he is sent (together with his younger brother Conrad) back to Honfleur, to live with his paternal grandparents. Here he receives his first music lessons from a local organist.
When his grandmother dies in 1878 the two brothers are reunited with their father in Paris, where Alfred soon remarries with a piano teacher. From the early 1880s on Alfred Satie starts publishing salon compositions (amongst others those of his new wife and of himself).

From the end of 1879 on Satie enters the Paris Conservatoire, where he is soon labelled as untalented by his teachers. After being sent home for two and a half years, he is re-accepted in the Conservatoire at the end of 1885 - without being able to make a much more favourable impression on his teachers than he did before, so he finally resolves to take up military service a year later. This doesn't last very long: within a few weeks he tries to escape the army with a trick, which eventually succeeds.

In 1887 he leaves home for a room at Montmartre. By this time he had started a long-lasting friendship with the romantic poet Patrice Contamine , and had his first compositions published by his father. He soon integrates with the artistic clientèle of the Le Chat Noir Café-cabaret, and starts publishing his Gymnopédies . Publication of compositions in the same vein ( Ogives , Gnossiennes ,...) follow. In this same period he gets to know Claude Debussy. He moves to a smaller room, still at Montmartre (rue Cortot N° 6) in 1890. By 1891 he is the official composer and chapelmaster of the rosicrucian "Ordre de la Rose-Croix Catholique, du Temple et du Graal", led by Sâr Joséphin Péladan , leading to compositions as Salut Drapeau! , Le Fils des étoiles and the "Sonneries de la Rose+Croix".

By mid- 1892 he has composed his first music in a compositional system of his own making ( Fête donnée par des Chevaliers Normands en l'Honneur d'une jeune Demoiselle ), has provided incidental music to a chivalric esoteric play (two Préludes du Nazaréen ), has his first hoax published (announcing the premiere of Le Bâtard de Tristan , an anti-Wagnerian opera he probably never composed) and breaks with Sâr Péladan , starting that autumn with the Uspud project, a "Christian Ballet", in collaboration with Contamine de Latour . This project has something of a pamphlet for a new esoteric sect, the comrades from both the Chat Noir and Miguel Utrillo 's Auberge du Clou sympathising.

Portrait of Satie by Valadon

Satie and Suzanne Valadon, a long-time friend of Miguel Utrillo , start an affair early 1893, Suzanne moving to an adjoining room at the Rue Cortot. The only relationship of his life, Satie became obsessed with the beautiful artist, whom he called his "Biqui", writing impassioned notes about "her whole being, lovely eyes, gentle hands, and tiny feet". Valadon painted Satie's portrait and gave it to him, but after six months the beautiful Suzanne moved on, leaving Satie brokenhearted. During the relation he wrote the Danses Gothiques , as a kind of prayer to restore peace of mind.

That same year he meets the young Maurice Ravel for the first time, Satie's style emerging in the first compositions of the youngster. One of his own compositions of that period, the Vexations will remain undisclosed till after his death. By the end of the year he instates the Eglise Métropolitaine d'Art de Jésus Conducteur (the Metropolitan Church of Art of the Leading Christ). As its only member, in the role of "Parcier et Maître de Chapelle" he starts to compose a "Grande Messe" (later to become known as the Messe des Pauvres ), and writes a flood of letters, articles and pamphlets showing off his self-assuredness in religious and artistic matters - amongst others applying for membership of the Académie Française - not making himself more popular at the cultural establishment in the process. In 1895 he inherits some money, allowing him to further publicise, and to change his looks from a priest-like cloak to the "Velvet Gentleman".

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