Synopses & Reviews
The composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) came of age in the bohemian sub-culture of Montmartre, with its artists' cabarets and cafés-concerts. These colorful milieux decisively shaped his aesthetic priorities and compositional strategies, from the esoteric Gymnopédies of the 1880s to the avant-garde ballets of the 1920s. Whiting makes this radical transvaluation of received artistic values more understandable by placing it in the full context of bohemian Montmartre.
Review
"If the portrait of one of the most colorful cultural icons of an inordinately dynamic and colorful era is clarity and eloquence, has altered our perception dramaticlly."-- Journal of the American Musicology Society.
"...Professor Whiting not only writes engagingly but has something new and perceptive to say about every composition....there is so much to say about this excellent and thought-provoking book....Whiting possesses the rare ability to penetrate the strange logic of Satie's compositional mind....this book will remain indispensable to anyone interested in Satie's music."--Times Literary Supplement
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Café-Concert, Music-Hall, Cabaret
1. Introduction
2. From Caf'Conç' to Music-Hall
3. The Cabaret artistique
Part II: Satie's Involvement in Popular Milieux
Introduction
4. Satie at the Chat Noir
5. Satie and the Divan Japonais
6. Satie at the Auberge du Clou
7. From the Auberge du Clou to Arcueil
8. Satie and Hyspa
9. Of Pantomimes and Pears
10. Waltz, Cakewalk, Theatre Song
Part III: From Cabaret to Concert Hall
Introduction
11. Satie's Humoristic Works for Piano
12. From Chanson to Mélodie and Back
13. The Composer as Playwright
14. Autour de Cocteau, or the Uses of Popular Music
15. On revient toujours: Satie's Last Ballets
Bibliography
Index of Satie's Works and Writings
General Index