Description
John Cage wrote that "Satie is indispensable to the development of contemporary music", recognising that Erik Satie has proven to be one of the most surprisingly influential composers of the twentieth century, his highly individual authentic musical voice providing inspiration for experimental, serial and minimalist composers alike. To mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Satie's death, composer David Lancaster invited a group of fellow musicians to create a set of short musical tributes to Satie: each was asked to provide a two-minute miniature for solo piano influenced in some way by Satie's life, ideas or music. They responded in the most vivid, colourful terms, influenced by Satie's famous 'Gymnopedies' and Gnossiennes' of course, but also by some of the less well-known works (including Vexations, Piccadilly, and Socrate), by the eccentric titles he bestowed on his works, and even by his compulsive collecting of umbrellas! Duncan Honeybourne - virtuoso pianist and an expert in the art of the miniature character piece - performed these new creations for the first time during the Late Music concert series in York, in June 2025 interspersed between some of Satie's own music, and this recording captures them for posterity and for a wider audience. Satie was a part of that community of artists - painters, poets, playwrights and musicians - who gathered in Montmartre close to the dawn of the 20th century, sharing ideas, experimenting and collaborating, and reshaping what culture was to become in the years to follow. Picasso, Apollinaire, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cocteau, Braque, Gertrude Stein, Max Jacob, Suzanne Valadon and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (who has provided our album's cover art) did not speak with one voice but collectively found the courage to follow their own paths; in some very modest way that is what our composers have attempted to emulate.
