Humorous and Dadaistic writings from the original Velvet Gentleman and
pioneering composer
This is the largest selection, in any language, of the writings of Erik
Satie (1866-1925). Although once dismissed as an eccentric, Satie has
come to be seen as a key influence on modern music, and his writings
reveal him as one of the most beguiling of absurdists, in the mode of
Lewis Carroll or Edward Lear--but with a strong streak of Dadaism (a
movement in which he participated). The nonconformism of Satie's private
life seems deliberately calculated: he assumed various personae at
different periods of his life, from the mystical velvet gentleman to the
Dadaist disguised as quizzical bureaucrat. His poignant, sly and witty
writings embody all of his contradictions. Included here are his
autobiographical Memoirs of an Amnesic; gnomic annotations to his
musical scores (For the Shrivelled and the Dimwits, I have written a
suitably ponderous chorale ... I dedicate this chorale to those who do
not like me); the publications of his private church; his absurdist play
Medusa's Snare; advertising copy for his local suburban newspaper; and
the mysterious, calligraphed private advertisements found stuffed behind
his piano after his death. Satie referred to himself as a man in the
manner of Adam (he of Paradise) and added: My humor is reminiscent of
Cromwell's.I am also indebted to Christopher Columbus, as the American
spirit has sometimes tapped me on the shoulder, and I have joyfully felt
its ironically icy bite. He died as he lived: without quite ceasing to
smile.
