One composition that proves to be a genius and yet
perplexed one was Satie's work entitled "Vexations". It is a short musical
piece with only 3 lines to be played 840times in successions. The
piece was became popular and published until only after his death . It
was written by Satie same time of his intense affair with the painter
and model Suzanne Valadon, from January to June 1893.
John Cage discovered the score through Satie’s friend in 1949 and have it printed immediately. In September 9, 1963 (the performance lasted 18 hours and 40 minutes from 6:00p.m of September 9 to 12.40 p.m the next day) at Pocket Theatre, New York,
Cage organized and gathered a team of pianists who played the full
performance for the first time of "Vexations". The team included
himself, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, Viola Farber,
Robert Wood, MacRae Cook, David Del Tredici, James Tenney, Howard Klein,
Joshua Rifkin, and John Cale.
Each pianists made an alternate
performance for 15minutes with this short piece of only 3 lines repeated
840 times, the performance lasted for 18hours . After that
performance, many pianists have tried to play the challenging piece
and been the subject of musicologists and Satie researchers.
As for John Cage music, Satie had been probably an
influence of his later works. His interest to the older composer begun
since 1945 when he composed two-piano arrangement of the first
movement of Satie’s "Socrate" for Merce Cunningham’s ballet, he later
organized a concert with Satie’s music, his writings, and some other
projects related to Satie.
Serious Immobilities: On the centenary of Erik Satie’s Vexations, StephenWhittington, 1999
Nicolas Fogwall Research Erik Satie Site
