[Creative] Erik Satie's World Tour Piano Sonata [At Gen'eido Bookstore]
*Previous entries in 'At Gen'eido Bookstore'
When Koichi opened the bookstore door, he heard a piano piece from the back that seemed to float and sway.
A record was spinning on a phonograph-style player. Beside it, Noah was keeping the store's ledger.
"That's a stylish piece. Jazz? Classical?"
"Hello. It's classical, if I had to choose. This is a collection by the French composer Erik Satie. It's a piano sonata collection titled 'World Tour.' He's the composer famous for 'Gymnopédies' and such."
Erik Satie was born in France in 1866. He entered the Paris Conservatory aiming to be a musician, but he clashed with the faculty and was expelled.
He lived by playing piano in Montmartre taverns at the end of the 19th century and conducting house bands. He released short pieces that did not fit established forms, influenced by chanson and ragtime.
He was extremely secretive, remained single his whole life, and had a very eccentric personality. However, he had many exchanges with other artists: there is a version of 'Gymnopédies' orchestrated by Debussy, he interacted with the younger 'Les Six' and Dadaists, collaborated with Jean Cocteau (script) and Picasso (art) for the ballet 'Parade,' and appeared in René Clair's avant-garde film 'Entr'acte.' He died in 1925 at the age of 52.
"Ah, so this is 'Gymnopédies.' I remember hearing it somewhere. The previous piece had a similar atmosphere."
"That's right. The previous piece was a performance from a collection that was included as a deluxe supplement to a pamphlet published by a travel agency in 1913.
It is a collection of 20 piano sonatas, and the titles of the pieces are country names. It came with a tagline saying, 'If you play this, you can feel like you are traveling the world while staying at home.' However, the agency's management struggled, and publication was canceled. Since it ended without being released, it naturally never circulated in the public world. Shall we listen to it again?"
From the first piece, 'France,' arpeggios sparkling like champagne bubbles overlapping, a chic melody overflows. Next, in 'England,' a gloomy atmosphere like a night of deep fog flows.
The back of the record is like liner notes, containing short poems Satie intended to attach to each piece and sketches of each country's impression by a painter. For example, for 'Portugal,' next to a colorful watercolor of people in a port town, these words are added:
On the coast of Lisbon, as the sun rises, the bustle of the market and the sound of the waves awaken. The smell of fried white fish fat becomes a companion for a morning walk
However, since each piece for one country is less than a minute long, it really ends as a fleeting impression. Just when an oriental melody suddenly starts to flow, one realizes it has become the piece called 'China,' and Koichi could not tell the difference from the 'Japan' that followed. Then, the piano performance ended with a short reprise of 'France' from the beginning.
"It's a beautiful piece. But it has a strange musical sensibility, or rather, it's quite different from the classical music of a typical symphony."
"That's true. Satie is a difficult person to classify, though he technically falls within the realm of classical music, as his musicality originated in music halls. His works also have many eccentric and eye-catching titles, such as 'Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear' or 'Flabby Preludes for a Dog'."
That was possible partly because he didn't need clients who demanded the forms of standard classical music. He didn't have to create symphonies to be performed in concert halls."
"The fact that this collection was an appendix to a travel agency brochure is suggestive, isn't it? In a sense, I don't think that would have been conceivable for classical composers up until then."
"Exactly. From the late 19th to the early 20th century, resort travel spread rapidly due to faster ships, the expansion of railway networks, and the popularization of cars. Since he received a request from a popular composer at the height of the trend, and because he himself wasn't an academic, he likely accepted it quite readily. It reflects the era well."
A railway company poster
advertising resort travel
"But, even though I thought it was a beautiful piece, it didn't really feel like the music of those countries. I can only barely imagine it thanks to the short text written by the composer himself."
At Koichi's words, Noah agreed, and with a slight wry smile, poured tea from the pot.
"Hmm, that's a difficult point. Satie is a composer who actively imparts imagery to music by adding titles and poems. In this supplementary booklet, there is a letter he wrote to a friend.
In it, he conveys that the 'World Travel' attempt was strictly a request from the agency side, that the other party didn't particularly like the music he created, and he continues as follows."
Does using the melody of 'La Marseillaise' make it 'French'? Does that evoke an impression of France?
Or, if one uses the scales of Oriental nursery rhymes, will that reproduce the memory of traveling to that place? Such music seems boring to me. After all, any meaning can be attached to music.
What I like is music that possesses comfort and beauty in itself. Music that means nothing, like furniture that is easy to use and relaxing. But perhaps that also connects to the time spent doing nothing, which is travel itself.
Koichi nodded at those words and sipped the tea he received from Noah. Noah continued.
"And in fact, later in 1920, Satie also made an experimental attempt called 'Furniture Music'. It is music that is meant to just flow like furniture, rather than being listened to with concentration. It is said to have foreseen the minimalist music of the late 20th century."
"I see. Perhaps it would be better to call this piece furniture music as well. Still, it's a bit of a shame that it was shelved."
"Actually, it wasn't completely shelved. Shortly after this, Satie received a project from a high-end women's magazine publisher to compose music for illustrations by an Art Deco painter. And so, a collection called 'Sports and Diversions', which compiled 21 pieces such as 'Fireworks' and 'Yachting', was published in 1914."
Illustration by Charles Martin
It used 'World Travel' as it was or rearranged it, and Satie also wrote the poetic text expressing the pleasures of the upper class this time as well. People from the outside world can listen to this one, too."
Koichi laughed while feeling the heat of the tea on his tongue.
"I suppose I should say, as expected. Indeed, as he says, perhaps any meaning can be attached to music."
"Or perhaps travel, sports, and luxurious diversions are connected at their core. Just as the books in this shop are connected somewhere to the books and history of the outside world."
Noah said this with a smile and lifted the needle of the record that had been playing on repeat. The shop interior became quiet, and the soft sound of rain echoed from outside.
(Continued)
That's all for this time.
Thank you for reading.
Today and tomorrow,
for all of you who read this,
may it be a good day.
In the next essay or work,
let's meet again.
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