Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. No 1, Lent et douloureux
2. No 2, Lent et triste
3. No 3, Lent et grave
4. No. 1, "Obstacles venimeux" (Venous Obstacles)
5. No. 2, "Crepuscule matinal; de midi" (Morning Twilight; Noon)
6. No. 3, "Affolements grantiques" (Granitic Distractions)
7. No. 1, "Sa taille" (His Waist)
8. No. 2, "Son binocle" (His Spectacles)
9. No. 3, "Ses jambes" (His Legs)
10. No. 1, "Idylle"
11. No. 2, "Aubade"
12. No. 3, "Meditation"
13. No. 1, Lent
14. No. 2, Avec étonnement
15. No. 3, Lent
16. Manière De Commencement
17. Prolongation Du Même
18. Lentement
19. En Leve
20. Brutal
21. En Plus
22. Redite
23. No. 1, "Tyrolienne turque" (Turkish Yodeling)
24. No. 2, "Danse maigre; a la maniere de ces messieurs" (Meager Dance; in the manner of these gentleme
25. No. 3, "Espanana"
26. No. 1, Doux et calme
27. No. 2, Simplement
28. No. 3, Un peu mouvementé
29. No. 1, "Grande ritournelle" (Grand Ritornello)
30. No. 2, "Marche franco-lunaire" (Franco-Lunar March)
31. No. 3, "Valse du mysterieux vaiser dans l'eil" (Waltz of the Mysterious Kiss in the Eye)
32. No. 4, "Cancan Grand-Mondain" (High-Society Cancan)

Disc 2:

1. No. 1, "Sur un vaisseau" (On a Ship)
2. No. 2, "Sur une lanterne" (On a Streetlamp)
3. No. 3, "Sur un casque" (On a Helmet)
4. No. 1, "Severe reprimande"
5. No. 2, "Seul a la maison"
6. No. 3, "On joue"
7. No. 1, "Chez le marchand d'or; Venise XIIIe Siecle" (At the Gold Merchant's)
8. No. 2, "Danse cuirassee; Periode grecque" (Amor-plated Dance)
9. No. 3, "Valse du Chocolat aux amandes"
10. No. 1, "Chorale"
11. No. 2, "Fugue litanique" (Litanical Fugue)
12. No. 3, Autre chorale"
13. No. 4, "Fugue de papier" (Paper Fugue)
14. No. 1, "Choral inappetissant" (Unappetizing Choral)
15. No. 2, "La balancoire" (The Seesaw)
16. No. 3, "La chasse"
17. No. 4, "La comedie italienne"
18. No. 5, "Le reveil de la mariee" (The Bride's Awakening)
19. No. 6, "Colin-Maillard"
20. No. 7, "La peche" (Fishing)
21. No. 8, "Le yachting"
22. No. 9, "Le bain de mer" (Sea Bathing)
23. No. 10, "Le carnaval"
24. No. 11, "Le golf"
25. No. 12, "La pieuvre"
26. No. 13, "Les courses" (The Races)
27. No. 14, "Les quatres coins"
28. No. 15, "Le pique-nique"
29. No. 16, "Le water-chute"
30. No. 17, "Le tango perpetuel"
31. No. 18, "Le traineau"
32. No. 19, "Le flirt"
33. No. 20, "Jeu d'artifice"
34. No. 21, "Le tennis"
35. No. 1, "Celle qui parle trop" (She Who Talks Too Much)
36. No. 2, "Le porteur de grosses pierres" (The Hauler of Big Stones)
37. No. 3, "Regret des Enfermes; Jonas et Latude" (Lament of the Confined)
38. No. 1, "Pastorale"
39. No. 2, "Choral"
40. No. 3, "Fugue"
41. No. 1, "d'Holothurie"
42. No. 2, "d'Edriophthalma"
43. No. 3, "de Podophthalma"
44. No. 1, in F minor
45. No. 2, "a Maurice Ravel"
46. No. 3, in B flat minor

Disc 3:

1. No. 1, "Voix d'interieur"
2. No. 2, "Idylle cynique"
3. No. 3, "Chanson canine"
4. No. 4, "Avec camaraderie"
5. Chant guerrier du roi des haricots
6. Ce que dit la petite princesse des tulipes
7. Valse du Chocolat aux amandes
8. Petit prelude a la journee
9. Berceuse
10. Marche du grand escalier
11. Etre jaloux de son camarade qui a une grosse tête
12. Lui manger sa tartine
13. Profiter de ce qu'il a des cors aux pieds pour lui prendre son cerceau
14. No. 4, Lent
15. No. 5, Modéré
16. No. 6, Avec conviction et avec une tristess rigoureuse
17. No. 1, "Sur un mur" (On a wall)
18. No. 2, "Sur un arbre" (On a Tree)
19. No. 3, "Sur on pont" (On a Bridge)
20. No. 1, "Air de l'Ordre"
21. No. 2, "Air du grand Maitre"
22. No. 3, "Air du Grand Prieur"
23. No. 1, "Pas vite"
24. No. 2, "Tres moderement"

Disc 4:

1. Fete donne par des chevaliers normands en l'honneur d'une jeune demoiselle
2. Prelude d'Enginhard
3. 1st Prelude of Nazareen
4. 2nd Prelude of Nazareen
5. No. 1, "Act I. La vocation"
6. No. 2, "Act II. L'initiation" (The Initiation; The Lower Room of the Grand Temple)
7. No. 3, "Act III. L'incantation" (The Incantation; The Terrace of Patesi - Priest-King, Goudea's Pal
8. No. 1, "Prelude"
9. No. 2, "Entr'acte"
10. No. 3, "Final"
11. No. 1, "Nostalgie"
12. No. 2, "Froide songerie" (Cold Musing)
13. No. 3, "Facheux exemple" (Peevish Example)

Disc 5:

1. Nocturne No. 4
2. Nocturne No. 5
3. No. 1, "De l'enfance de Pantagruel; Reverie"
4. No. 2, "Marche de Cocagne; Demarche"
5. No. 3, "Jeux de Gargantua; Coin de Polka"
6. No. 1
7. No. 2
8. No. 3
9. No. 4
10. No. 1, "A l'occasion d'une grande peine" (On the occasion of a great sorrow)
11. No. 2, "Dans laquelle les Peres de la Tres Veritable et tres Sainte Eglise sont invoques"
12. No. 3, "En faveur d'un malheureux" (On behalf of a poor wretch)
13. No. 4, "A propos de Saint Bernard et de Sainte Lucie"
14. No. 5, "Pour les pauvres trepasses"
15. No. 6, "Ou il est question du pardon des injures recues" (Where there is question of forgiveness fo
16. No. 7, "Par pitie pour les ivrognes, honteux, debauches, imparfaits, desagreables, et faussaires...
17. No. 8, "En le haut honneur du venere Saint Michel, le gracieux Archange"
18. No. 9, "Apres avoir obtenu la remise de ses fautes"
19. No. 1, "Priere"
20. No. 2, "Vexation"
21. No. 3, "Harmonies"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86916 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-12
• Number of discs: 5
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
Pianist Aldo Ciccolini garnered lots of attention in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he recorded all of Erik Satie's original piano music for EMI. The cycle remains first choice for Satie fans, who certainly will welcome its first complete (as opposed to excerpted) reissue on CD. Ciccolini's interpretations are paradigms of expressive economy and directness, and happily eschew the "let's see how slow and important I can make these works" attitude that sometimes prevails among younger Satie practitioners. Ciccolini's diamond-edged sonority, sparkling technique, and willingness to accept the composer's high quirk quotient at face value further enhance these performances. While Ciccolini admirably overdubs himself in the piano duet works, one misses the added color and ensemble give and take gained from Ciccolini's digital remakes partnered by Gabriel Tacchino. For the price, though, Satie fans can hardly go wrong. Don't let EMI's French-only annotations prevent you from acquiring this classic cycle. Get it while you can. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews

The Simple, the Sublime, and the Surreal
This collection makes for good listening. There is a great deal of variety and character (Oh, is there character!) to be found in the various pieces. While most people have likely heard one or more of Satie's Gymnopedies at the very least in the background music of a TV ad, this collection pulls together the rarely-heard piano pieces as well. One that I had been seeking, Vexations, is a short piece to be repeated 840 times.

The titles of the pieces bear witness to Satie's sense of humor, rebellion against conventions of the day, and his pleasure in the surreal. Translations help to enjoy the unusual titles (who could not love "Piece in the Form of a Pear"?), some of which are reminiscent of Magritte's monikers.

Aldo Ciccolini's performances are clear, with definite respect for the composer's works. There was a noticeable distinction between the tempi of the works that come "in threes", such as the Gymnopedies.

I found that this collection fit nicely on my iPod, allowing me to take it on the road and enjoy it wherever the mood struck me. In some cases, the juxtaposition of Satie's music with my whereabouts provided yet another dimension of surreal-ity that had to be savored. The fact that most of these piano pieces are brief lends them to shuffling with other styles.

While this collection is not for the casual listener to classical music, it does allow you to come into closer contact with one of the more unconventional minds of classical music. If you are serious about late 19th- or early 20th-century music, especially French music, or the influence of popular music on serious music, then this is not only for you, but a bargain as well.

Highly original numbers, outstanding professional performance
The work is one of the few that that merits 10/10, for
various aspects. First, the highly original pieces, one
after another.

Secondly, the simply outstanding professional job, and interpretation
made of the original compositions, that, clearly, showed the composer
being incredibly ahead of his time, in matters of laying out his
music ideas and human expression through it.

Third, the product itself, comprehensive, exhaustive of Satie's opuses,
over the 5 CD's released in the 2 jewel cases, is simply unbeatable in
any other release, as far as I know, except maybe the DDD re-release
this decade. This remaster, of performances on the piano, from the 1970's,
is perfectly fine in terms of audio.

In fact, I've heard works from symphonies dating from the 1940's,
such as from Mussorgsky, or even, Russian composers works, that
are simply incredible when re-released on CD, as are those from Bartok,
or Stravinsky. This may come into play when deciding whether to go for
this boxset and not the DDD re-release from Aldo Ciccolini as well.

Wonderful piano music
I bought this 5 CD collection of Satie piano music for my wife for Christmas since she mentioned liking a CD of Satie's piano pieces played by Pascal Rogé that I had on a few weeks earlier. We've listened to the whole collection and both enjoy it very much. It is unfortunate as another reviewer pointed out that the liner notes are only in French, but I imagine we'll be able to find a list of his works in English somewhere on the internet. Many of the pieces are short and there are so many of them that it would be hard to keep them apart even if we did have notes in English. We're just happy to have all this beautiful music to listen to. I'm not musically sophisticated enough to judge Ciccolini's interpretations of Satie's music, but they seem fine to me and the CDs sound good despite having been recorded between 1967 and 1971.