Absurdist. Outsider. Velvet Gentleman.

born May 17, 1866, and died July 1, 1925

Erik Satie wasn’t just a composer, he was a one-man art movement. Known for dreamy pieces like Gymnopédies, Satie spent most of his life trolling the musical establishment with surreal creativity.

🎧 Listen:
Gymnopédie No. 1 – Satie
A slow-motion dream of a piece. Pretty recognizable.

🎧 Also try:
Gnossienne No. 1 – Satie
No bar lines, no key signature. Just vibes.

Satie wore only grey velvet suits, founded a religious order of one, and once wrote a piece that was supposed to be played 840 times in a row.

Fun fact: last week I listened to Vexations, 840 times. It took 18 hours.

🎥 Watch:
Vexations – excerpt
Satie’s quiet rebellion: a piece designed to break pianists and listeners alike.

His sheet music includes directions like “Light as an egg” and “Hypocritically”, with a warning not to take them literally.

Satie lived alone in a room filled with umbrellas, stacked pianos, and unopened letters. He walked miles to Paris daily, dodging friendships, romance, and tradition, except for a brief love affair involving a painter and a pet octopus named Médusa.

🎧 Furniture Music:
Musique d’ameublement (Background music meant to be ignored)
arranged for piano and string quartet

What survives is music that feels like an unsettling sideways glance at the world: melancholic and timeless.