Erik Satie's opus is undoubtedly recognized, not only by the academic world, as original and tremendously innovative. Debussy, Ravel, Milhaud and many others took ideas and inspiration from Satie. It is not coincidence that he created new prototypes of combinations and compositional inventions, often extemporaneous and unpretentious, but which opened new horizons in classical music history. Atonality, bitonality, but also what is now called 'Ambience' music, increasingly fashionable, are all marks by Satie's genius. "It is almost offensive to even compare the genius of a genuine composer like Satie to the pragmatic and often cunning attitude of certain "modern" composers of today's business." - wrote Alessandro Simonetto - "Satie is also much, much more other just "minimal". His "Sports et Divertissement" - just to mention his main piano collection - is a vademecum of new piano ideas, his best will ike the Preludes for Chopin."
”Satie, you never had greater admirers than Ravel and myself; many of your early works had a great influence on our writing. Your 'Prélude de La porte héroïque du ciel' was to us a revelation, so original, so different from that Wagnerian atmosphere which has surrounded us in late years. I liked your Gymnopédies so much that I orchestrated two of them. You have some kind of genius, or you have genius, period. Now, as a true friend may I warn you that from time to time there is in your art a certain lack of form." -Claude Debussy
This album is part of the omnia recording of Satie's Piano Works re-recorded in 2019 (after the 'Early & Esoteric Works' 3-CD set, AE16019 for the label Aevea) by Alessandro Simonetto. The recent recording is set in 4-CD's collecting all early works and the works of the "spiritual period" (1887-1900). In the new recording, in fact, new pieces were added such as the 'Deux Quators' (unfinished) and the 'Messa du Pavres' in the original transcription by Simonetto which maintains the sacred and organistic character intact.
The music of Satie included in these first 4 discs concerns the early works (from 1887) and the esoteric works written up to 1900.