Satie: The Early Piano Works

Erik Satie (Composer), Reinbert de Leeuw (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Reinbert de Leeuw
• Composer: Erik Satie
• Audio CD (March 17, 1998)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Philips
• ASIN: B0000069CS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #144,865 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satie as you have never heard him !, January 23, 1999

By A Customer

Reinbert de Leeuw is the most original piano interpret I have ever heard ! His versions of Eric Satie's famous Gymnopedies are unique, because his plays them so slowly that it is sometimes difficult to recognise them; you re-discover them as you hear him play. This is the perfect approach to play some famous pieces people have heard so many times in a refreshing way. Of course, this is different from the "classic" way to play Satie, as Philippe Entremont did in a definitive way. But Reinbert de Leeuw is really original : it is the slowest interpretation of Satie's pieces. There is a few seconds silence between each note. Reinbert de Leeuw has recorded Satie's pieces twice : his first attempts in the 70's (in ADD) were even slower than the recent (DDD), all made for Phillips. The 1998 Phillips 2 CDs package contains the slowest versions.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satie elevated to his true height, December 21, 1999

By	Victor Eijkhout (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most performers approach Satie's pieces as if they are merely charming miniatures. By taking extremely slow tempi - we are literally talking half speed of what others do - Reinbert de Leeuw brings out the mystic qualities of the piano pieces. These performances are unlike anything you'll hear.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful and effective concentration on the "mystic" works, January 6, 2006

By	E. Weed (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Satie wrote in a variety of styles. Much of his later work (including most of the work with the humorous titles) amounts to a burlesque of salon music of the day, and tends to be charming, often affecting, but on the light side. (There are exceptions, of course, such as the Nocturnes.)

The early pieces grouped on these 2 CDs (which include the famous Gymnopedies) are in a different league. They come from a period in which Satie seemed to be working through spiritual issues, and some were written specifically for the mystical Rosicrucian Order. Satie was pushing the envelope in terms of structure and harmony (although the harmony was not dissonant, but, instead, quite similar to Debussy's experiments of roughly the same time). The music can be repititious (not unlike chant) but with subtle variations (as if a distant--and early--cousin of minimalism). Most of it tends to be meditative and quiet, relatively uncomplicated, and, in that sense, anti-virtuosic. (I should add that the Gymnopedies were among the less experimental pieces of that time, although compared to, say, Saint-Saens, they were revolutionary in their simplicity.)

I became familiar with Satie via Aldo Ciccolini's ground-breaking series of 30 years ago or so. There, as in most Satie compilations, the early work was mixed in with the later work, which had the effect (for me, at least), of causing me to not quite "get" the early work. (Ciccolini's later set devoted an entire CD to the early work, under the "Mystic Works" rubric, as I best recall, but the piano sound was very disappointing, and Ciccolini was not particularly "mystical" in his approach to the work.)

Reinbert de Leeuw's approach is either revelatory or terribly dull, depending upon who's listening. I love it. I think he's the first pianist to effectively reveal what unique and potent music this is, in part by simply slowing it down. He has a beautiful sounding piano to work with (superbly recorded), and he revels in that beauty, to our benefit. Yet I don't think the slow speed is such an issue that the listener loses track of the architecture of the pieces. It just gives you time to listen.

A less patient listener who likes lots of musical activity and excitement will not like these CDs. A listener attracted to music on the meditative side, such as chant, or the Debussy Preludes, will probably really enjoy this. For me, at the end of a long day, this is like a warm bath for the brain. And, it's easy on the pocketbook. (This two-fer contains all, or most of, the music that used to occupy 3 CDs.)