MUSIC

Erik Satie: Vexations

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2023
6:00 AM

The Village Trip
Paulson Center, NYU
181 Mercer Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan

Free
TICKETS + INFORMATION

It’s a curiosity of history that Erik Satie invented Post-Modernism just at the same time Modernism itself was beginning to take hold: that’s how ahead of his time he was. Vexations, composed in 1893 (a year before Satie’s pal Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune), is foundational: four lines of simple (but not conceptually simple) Satie for solo piano — repeated 840 times. (This performance’s projected 15-hour duration seems meager.) There was a famous performance in the East Village 60 years ago spearheaded by Satie’s musical descendant John Cage (and featuring John Cale). The roster of pianists for this year’s performance celebrating that old show (obviously 840 repetitions require a team) includes David Del Tredici, who participated in the Cage show 60 years ago, as well as many luminaries from the contemporary NYC piano scene. No Lister with time on their hands should miss this.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT: You’ll want something nice and comfy like Jane.