As those of you who know me know, I am a Satie fan. His works range from the sublime to the ridiculous. He was a very strange guy and he wrote some strange music, some of which I have been transcribing with the LilyPond engraving tool.
In Satie's later works, he eschews some basic composition traditions such as time signatures, key signatures, and bar lines. This can make engraving the music a bit of a challenge as you are not always sure where the beginning of a bar is or what the count is. On the lighter side, Satie give the performer odd musical directions such as "Get Out" and "Apparent" and "Out Doors". On top of this are sometimes texts telling a story, almost like Peter and the Wolf, although Satie strictly forbade he performers from reciting the text.
I have finished the suite called Chapitres Tournés en Tous Sens which I translate as "Chapters turned in every direction," but any French speakers are welcome to improve. The suite has three movements: Celle qui parle trop (The one who talks too much), Le porteur de grosses pierres (The carrier of large stones), and Regrets des Enfermés (Janas et Latude), (Regrests of the Shut-ins [Janas and Latude]). (The fingerings in "Celle" are mine, not Satie's.)
After each movement I have translated Satie's texts as best I could. They at least give you an idea of what's going on. The LilyPond files (text files that end in "ly), the MIDI files, and the PDFs are freely available. Copy them, print them, even change them as long as you keep an attribution to me. And enjoy the quirkiness of Erik Satie!
All files are available here on Google Drive.
In Satie's later works, he eschews some basic composition traditions such as time signatures, key signatures, and bar lines. This can make engraving the music a bit of a challenge as you are not always sure where the beginning of a bar is or what the count is. On the lighter side, Satie give the performer odd musical directions such as "Get Out" and "Apparent" and "Out Doors". On top of this are sometimes texts telling a story, almost like Peter and the Wolf, although Satie strictly forbade he performers from reciting the text.
I have finished the suite called Chapitres Tournés en Tous Sens which I translate as "Chapters turned in every direction," but any French speakers are welcome to improve. The suite has three movements: Celle qui parle trop (The one who talks too much), Le porteur de grosses pierres (The carrier of large stones), and Regrets des Enfermés (Janas et Latude), (Regrests of the Shut-ins [Janas and Latude]). (The fingerings in "Celle" are mine, not Satie's.)
After each movement I have translated Satie's texts as best I could. They at least give you an idea of what's going on. The LilyPond files (text files that end in "ly), the MIDI files, and the PDFs are freely available. Copy them, print them, even change them as long as you keep an attribution to me. And enjoy the quirkiness of Erik Satie!
All files are available here on Google Drive.