The number 840 appears above the score of Satie’s Vexations. It indicates the number of repeats of this piece with a length of only one minute and a half. Now it suddenly takes over 16 hours to perform it.

This is a good example of the innovative and sometimes absurd genius of Erik Satie. Some early reviewers called him a charlatan, but according to Stravinsky Erik Satie was one of the great composers of his days besides Bizet and Chabrier. Debussy arranged two Gymnopédies for orchestra successfully, whilst Roussel praised his impeccable counterpoint and John Cage pronounced Satie the ‘indispensable’ and ‘art’s most serious servant’. Erik Satie (1866-1925) was a man who raised opinions.

On this album all tracks are somehow related to the music by Erik Satie; five of them are arrangements of his piano works which are combined with pieces that carry the ideas of Satie. The influence of Satie on French music is not to be underestimated and he can be seen as a navigator towards new musical developments. He liked to be ironical, absurd, and funny and for his whole life he had a deeply rooted dislike of conventions in all its forms. It made him a forerunner in the field of many musical innovations, the most typical and daring one being his harmonic language with its remarkable resolutions and parallel chords. Also pop musicians feel connected to this new invented approach to harmony. The repertoire of this album reaches from 1884 with the very first composition of Satie, until 2019 with Acruarela nr.7 of Camilo Giraldo dedicated to Enno Voorhorst.

Track 20 on this album 4′33″ (pronounced “four minutes, thirty-three seconds” or just “four thirty-three”) is a three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage (1912–1992). It was composed in 1952, for any instrument or combination of instruments, and the score instructs performers not to play their instruments during the entire duration of the piece throughout the three movements. The piece consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, although it is commonly perceived as “four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence“. The title of the piece refers to the total length in minutes and seconds of a given performance, 4′33″ being the total length of the first public performance.

His earlier album Concerto Métis with The String Soloists, released in 2018 and available at NativeDSD, received wonderful reviews both in the Netherlands and abroad. Classical Guitar Magazine wrote: ‘This is a superb recording featuring playing of the highest order.’

Please note that track 20 is intended to be silent (see explanation in paragraph #5 above).

Enno Voorhorst – Guitar

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