Bertrand Chamayou – Letter(s) to Erik Satie (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Erik Satie as a source of inspiration for John Cage – Pianist Bertrand Chamayou with his album Letter(s) to Erik Satie.

“Erik Satie and John Cage are UFOs in the music world, because they looked at music through a completely different prism,” pianist Bertrand Chamayou describes his impression. And so the pianist dedicates his solo album Letter(s) to Erik Satie to these two extraordinary composers: “They are pioneers, they changed many people’s idea of what music should be.” In this regard, Erik Satie, a Frenchman born in the mid-19th century, was a source of inspiration for U.S. composer John Cage.

“Satie is really a special case, a peculiar musician – different from anyone else,” Bertrand Chamayou points out. And so the pianist’s album presents primarily his famous piano works, including the three pieces in the Gymnopédie series and the seven miniatures in the Gnossienne series. The latter of the two meditatively flowing series of compositions enchants its listener with oriental-like tonal scales. Satie had probably picked up the non-diatonic scales at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. Chamayou chose piano works by John Cage such as In a landscape, Dream and Swinging.

The pianist made the recording deep in the heart of Provence at the Château Miraval. Brad Pitt had reopened the legendary recording studio of the 1970s as co-founder in recent years – with technology that unites past and present at the highest level.

Tracklist:
1-01. Bertrand Chamayou – All Sides of the Small Stone, for Erik Satie (03:37)
1-02. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 1, Lent (03:02)
1-03. Bertrand Chamayou – Prelude for Meditation (01:20)
1-04. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Gymnopédies: No. 1, Lent et douloureux (02:57)
1-05. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 2, Avec étonnement (02:02)
1-06. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 3, Lent (02:45)
1-07. Bertrand Chamayou – A Room (01:16)
1-08. Bertrand Chamayou – In a Landscape (08:00)
1-09. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Petites pièces montées: No. 1, De l’enfance de Pantagruel. Rêverie (01:14)
1-10. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien): No. 1, Sévère réprimande (00:39)
1-11. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien): No. 2, Seul à la maison (00:58)
1-12. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Véritables préludes flasques (pour un chien): No. 3, On joue (00:49)
1-13. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Gymnopédies: No. 2, Lent et triste (02:41)
1-14. Bertrand Chamayou – Sports et divertissements: No. 9, Le bain de mer (00:28)
1-15. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 4, Lent (02:08)
1-16. Bertrand Chamayou – Sports et divertissements: No. 2, La balançoire (00:44)
1-17. Bertrand Chamayou – Swinging (00:45)
1-18. Bertrand Chamayou – Gymnopédies: No. 3, Lent et grave (02:30)
1-19. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 5, Modéré (02:47)
1-20. Bertrand Chamayou – 5 Nocturnes: No. 2, Simplement (01:47)
1-21. Bertrand Chamayou – Sports et divertissements: No. 17, Le tango perpétuel (02:07)
1-22. Bertrand Chamayou – Perpetual Tango (01:32)
1-23. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Gnossiennes: No. 6, Avec conviction et avec une tristesse rigoureuse (01:50)
1-24. Bertrand Chamayou – 3 Sarabandes: No. 3 in B-Flat Minor (04:26)
1-25. Bertrand Chamayou – 6 Pièces de la période 1906-1913: No. 6, Songe-creux (01:44)
1-26. Bertrand Chamayou – Le fils des étoiles: Prélude du premier acte. La vocation (03:37)
1-27. Bertrand Chamayou – Gnossienne No. 7 (02:25)
1-28. Bertrand Chamayou – Three Pages in the Shape of a Pear (In Celebration of Erik Satie) (00:32)
1-29. Bertrand Chamayou – Dream (09:10)