Comments on: Very Slowly

Very Slowly

roll truck roll — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:00:09 -0800

"To play this motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities." Erik Satie's Vexations (previously) was more-or-less disregarded as an unperformable thought experiment, until John Cage staged an eighteen-hour performance in 1963. The event cemented Satie's importance in avant-garde music and his influence on a generation of artists. In 2006, several musicians and artists performed their own renditions.

By: roll truck roll

roll truck roll — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:00:45 -0800

Many more links on the Wikipedia page, including some six-hour MIDI files.

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:02:34 -0800

I guess I got it wrong. It's Satie Saturday!

By: wzcx

wzcx — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:23:06 -0800

...and part of sunday too, if you perform the whole thing.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:29:15 -0800

More avant garde goodness here.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:06:03 -0800

Metafilter: "I have put all I know about Boredom. I dedicate it to those who don't like me." Couldn't resist. I apologise. And yes, this is quite fascinating, thanks for the post.

By: synaesthetichaze

synaesthetichaze — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 15:12:57 -0800

I have the 1 hour version of this, and even that is excruciating. The problem (for me) with this piece is that it is far too repetitive to be ambient. With the constant repeating, it draws attention to itself, makes you listen closely. And then you realize that it sucks and is too boring to bear, and you watch TV with a hamburger clenched in your fist instead. At least, that's what I do.

By: Twang

Twang — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:14:31 -0800

Favorite! More than 8 hours of playing a mysterious passage is bound to get more than a little hypnotic. I got a chuckle out of this quote: "Evans played continuously for 15 hours until he reached repetition 595, when he suddenly stopped; he was in a daze and left immediately. He writes: 'I would not play this piece again. I felt each repetition slowly wearing my mind away. I had to stop. If I hadn't stopped I'd be a very different person today... People who play it do so at their own great peril'. Valerie Butler, a member of the audience, writes that Evans said 'he had to stop because his mind became full of evil thoughts, animals and "things" started peering out at him from the score'." I'm sure a similar effect would result from certain passages in, say, Rimsky-K, or Beethoven's Op. 111, or ... wow ... sampling and looping "L'Oiseau de Feu" now!

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 16:44:45 -0800

The 840th iteration summons Azatoth, who bubbles and blasphemes at the center of all things.

By: Area Control

Area Control — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:05:21 -0800

A lot of Satie is actually quite melodic and pleasant. This just seemss evil.

By: id

id — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:10:00 -0800

No, not evil. Instead, a great joke on the bourgeois!

By: wendell

wendell — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:38:35 -0800

Sounds like Satie was a Sadist.

By: Afreemind2007

Afreemind2007 — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:57:54 -0800

I thought it was interesting that the only person who was present for the entire 18 hour performance was Andy Warhol.

By: philad

philad — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:02:43 -0800

Satie's Gymnopedies are sublime.

By: mek

mek — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:18:31 -0800

I thought it was interesting that the only person who was present for the entire 18 hour performance was Andy Warhol. posted by Afreemind2007 at 7:57 PM PST on December 30 [+] [!] Ehh, the was the only person with nothing else to do.

By: NickDouglas

NickDouglas — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 02:25:31 -0800

He was looking for someone to soundtrack Empire.

By: ism

ism — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 07:02:17 -0800

Sounds like Satie was a Dadaist.

By: peewinkle

peewinkle — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 10:43:02 -0800

I just played it 6 times in a row and my roomate started yelling at me.........