one full cycle of vexations

[squiresuzuki]

My piano teacher said that he played this for a few hours and then started hallucinating.

[RustyRazor2010]

What was the audiences reaction? Positive?

[cullyvan]

He'll be laughing uncontrollably in his grave knowing that so many people took him seriously.

[gerbelplec]

I'm pretty sure this piece is just Satie trolling everyone.

[Elmore3141]

I've been playing this piece for approximately 7 years now, and I'm getting tired.

[regalstar]

So, has there been anyone who managed to play this song 840 times by themselves?

[Nicolaspaulhorvath]

@regalstar yes i did allready 3 times , and 5 more are planed this year ( i posted some videos on youtube )

[Nicolaspaulhorvath]

@regalstar yes i did allready 3 times non -stop ( means without a single 1 minute pause or whatever ) , and 5 more are planed this year ( i posted some videos on youtube )

[demiserofd]

So creepy.

[Shizzlmadizzl]

what happens when one player makes a mistake? do they have to start over? :D

[horowizard]

@Shizzlmadizzl If a player makes a mistake, Mr. Satie has accomplished his goal

[JupiterIV]

@Shizzlmadizzl With this piece, I don't think there's such a thing as a mistake X(

[13aquarela]

Do you know if Satie played his own piece unless one time? I don´t think so.

What was the idea of playing this for 17 hours? Was an experiment? Tell me what was the meaning of this. I´d really like to know. Anyway, Cheers.

[phgp527]

Does it have to have a meaning? Could it not be a paradox? Its meaning is that it means nothing? A large slice of irony, that. Just a thought...

[Gaiacarra]

good god, please tell me you're joking.

[phgp527]

@Gaiacarra On one hand I think it would be the best way to perform the work... background music in some setting. On the other, I can only listen to it a couple of hundred times (kidding - maybe 10 -15 times) before I start having vexation nightmares.

[fakelife7]

He never played the piece. This is just the way he was, an endless irreverent. The first time the piece was played 840 times was in 1963 with John Cage and a bunch of good and crazy musicians. Although we don't actually know if he actually intended it to be a serious thing, there is a high probability that it was nothing more than a joke.

[willybdilliams]

The point was that when playing the same bit over and over variables of pace would occur. So one cycle could be seconds shorter or seconds longer, making it a different piece each time, but only by pace at which each cycle was completed.

[duggers108]

check it out on wikipedia it sez that there are several possible meanings, its quite intresting

[Darkengale2007]

Hey, why would anybody take him seriously? He also wrote the Beureaucratic Sonatina and Dried Up Embryos...this guy is WHACK!!

[bigluca66]

I AGREEE

[britandveg]

So cool. The push for minimalism in his work is astounding.

[kakofatus]

Actually it's 18 to 24 hours

[PostcardKittenMeow]

Erik was joking about the 840 repeats, duh.

[blackfireINSANITY]

It was a "serious joke".

Meant to be taken seriously, but humorous at the same time.

[nemesisguy]

I got this on cd years ago not knowing of the piece, although I was familiar with Satie and have other cds of his work. I listen to it often. I find it the repetition very reassuring and it has a very calming effect on me, like meditation. Try listening to it while suspended in a flotation chamber. Perfect combination.

[ellendepellensnotteb]

I played Vexations with my school yesterday for about 24 hours .. we started at 16.30 exactly and quit at 16.30 exact !

[joeshines]

did you play 840 reps, or just go by time?

[ellendepellensnotteb]

840 reps.

[thebrotherspleasant]

one down, another 839 to go... better put the kettle on then.

[HinZ3]

Actually, the piece isn't the 2nd movement of anything, but a lone piece on it's own. Editors later added it in a grooping of three.

[ak47mustang]

right, for some reason they only wanted to release Satie's works in groups of three

[offrampt]

Great stuff - the piano has a lovely sound.

[richtcello]

There's article by Gavin Bryars should clear some of the questions/answers up, do a google search for 'vexations gavin bryars'

"Pour se jouer 840 fois de suite ce motif, il sera bon de se preparer au prealable, et dans le plus grand silence, par des immobilities serieuses."

Something like: 'In order to play this piece 840 times, one must prepare themselves in absolute silence , without movement'

[u2sbs3]

and while no one knows why satie composed this piece with the note of '840' repititions. consider the fact that satie was always trying to find something big out of something small. he hated wagner. he believed in the impression of a piece rather then the statement of a piece. in fact the impression becomes the statement. 'vexations' is mimetic of satie himself. seeing how the simplicity and complexity he brought to music in such small doses still touches every composer today.

[u2sbs3]

no. it wasn't 12 pianists. it was john cage on 9 september 1963. he performed the entire thing. it took him 18 hours and 40 minutes.

[hexachordal]

nope, it was John Cage who found the thing, but he performed it with several others. As for the 840, I'm led to believe that if played at tempo, it will last for exactly 24 hours.

[u2sbs3]

do you have any support for this? or are you just throwing crap out to sound pretentious?

[hexachordal]

I studied it a while back in a music course I took at college... I've done some research and here's an extract from a quote by Cage himself - "In September, 1963, we had ten pianists to play one of Satie's Vexations in relays".

As for the pretention, that's just a side-effect ;)

[syrokal]

Wrong...twa's himself and nine other pianist's

[richardpr986]

How many cycles did you complete? There's snippets posted on Ubuweb featuring cycles from different ensembles. One such group performs using different recorders; another musician realises Vexations on the harpsichord.

[joeshines]

we did all three movements, and all 840 repetitions of the 2nd "vexations" movement, and pretty meticulously kept track. it was all for piano except for an hour shift where a guitar took over, and then the infamous walking transfer to another piano. i got a video of that up too.

[NineIX]

satie did this to annoy people.

[fifthbass]

It was done, supposedly. 12 pianists, 28 hours, or so i've heard.

[joonyung]

I was watching a korean program on this, not even 10 korean pianists taking turns playing this could finish this. They quit after 210 repetitions which took them about 4 hours. o.0

[Ashabara]

wow