No 109 Transformation 2 – From reduction to imitation

Erik Satie was a true pragmatist. If one of the rare occasions occurred on which his music was performed, he was more than willing to adapt to circumstances: songs were transformed into piano pieces, piano pieces into orchestral pieces, pieces for four hands into pieces for two. Many of the arrangements he wrote himself, some were done by others and for many, we’re not sure ... Like John Cage, he was flexible. The latter was a great admirer of Satie; for example, he enthusiastically arranged Satie’s »Socrate« for a dance performance, but was subsequently refused the rights to do so by the publisher. The consequence was – a Cheap Imitation. Another kind of transformation? Listen!