Erik Satie Horvath

The range and variety of French piano music in the 19th and 20th centuries is exemplifi ed in these critically acclaimed albums bringing together rarely encountered pieces, a number of which are performed on period instruments. Théodore Gouvy’s little-known sonatas and Benjamin Godard’s fragrant lyricism are part of a lineage that includes the masterful large-scale Piano Sonata of Vincent d’Indy, the virtuosic rarities – many in première recordings – of Saint-Saëns, Satie’s tenderness and wit, and unknown piano versions of some of Debussy’s greatest orchestral masterpieces.

The range and variety of French piano music in the 19th and 20th centuries is exemplifi ed in these critically acclaimed albums bringing together rarely encountered pieces, a number of which are performed on period instruments. Théodore Gouvy’s little-known sonatas and Benjamin Godard’s fragrant lyricism are part of a lineage that includes the masterful large-scale Piano Sonata of Vincent d’Indy, the virtuosic rarities – many in première recordings – of Saint-Saëns, Satie’s tenderness and wit, and unknown piano versions of some of Debussy’s greatest orchestral masterpieces.

Hélène Antoinette Marie de Nervo de Montgeroult (1764–1836) was a student of Clementi in Paris. She survived the French Revolution – during which, as an aristocrat, her life was in grave danger – to become a celebrated pianist, composer and author of a famous piano method. Her compositional language in these nine sonatas is wide and includes Italianate models as well as elements that reflect the influence of Haydn and Mozart, with chromatic and surprising harmonies, contrasts of register, chorale-like nobility and brilliantly athletic finales.

“Everything I undertake misfires immediately. I produce dirty rubbish and that will accomplish nothing.” So wrote Erik Satie in 1903 during a period of transition that saw him produce the last of his Rose + Croix style music in Verset laique & somptueux, but in making a living writing for the music halls, he also created hugely popular songs such as Je te veux. The works on this fourth volume of Satie’s complete solo piano music were written between 1897 and 1906. They include rare theater music and tender waltzes that contrast with jaunty ragtime and pantomime dances. Nicolas Horvath began his music studies at the Academie de Musique et de Theatre Prince Rainier III, and at the age of 16 he caught the attention of the American conductor Lawrence Foster. His other mentors include a number of distinguished international pianists, including Liszt specialist Leslie Howard. He is the holder of a number of awards, including First Prize of the Scriabin and the Luigi Nono International Competitions. He has become noted for hosting concerts of unusual length, sometimes lasting over twelve hours, such as the performance of the complete piano music of Erik Satie at the Paris Philharmonie before an audience of 14,000 people and recently played together with Philip Glass also at the Paris Philharmonie.

This third volume of Erik Satie's complete solo piano music using Satie scholar Robert Orledge's new Salabert Edition focusses on music composed between 1892–97, including theatrical scores such as the revolutionary uspud, and the Danses Gothiques and famous Vexations written while the composer was hiding from a tempestuous love affair. The period closes with Satie composing in what he called 'a more flexible and accessible way with the final Gnossienne and the six Pieces froides'.