Erik Satie
May 17, 1866 – July 1, 1925

Erik Satie was a French composer whose sparse, strange, and inventive pieces broke from the romantic and impressionistic schools to champion the French avant-garde movement.

It is likely that his unusual style was responsible for the composer receiving fame only later in his career. His first ballets were largely reviled. However, critics had taken notice of him.

Satie took piano lessons as a child, and enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire, and was later expelled. After a failed attempt at military service he returned to Paris, and befriended Debussy. He undertook education once more at the Schola Cantorum, and approached his studious more seriously.

His pieces retained his humorous nature, however, and his short piano works became popular. There was renewed interest in his earlier work. Encouraged, Satie began working with small groups of other composers and artists as part of the Dada movement.

He died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1925.

Notable works:
Trois Gymnopédies
Trois morceaux en forme de poire
Messe des Pauvres
Descriptions Automatiques
Sonatine Bureaucratique
Socrate
Relâche

• More tracks by Satie, Erik

The sounds and music released under the Shockwave-Sound.com label were created by in-house staff at Shockwave-Sound.Com including Ric Viers, Bjorn Lynne, Christos Panayides and others. The sounds are copyrighted to Lynne Publishing, which is the company that owns Shockwave-Sound.com and all its properties. Any music published under this name is entirely royalty-free and free of any performing royalties collection society.

• More tracks by Shockwave-Sound Royalty Free