>Get high on Satie

>My mom got me Robert Leeuw’s CD of Satie for Chanukah (along with the Nina Simone box set that just came out, cologne, and Toni Morrison’s new book) which I guess came out a decade ago, and was considered sort of radical at the time. Leeuw plays Satie at an extremely slow tempo, which does, at times, sound far out, especially on the famous Gymnopedies. I really enjoy it, mostly on the Gnossiennes, which I think work perfectly at Leeuw’s speed. What I like most about the CD is that it shoots for the hypnosis that Satie seems to have been striving for with his work. I’ve talked about Vexations before on the blog, a chord passaged that is supposed to be played over 800 times consecutively, which would have conscious-altering effects, a sort of droned out, drugged out bliss that would leave the listener drunk on the chord. Prolonged so much, the chord itself would also begin to take on a life of its own. Leeuw’s work doesn’t quite accomplish this, but it does have a hazy effect on the listener, unlike Aldo Ciccolini’s famous playing, which is much more sentimental and sweet.