Satie Surprises
Christina Bjørkøe - Release June 6th 2025
In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Satie’s Death
Erik Satie’s influence, once barely acknowledged, has now permeated nearly every corner of modern music. Best known for the sensual simplicity of his tender Gymnopédies, such seeming naivety masked a colorful, and frequently, complex life and artistic vision. The experimental composer John Cage famously called Satie “indispensable,” citing him as a profound inspiration for his own groundbreaking work.
Satie’s eccentricities were part of his charm, and this whimsy often seeped into his work. In Embryons desséchés (Dried Embryos), for instance, he included absurd instructions in the score, phrases like “on the tip of your tongue” or “open your head,” as well as giving his works absurd titles like Effronterie and Prélude canin, gleefully written to deflate the precious seriousness of classical music traditions. In contrast, there are works like Pieces froides (1897) that anticipate the rhythmic minimalism of Philip Glass and his visionary 5 Nocturnes (1919), the final series of his cyclically organized piano pieces composed using a highly system rigorously guiding the interplay of melody (right hand) and harmonic accompaniment (left hand). Even today, there are many surprises to be discovered in Satie’s oeuvre.
This specially curated program is brilliantly realized by Christina Bjørkøe, one of Denmark’s leading musicians. Much in demand as a recitalist, chamber musician and as a soloist with symphony orchestras ClassicsToday praised Bjørkøe for her dynamism and passion. Her extensive discography includes critically acclaimed recordings of works spanning the piano repertoire from Beethoven to Borup- Jørgensen.
Reviews
June 9, 2025
A great 5 stars review in Fanfare (US)
Five stars: A Satie piano recital of great and rarely heard pieces, exceptionally played.
SATIE Petite overture à danser. Facheux exemple. Effronterie. Airs à fair fuir: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Sons binocle. Profondeur. Avant-dernières pensées: Idylle (à Debussy); Aubade (à Dukas); Meditation (à Roussel). 5 Nocturnes: Nos. 1, 2, 3. Froide songerie. Prélude canin. 2 Rêveries nocturnes. Prélude de la porte héroique du ceil. Songe-creux. Caresse. Poésie. Désespoir agréable. Nostalgie. 3 Préludes Christina Bjørkøe (pn) OUR Recordings 8.226926 (59:45)
In this 100th anniversary of Satie’s death, it is quite wonderful to get a piano recital of rarely heard pieces, aptly titled Satie Surprises. There are no Gymnopédies or Gnossiennes here and only a very few of Bjørkøe’s choices appear on any of my other single disc Satie recitals. It seems like I do hear some snippet of Satie in the background of commercials on almost a daily basis. It is often tender and melodic, and always interesting. He did not follow rules and his eccentricities are a big part of his charm. There is artistic vision in Satie’s music that influenced John Cage and Philip Glass. Perhaps Jean Cocteau’s description of Satie is best: “The smallest work by Satie is small in the way a keyhole is small. Everything changes when you put your eye to it.”
Bjørkøe is from Denmark and has many recordings to her credit. She is an associate professor at the Danish National Academy of Music. She becomes a part of these pieces and simply lets Satie ebb and flow. The balances of melody and accompaniment are just right and the little variants in accompaniment figures are never missed, but not over-emphasized. The large booklet essay by Torben Enghoff is titled “Odd, Poor and Famous” and quite a fascinating look at Satie. The recorded Steinway sound is as state of the art as you can hear these days. This calls for my highest recommendation. James Harrington
June 9, 2025
Great and different review from Klassisk Bureau (DK)