Satie Surprises: A Conversation with Christina Bjorkoe,

BY ROBERT SCHULSLAPER

Observing that "He [Satie] balances virtuously between seriousness and playful humor. You are challenged like a tightrope walker," Danish pianist Christina Bjorkoe joyfully accepts the challenge, walking a tightrope through Satie’s enchanted world of musical aphorism and enigmatic, evocative emotion to bring us Satie Surprises, a seductive selection of the composer’s beguiling miniatures. To learn more about her enduring fascination with this one-of-a-kind personality, read on…

Welcome to Fanfare, Christina. I’d like to begin by asking what inspired you to record Satie Surprises?

Some years ago I lived in Paris for a while, and Satie was always on my mind. These was the streets he walked in, once he breathed the air here, a fantastic character with his hat and umbrellas. He collected umbrellas and his life was all about one thing: music. Very inspiring. I have recorded albums with Bach's Goldberg Variations, Chopin's Preludes and Fanny Mendelssohn's piano cycle Das Jahr - always with Satie on the doorstep looking in. Now, when the wonderful Torben Enghoff brought up the idea of collecting a bouquet of lesser-known piano pieces by Satie, I was excited, finally Satie entered the room. The party could begin.

It seems you fell under his spell…

Yes, of course. His lifestyle, enthusiasm and whole personality are wildly fascinating. You have Marcel Duchamp and his readymades in art, Satie represents something of the same eruptive spirit in the universe of music. He established new rules and set new standards for the musical challenges. The early twentieth century was an innovative era in European art and culture. East and West met, the continents exchanged thoughts and ideas. Much of this was shattered when the First World War broke out in 1914, and millions of young Europeans were killed. This whole madness influenced Satie and his work.

Satie was affiliated with the Rosicrucians at one time. Are his esoteric/mystical inclinations expressed in his music?

The Rosenkreuz religion contains a wealth of spiritual mysteries. Satie was the house composer there until he chose to go a step further and found his own religion. He was the only member, although he imagined that he would eventually have thousands of followers. Religion and spirituality were absolutely crucial to Satie's work, when you dive into his universe you clearly feel his spirituality, which was perhaps part of his natural personality.

What can you tell us about the larger collections from which you’ve chosen individual pieces, such as Musiques intimes et secretes, Pieces froides, Les trois Valses distinguées du précieux dégoûté…?

I have often played “Son Monocle” from Les trois Valses distinguées du précieux dégoûté as an encore in concerts – it is a loving portrait of Ravel (presumably) while the two outer movements are a bit more sarcastic in tone.
Now another excerpt from the collection –“Effronterie” - ended up in the middle of the program, when it suddenly felt harmonious. Humor, irony and sarcasm are always an essential part of Satie's compositions. He often balances virtuously between seriousness and humor. You are challenged like a tightrope walker when you play the pieces and choose the atmosphere.

How do you approach Satie’s whimsical interpretive suggestions, such as “comme un Rossignol qui aurait mal aux dents” (like a nightingale with toothache),“Jai envie d’un chapeau en acajou massif (I want a solid mahogany hat),” “sans rougir en dedans” (without your finger blushing), and “Mademoiselle Machin epouse un homme qui est sec comme un coucou (Miss Whoozit is marrying a man who’s dry as a cuckoo”)…?

Right now it is early summer in Scandinavia. The nightingale sings in the deep forests. You wake up in the middle of the white night, the light flickers, fantasy and reality flow together. I love Satie's unconventional comments - they are very inspiring even though they are often absurd. It works well if you try to think openly and abstractly and use the impressions from his comments as if he were standing by your shoulder and whispering into your ear. And then possibly forget about it a bit again when you play a concert.

Would you like to record more of his music?

No doubt - Satie is a lifelong passion. Not playing Satie would be a serious mistake, your brain hardens and your hair withers. As a pianist, you need permanent contact with Satie's playful relationship with the material. I have gained an incredible appetite to play more Satie. He left behind so much outstanding music.

The average music lover may only know his piano music from the Gymnopédies and Gnossiens. What do you feel they’re missing by not hearing his other works, including those not for piano?
I am sure that these works will interest a wider audience, and also young people. It is wartime again on our planet; Satie hits the mark, I am sure he belongs to the future. New generations have a lot to learn from him.
The Gymnopedies and Gnossiens are incredibly beautiful and meditative - many of the other piano and chamber music works also include a lot of humor and quirky wisdom as well as more experimental artistic visions.

Three of the pieces are dedicated to fellow composers Debussy, Dukas, and Albert Roussel. What can you tell us about his relationship to them or to the other artists and musicians in his milieu, Leonide Massine, Picasso, Cocteau…?

Debussy told Satie that he lacked a sense of form. As a comment on this claim, Satie composed the pieces in Pear form (Trois morceaux en forme de poire). Apart from that, I believe that he and Debussy had a loving and friendly relationship with mutual respect. Satie developed contacts with the Dadaists and other experimental artists in painting and film. Under this inspiration, he wrote, among other things, ballet music that happily unites the modernism of the time, when he uses instruments such as a typewriter, revolver and tombola. Picasso made a drawing of Satie which testifies to mutual respect. I know that Satie admired his colleagues such as Debussy enormously. And that he was at the same time a bit of an outsider among the artists in Paris.

Some regard Satie as a harmonic forerunner of Impressionism who influenced Debussy and Ravel. Do you agree?

Absolutely. Satie cannot be overestimated in terms of the influence he has on musical history, including Debussy, Ravel and all the Impressionists. But Satie's influence goes much further - he struck the Messianic chords long before Messiaen wrote his groundbreaking works, so Satie vitally pervades much more recent music.

I recently came across an article in which the author calls Satie’s music “a beautiful puzzle.” (https://myreccollection.livejournal.com/180490.html?)

It makes perfect sense - there are many similarities between working with Satie's music and putting together a beautiful puzzle. There are many small mosaic pieces that have to fit. The difference could perhaps be that Satie's compositions are a much more open resource that leaves more possibilities open than puzzles.

And from a description of Nicolas Horvath’s Complete piano works, vol. 1, “Satie’s hauntingly beautiful floating melodies and modal tonalities are unforgettably compelling, combining bygone classical ages with Parisian sophistication.”

It is miraculous that Satie so vividly embodies the spirit of the times and the whole atmosphere of Paris. This city is magic, a mecca for art and culture and all the muses. For centuries searching souls, creative spirits and the wildest animals from all continents have sought refuge in Paris. This has generated a unique atmosphere with a respect for creative work that you often do not find in more vulgar commercial environments. Everyone in Paris knows that wealth, political power and all that stuff is worth nothing compared to writing poetry, creating paintings or composing music.
But let's not forget that Satie was fascinated by the Vikings and the Nordics throughout his life, which is why he changed his name from Eric to Erik. He was half British and perhaps had a splash of Viking blood in his veins. Through life he was always reading Hans Christian. Andersen; he died with a volume of Andersen's fairy tales in his hand. Maybe in dreams he met The Little Match Girl in Copenhagen, who knows.

Would you like to record more French music of any era, or by composers who were Satie’s contemporaries?

I played the Ravel G major Piano Concerto in Tivoli Concert Hall at my debut, I often play Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du Temps and Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus and I often play Debussy. Recently I recorded songs by Lili Boulanger. When the chance is there I would like to record Messiaen someday, Debussy, Ravel - and Mel Bonis, I find her works very interesting and perhaps a bit overlooked. It would be fantastic to record more French music.

Tell me about “Animals,” the YouTube video that shows you playing the piano while sharing the stage with a number of costumed dancers and children. Do you often participate in similar events?

I got the idea to invite 12 Danish composers to write etudes with animals as a theme, with each work appearing in three versions and at three levels, beginner, intermediate and professional level. It was a fun and entertaining process. I recorded the works, and the CD was presented at a concert where the composers met. I also presented the album and the new works at a concert where solo ballerina Gudrun Bojesen had choreographed a ballet to the music, danced by children. An unforgettable day.
It is our task to try to reach out to children so that they have the opportunity to experience the fantastic universe of classical music - I play children's concerts for small or older children a couple of times a year. Always a particularly enchanted world to have access to, also for the musician.
How did you find your way to Lars Hannibal’s OUR Recordings?
Hannibal and Our Recordings enjoy fame and respect not only in Denmark but around the globe. Furthermore, Hannibal is a respected musician of the first rank. It was the composer Torben Enghof who suggested that I contact Our Recordings - a brilliant idea, working with Hannibal is a real pleasure, he knows how to do things and works in a cheerful professional atmosphere

In addition to recordings of canonical works such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, you’ve released many albums devoted to Danish composers. Have you pursued this “crusade” from the beginning? Do you see yourself as a spokesperson for Danish music, both through your recordings and personal appearances?

I grew up with Danish tones - without a doubt they are part of my DNA. At 19 I was accepted as a student at Juilliard in New York, I studied there for 2 years and became involved in a more international environment. When I returned home, it was a joy to rediscover Danish composers. Carl Nielsen is essential for me. He strikes a special Nordic tone, which for us vibrates close to the heartstrings. I have recorded his complete piano works for the German CPO. This recording was a kind of matter of the heart for me. I certainly like to be an ambassador for Danish composers, they have a lot to offer the world. To quote the Book: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. But fundamentally, music is universal. and my musical upbringing has taken place with many different international influences and composers.

What was it like to win the Victor Borge Prize?

Victor Borge was wonderful, we miss him a lot. It was a wonderful surprise to receive the Victor Borge's Music Prize. It was celebrated at a concert in Tivoli. I was very young and crazy. It was a great experience to meet Victor Borge, he was of course incredibly funny during the presentation in the Concert Hall - but also very humble and extremely sweet and simple in his way of being when I subsequently had him at the table in the afterparty at a festive event where he ordered his childhood favorite: pancakes with sugar. Sweet as always.

Your teacher Therese Koppel was the daughter of Herman D. Koppel, one of the many Danish composers you’ve championed. Did you ever meet her father? What was she like as a teacher?

Therese Koppel was like a musical mother for me from when I was 7 years old, she taught me until I started at Juilliard at 19. Therese traveled to New York with me in connection with the entrance exam, she was in every way a completely unusual and committed teacher. I have a strong family with wonderful parents, but as everyone knows, becoming a musician is an apprenticeship. I was lucky at exactly the right time to have Therese Koppel as a teacher. She took me by the hand and led me into the mysteries of music. I owe everything I can and know to her. Often when I was ready with a larger work, I also played for her father the composer Herman D. Koppel. I came there every week throughout my childhood and was often with the Koppel family when they spent the summer at the island of Læsø where both Therese, Herman and several others from the family had summer residences. Herman composed, we played music and games, ran in and out, it was summer, paradise.

Why do you love performing?

The solitary party with the instrument on a daily basis is a preparation for concerts where you meet the audience to give everything you have. In successful concerts magical moments can arise where you and the audience breathe together like a supernatural being in a UFO from an alien planet. These are the moments you long for. There is something very special and euphoric about meeting the audience's ears and consciousness at a concert - something that can be clearly felt onstage and which inspires and gives a lot of energy after so many hours alone in the rehearsal room beforehand.

Any plans for future CDs?

Thanks a lot, your question sheds a long light into my summer plans. My head is often haunted by wonderful ideas, birds on the roof singing beautifully. My next release contains songs by Clara Schumann and the Danish composer Nancy Dalberg, and currently I’m busy preparing the recording of a double CD with previously unrecorded works by the Danish composer Per Nørgård. He is now 93 years old and doing fine under the circumstances. Inspiring that he is around with his hungry ears.