- he spoke slowly and intensly

- hermit
- he tried to avoid the sun
- modest, but he liked when he was complemented and got furios with negative refuse

- "he walked slowly, taking small steps, his umbrella held tight under his arm. When talking he would
stop, bend one knee a little, adjust his pince-nez and place his fist on his lap. The he would take off
once more with small deliberate steps."

From his memoirs:

„An artist must organize his life. Here is the exact timetable of my daily activities
Get up 7:18 AM
Be inspired 10:23 - 11:47 AM
I take lunch at 12:11 and leave the table at 12:14
More inspiration 3:12-4:07
From 5 - 6.47 pm various occupations (reflection, immobility, visits, contemplation, dexterity, etc.) ”

“I breathe carefully (a little at a time) and dance very rarely. When walking I hold my ribs and look
steadily behind me.
My expression is very serious; when I laugh it is unintentional, and I always apologise very politely.”

„My doctor has always told me to smoke.”

„Following a short adolescence I became a rather ordinary young man.Tolerable, but not more. At
that time in my life I began to think and to write music...Retched idea..Very retched idea..”

„Everyone will tell you that I am not a musician.That is correct. From the very beggining I classed
myself as a phonometrographer. Science is the dominating factor. Besides, i enjoy measuring the
sound much more than hearing it.
With my phonometer in hand i work happily, with confidence.What haven’t I weighed or measured?
[...] It’s fascinating... On my phonoscales a common F# registered 93 kilos! It came out of a fat
tenor... whom I also weighed.”

"My only nourishment consists of food that is white: eggs, sugar, shredded bones, the fat of dead
animals, veal, salt, coconuts, chicken cooked in white water, moldy fruit, rice, turnips, sausages in
camphor, pastry, cheese (white varieties), cotton salad, and certain kinds of fish (without their skin).
I boil my wine and drink it cold mixed with the juice of the Fuchsia. I have a good appetite, but never
talk when eating for fear of strangling myself."

Satie was against Wagnerian romanticism which, he thought, was polluting the French music:
„We need our own music..if possible without sauerkraut”
He suggested to Debussy that he should take his inspiration from French painters like Monet or
Cezanne.

„I’ve never written a note I didn’t mean”

Conductor Vladimir Golsch Mann, recalled this conversation with Satie:

"Once, after we had played Morceaux en forme de poire , I asked our hero....why he gave such a title
Pieces in the Shape of a Pear to this ravishing music. He answered with a twinkle in his eyes: “You do
know that I visited Debussy quite often; I admire him immensely and he seems to think much of
whatever talent I may have. Nevertheless, one day when I showed him a piece I had just composed
he remarked, ‘Satie, you never had two greater admirers than Ravel and myself; many of your early
works had an influence on our writing....You have some kind of genius, or you have genius. From
time to time there is in your art a certain lack of form...’
All I did,” added Satie “was to write Morceaux en forme de poire. I brought them to Debussy who
asked, ‘Why such a title?’ Why? Simply, mon cher ami, because you cannot criticize my Pieces in the
shape of a pear. If they are in the form of a pear they cannot be shapeless."

The first 840-repeat performance of Vexations was organised by John Cage in 1963, with 12 pianists
taking turns, and took 18 hours. Admission was $5, and audience members who left early received a
nickel refund for every 20 minutes attended. By the end of the concert, there was only one person in
the audience left from the very beginning of the concert. After the last chord, he stood up and yelled
"Encore!"
"In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself
beforehand, and in the deepest silence and serious immobility"

Darius Milhaud: “Why are you not using your umbrella?”

Erik Satie: “Mon cher, my umbrella is much too valuable to get wet.”

Stravinsky: “Satie was the strangest man I have ever met”

Jean Cocteau introduced Satie to Diaghilev, Picasso and Leonide Massine (choreographer). Their first
work was “Parade”, the first cubist ballet production.

Relache- ballet made by the painter Picabia, music by Erik Satie („They left out the best story about
Relâche: the toast of Parisian society, plus the obligatory music critics, were all invited to a special
preview performance of the new ballet. But when they got to the theatre, all they saw was a little
sign in the window that read "Relâche" ("closed for repairs")”

The ballet is now best remembered for the of the wacky 20-minute film called "Entr'acte" that the
young René Clair made to be shown before the ballet started. The film starts with Satie and Clair
firing a canon at the audience and has the first synchronous, shot-by-shot film score in history.

After Satie’s death Milhaud entered his apartment:

"A narrow corridor with a washbasin in it, led to the bedroom into which Satie had never allowed
anyone, not even his concierge to penetrate. It was with a feeling akin to awe that we approached it
now. What a shock on opening the door! It seemed impossible that Satie lived in such poverty. The
man, whose faultlessly clean and correct dress made him look rather like a model civil servant, had
literally nothing worth a shilling to his name: a wretched bed, a table covered with the most unlikely
objects, one chair and a half-empty wardrobe in which there were a dozen old-fashioned corduroy
suits, brand new and almost identical.....a broken-down piano with its pedals tied up with string.....in
an old cigar box more than four thousand little pieces of paper on which he had made curious
drawings and written extravagant inscriptions...." Satie had 84 identical handkerchiefs, and dozens
of hats and umbrellas
„furniture music” – background music of today. „It is supposed to be like heat, light or an armchiar.”
Music that was suppose to be there but not actively listen to.

Interesting analysis of Satie’s music Philip Glass doc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LYRufaWpbk 31:40