These recordings of Erik Satie's symphonic drama Socrate (1916) and the beautiful Mass for the Poor are both very rare. They have been out of print for five decades and here are restored and released digitally for the first time. Erik Satie's compositions have been recorded by such diverse musicians as John Cage, Gary Numan, Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett and one of his greatest admirers was Frank Zappa! Erik Satie has an international fan-base amongst whom he has attained god-like status. These completists alone will deliver good sales. Satie's sumptuous melodies (what he described as 'Furniture Music') remain attractive to the modern ear; compositions such as 'Gymnopedies' (included here in a performance by Francis Poulenc from 1956) are amongst the most famous of the 20th century. Classical, avant-garde and independent outlets the world over, should all do well with this little beauty. |