Vexations (mono)

Contact the photographer

19:00 24th Nov - 14:30 25th Nov

Sidney Sussex College Music Society presents:

Vexations - Erik Satie

1 piano
10 pianists
20 hours of continuous music

performed by:

Paul Kilbey, Jamal Sutton, Jesper Carlson, Kim Ashton, James Freeman, Tom Athorne, Sarah Latto, Lydia Slobodian, MatthewTait, Will Buchanan, Joe Scott, and Emily Smith.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Erik Satie wrote Vexations in 1893 its premiere had to wait until 1963, when the experimental composer John Cage organised a performance in New York. Quite why the piece had to wait seventy years for its first performance is, one is forced to admit, not really a mystery. Logistically it is a nightmare, commercially it is ridiculous, and musically it is a trail of endurance for performers and audience alike. However, since its premiere, a considerable number of performances have taken place, some of them lasting as long as 28 hours. Work has even been done studying its effect on the brain. Was all this what Satie actually intended, when he flippantly wrote:

"To play this motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, in the deepest silence, by grave immobilities."

at the top of his score? We will never know, and therein lies the vexation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

These are the mono series taken during (some) of the 20 hour performance. The music was un-nerving and bloody weird, I thought the photos should be too!

SSCMS website:

http://www.srcf.ucam.org/sscms

Prints available from £3.00