Satis House by Alex Bechtel

"I'm writing this on my 35th birthday. I’ve felt that age coming for a while, and it has scared me. There’s a part of me that thinks at 35 I should be more _____ , or should have achieved _____ . Now, though? I’m just grateful to be here. And the older I get, the more I find my fear to be a boring and small little thing. And I’m compelled to do the vulnerable things, the scary things.

Last year I finally read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I was struck by something delightful: Hobbits give gifts on their birthdays, as well as receiving them. These gifts are seen as a token of love and thanks for the friendship and kindness shown to them in the past year.

So, here’s this: A reverse birthday gift to mark my 35th trip around the sun. A vulnerable thing that both excites and scares me, to thank you all. An album of solo piano music.

I’ve always been self-conscious about my piano playing. I started late, and never had lessons. I never really knew about classical music, and taught myself by listening to singer-songwriters. Joni Mitchell, Ben Folds, Regina Spektor, and Tori Amos were my piano teachers.

As technique has never been on my side, I don’t find myself able to write particularly athletic music. Instead, the piano has held for me a space of patience, of quiet; a space in which to pay attention to the movement of my heart.

In compiling these piano solos into an album, I settled upon the name Satis House. I thought of this house — the legendary broken down mansion in Dickens’ Great Expectations — for several reasons. One of the pieces, “In Satis”, was composed for Ms. Havisham, who resides there. But the more I thought about it, the more the house felt familiar to me. Satis House, a symbol of frustration, decay, and the dissolution of once-great dreams, felt like a place so many of us could identify with. A place we may have called home over the last year.

Most of these pieces were composed during the last year. As the pandemic kept me at home, the piano was a cherished companion. I hope this album can be the same for you."

- Alex Bechtel, Philadelphia 1.24.21

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Alex Bechtel is a composer/playwright/actor, living in New York City.

alexbechtel.com