Satie by Cloudland Blue Quartet
One of my favourite classical works and one which has been a favourite since the time I first heard it, is the French composer, Erik Satie's trio of short pieces for piano entitled "Trois Gymnopedies".
Indeed, I used to use "Gymnopedie No 1" as my introductory music for solo performances when I'd play sets with backing tapes back in the early eighties.
The three sections of Monsieur Satie's work are entitled "Lent et Douloureux", "Lent et Triste" and "Lente et Grave", meaning "slow and painful", "slow and sad" and "slow and serious".
On this release, they are considerably slower but, hopefully, no pain is involved.
It seemed natural for me to turn to these when I was looking for a work to which to apply a newly formulated CBQ "ambient treatment", designed to create "re-imaginings" of existing works, whereby a 3 minute piece might become a CD length long-form arrangement.
These three short pieces in particular, seemed to work perfectly under the methods I had formulated.
Applying the various treatments soon led to the creation of three "new" 45 to 60 minute works.
Each of the three, if downloaded rather than streamed, can be enjoyed as a seamless long-form piece but I've also given the opportunity for listeners to "dip in" by splitting each of the three "discs" into ten distinct "movements".
If this were to be available in physical form, it'd be a 4CD set - the 3CDs above plus a bonus disc, only available on download.
The extra work is based on a short passage of my own piano music, recorded in Munich in the summer of 1979, which appeared, in its original form, on the cassette "Münchenmusik" by DDHR, released in September 1979. This piece, which includes field recordings, an aspect I decided to excise from the Satie pieces, was my initial test of the treatments - treatments which I will no doubt employ again in the future.
I hope you enjoy listening to these pieces as much as I did creating them.
David Reilly, Edinburgh, 30 May 2020.
Tracklist
| 1. | Satie I - I | 5:52 |
| 2. | Satie I - II | 6:12 |
| 3. | Satie I - III | 5:56 |
| 4. | Satie I - IV | 6:01 |
| 5. | Satie I - V | 6:01 |
| 6. | Satie I - VI | 5:55 |
| 7. | Satie I - VII | 5:55 |
| 8. | Satie I - VIII | 6:07 |
| 9. | Satie I - IX | 6:50 |
| 10. | Satie I - X | 5:09 |
| 11. | Satie II - I | 4:41 |
| 12. | Satie II - II | 4:46 |
| 13. | Satie II - III | 4:45 |
| 14. | Satie II - IV | 4:58 |
| 15. | Satie II - V | 4:49 |
| 16. | Satie II - VI | 4:30 |
| 17. | Satie II - VII | 4:17 |
| 18. | Satie II - VIII | 4:30 |
| 19. | Satie II - IX | 4:37 |
| 20. | Satie II - X | 5:42 |
| 21. | Satie III - I | 4:20 |
| 22. | Satie III - II | 4:21 |
| 23. | Satie III - III | 4:31 |
| 24. | Satie III - IV | 4:38 |
| 25. | Satie III - V | 4:20 |
| 26. | Satie III - VI | 4:21 |
| 27. | Satie III - VII | 4:37 |
| 28. | Satie III - VIII | 4:23 |
| 29. | Satie III - IX | 4:18 |
| 30. | Satie III - X | 4:34 |
Credits
Satie is the 21st soundscapes album from Cloudland Blue Quartet (Crispycat 2002 - 5 June 2020)
Composed by David Reilly after Erik Satie
Piano samples, treatments, editing, cover ("Alfred Leslie by Ruiz in Blue" 14 May 2020) and production by David Reilly for Crispycat Recordings.
For best results, please listen on headphones.
Recorded at Crispycat Studio, Edinburgh, UK, 12-15 May, 2020
(p) 2020 Crispycat Recordings © David Reilly 2020
Executive Producer : Anne Reilly
Bonus Material 60:42 (Download Only)
Münchenmusik I (Remix) Parts I - X (12 May 2020); Piano, field recordings, treatments
License
All rights reserved.
A quartet in name only, initially influenced by Fripp & Eno's "No Pussyfooting" and The Velvet Underground's debut, songwriter & soundscaper David Reilly started musicking in 1977 by creating drones using sellotape on the keys of his dad's Bontempi Organ. The subsequent junk shop purchases of an electric guitar & fuzzbox and the acquisition of an old Beatles songbook, led him into songwriting...