Christina Bjørkøe - Satie Surprises (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Erik Satie’s influence, once barely acknowledged, has now permeated nearly every corner of modern music. Best known for the sensual simplicity of his tender Gymnopédies, such seeming naivety masked a colorful, and frequently, complex life and artistic vision. The experimental composer John Cage famously called Satie “indispensable,” citing him as a profound inspiration for his own groundbreaking work.

Satie’s eccentricities were part of his charm, and this whimsy often seeped into his work. In Embryons desséchés (Dried Embryos), for instance, he included absurd instructions in the score, phrases like “on the tip of your tongue” or “open your head,” as well as giving his works absurd titles like Effronterie and Prélude canin, gleefully written to deflate the precious seriousness of classical music traditions. In contrast, there are works like Pieces froides (1897) that anticipate the rhythmic minimalism of Philip Glass and his visionary 5 Nocturnes (1919), the final series of his cyclically organized piano pieces composed using a highly system rigorously guiding the interplay of melody (right hand) and harmonic accompaniment (left hand). Even today, there are many surprises to be discovered in Satie’s oeuvre.

This specially curated program is brilliantly realized by Christina Bjørkøe, one of Denmark’s leading musicians. Much in demand as a recitalist, chamber musician and as a soloist with symphony orchestras ClassicsToday praised Bjørkøe for her dynamism and passion. Her extensive discography includes critically acclaimed recordings of works spanning the piano repertoire from Beethoven to Borup– Jørgensen.

TRACKLIST

1. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Petite ouverture à danser (before 1900)
2. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Facheux exemple (1906-1913)
3. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Effronterie (1906-1913)
4. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Airs à faire fuir I (1897)
5. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Airs à faire fuir II (1897)
6. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Airs à faire fuir III (1897)
7. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Son binocle (1915)
8. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Profondeur (1906-1913)
9. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Idylle (à Debussy) (1915)
10. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Aubade (à Paul Dukas) (1915)
11. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Méditation (à Albert Roussel) (1915)
12. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Nocturne I (1919)
13. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Nocturne Nocturne II (1919)
14. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Nocturne III (1919)
15. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Froide Froide songerie (1906-1913)
16. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Prélude canin (1906-1913)
17. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Deux rêveries I (1910-1911)
18. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Deux rêveries II (1910-1911)
19. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Prélude de la porte héroique du ciel (1894)
20. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Songe Songe-creux (1906-1913)
21. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Caresse (1897)
22. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Poésie (1906-1913)
23. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Désespoir agréable (1906-1913)
24. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Nostalgie (1906-1913)
25. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Prélude I (1888-1892)
26. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Prélude II (1888-1892)
27. Christina Bjørkøe - Satie: Prélude III (1888-1892)



Thanks to the Original customer.