Erik Satie

Erik Alfred Leslie Satie (born Honfleur (France), 17 May 1866; died Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer. He is mainly remembered today for his music and the strange ways he behaved. He often gave his music unusual titles such as Piece in the form of a pear. His best known musical compositions are the three piano pieces which he called Gymnopédies. The first of these pieces is a very famous piece of music: it is a simple tune over a gentle accompaniment. Satie sometimes used unusual instruments such as sirens and typewriters.

Satie was more than just an unusual man. He was very important in the development of music in France in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was important because of the ideas he had, and many people were influenced by him. Satie used ways of composing such as very chromatic music and Minimalism before many other people. These ways of writing music became more common later in the century. Satie was not a brilliant composer, but he was happy to compose well in a simple way. He was also interested in other arts such as literature and painting and he was associated with the new ideas called esprit nouveau (new spirit) which was fashionable in France around the time of World War I.