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Erik Satie: Velvet Gentleman

73 points by tintinnabula 11y ago

ternaryoperator 11y ago
>His last words were "The cows..." I doubt this. In French, "vache" means cow, but it also means terrific or terrible. It's essentially an emphatic noun, whose meaning depends on context and tone of voice. Given the plural, the tendency would be to believe he meant something like "the bastards." Of course, given the rest of the article, Satie could easily have meant "the cows," although I strongly doubt it.
- agumonkey 11y ago
  Right. Just like Jobs last words. Some sort of "exclamation" term. damned, fools, ... something like that.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
octatoan 11y ago
Submitter's username :)
david927 11y ago
But there's much more to Erik Satie. I feel, as long as this piece is, that it's still too short. He deserves more. This, by the way, was his great love/muse, Suzanne Valadon: http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/objects/SC114311.jpg http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/objects/SC114311.jpg
- kolev 11y ago
  Satie is one of my favorite composers. I'm happy to see others giving him the respect he deserves.
jvandonsel 11y ago
Pity this book doesn't seem to be available as an e-book. Only hardcover.
fitzwatermellow 11y ago
Two great quotes from The Browser summary: “There are many kinds of eccentric and Satie was most of them" “He may not have been a great composer, but he was a great Satie” Funny, I considered submitting this link yesterday, but assumed it may not be hacker-y enough. But I believe the connection lies in the fact that as ambient background music, Satie's compositions are remarkable in their ability to calm, focus and stimulate the mind. The next time you begin to feel a bit burnt, try closing the eyes, donning headphones and slipping into Le Monde Gnossienne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtLHiou7anE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtLHiou7anE
- cconroy 11y ago
  It's funny I come to hn for stuff like this. Thanks for the video. Here is a nice one for Debussy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kziF6whWW8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kziF6whWW8)
olivermarks 11y ago
great article but hardly a book review!
kenko 11y ago
Too bad this is falling off the front page; it's a delightful article.

73 points by tintinnabula 11y ago

>His last words were "The cows..." I doubt this. In French, "vache" means cow, but it also means terrific or terrible. It's essentially an emphatic noun, whose meaning depends on context and tone of voice. Given the plural, the tendency would be to believe he meant something like "the bastards." Of course, given the rest of the article, Satie could easily have meant "the cows," although I strongly doubt it.

agumonkey 11y ago
Right. Just like Jobs last words. Some sort of "exclamation" term. damned, fools, ... something like that.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

octatoan 11y ago

Submitter's username :)

david927 11y ago

But there's much more to Erik Satie. I feel, as long as this piece is, that it's still too short. He deserves more. This, by the way, was his great love/muse, Suzanne Valadon: http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/objects/SC114311.jpg http://mfas3.s3.amazonaws.com/objects/SC114311.jpg

kolev 11y ago
Satie is one of my favorite composers. I'm happy to see others giving him the respect he deserves.

jvandonsel 11y ago

Pity this book doesn't seem to be available as an e-book. Only hardcover.

fitzwatermellow 11y ago

Two great quotes from The Browser summary: “There are many kinds of eccentric and Satie was most of them" “He may not have been a great composer, but he was a great Satie” Funny, I considered submitting this link yesterday, but assumed it may not be hacker-y enough. But I believe the connection lies in the fact that as ambient background music, Satie's compositions are remarkable in their ability to calm, focus and stimulate the mind. The next time you begin to feel a bit burnt, try closing the eyes, donning headphones and slipping into Le Monde Gnossienne: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtLHiou7anE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtLHiou7anE

cconroy 11y ago
It's funny I come to hn for stuff like this. Thanks for the video. Here is a nice one for Debussy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kziF6whWW8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kziF6whWW8)

olivermarks 11y ago

great article but hardly a book review!

kenko 11y ago

Too bad this is falling off the front page; it's a delightful article.