Satie the Bohemian : From Cabaret to Concert Hall

The composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) came of age in the bohemian sub-culture of Montmartre, with its artists' cabarets and cafs-concerts. These colourful milieux decisively shaped his aesthetic priorities and compositional strategies, from the esoteric Gymnopdies of the 1880s to the avant-garde ballets of the 1920s. This radical transvaluation of received artistic values makes far better sense once placed in this fascinating context.