‘Erik Satie Three Piece Suite’ by Ian Penman

This was interesting. As the title suggests, the book’s approach to Erik Satie is trifold. The first part is a history of the composer and the context he worked in, which is great. The second part is a sort of Satie encyclopedia with short entries about different people, places and themes. The third part is a journal of the music the author listens to over the course of a couple of years, including lockdown, and that seemed like filler to me, but hey.

There’s lots I could have quoted, but this was from the middle section:

MALLARMÉ

Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898). French poet and critic.

His work inspired many musicians: Debussy (Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune), Ravel (Trois poèmes de Mallarmé), Milhaud (Chansons bas de Stéphane Mallarme), Boulez (Priselon pti); as well as Man Ray (his film, The Mysteries of the Chateau of Dice). Declaimed out loud in French, his poems evoke meanings which are not necessarily evident when read on the page. 'Sonnet en yx' opens with the phrase 'ses purs ongles', 'her pure nails', whose first syllables when spoken aloud sound very similar to the words 'c'est pur son,' or 'It's pure sound.'

Buy ‘Erik Satie Three Piece Suite’ by Ian Penman at bookshop.org