Image promoting Erik Satie's Vexations at Jack Straw, May 15-16, 2010. Black background with piano keys on the bottom, text reading Join us at Jack Straw Productions as a rotating cast of pianists plays through Erik Satie's infamous "Vexations" theme 840 times, as suggested by the composer's note on the original manuscript, for the first time ever in Seattle.Saturday, May 15 – Sunday, May 16th, 2010

“Pour se jouer 840 fois de suite ce motif, il sera bon de se préparer au préalable, et dans le plus grand silence, par des immobilités sérieuses.”
“In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.”

In May of 2010, a rotating cast of pianists at Jack Straw played through Erik Satie’s infamous “Vexations” theme 840 times, as suggested by the composer’s vexatiously enigmatic note on the original manuscript. The performance started at 4:00pm on Saturday, May 15th, and ended the following day at 11:20am, after the piece had been played exactly 840 times.  To our knowledge, this was the first time this had been done in Seattle.

The participating pianists represent a diverse swath of creative Seattle, and an impressive cross-section of Jack Straw’s artist community: Daniel Arthur, Byron Au Yong, Gavin Borchert, Gust Burns, Jensina Byington, Dawn Clement, Ann Cummings, Shenandoah Davis, Keith Eisenbrey, Garrett Fisher, Chase Hills, Robin Holcomb*, Wayne Horvitz*, Julie Ives, Karin Kajita, Jennifer Keuer, Paul Kikuchi, Brian Kinsella, Tiffany Lin, Rachel Matthews, Roger Nelson, William Chapman Nyaho, Michael Owcharuk, Hayley Pike, Tito Ramsey, Amy Rubin, Erin Rubin, Korby Sears, Nicole Truesdell, Aleksandra Tsirkel, Stanley Whitfield, and Kelly Wyse.

*Scheduled but didn’t perform; Vexations ended before scheduled time.

Thank you to our friends at Hollow Earth Radio for broadcasting the entire performance live!


Listen to Hour 8, performed by Roger Nelson:

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00:00

 

Read on for articles, the full performer schedule, and more!

Seattle Times: “Think of it as a musical mandala.”

The Stranger: “I’m betting that Vexations is revolutionary ambient music that dissolves the boundary between listening (not just hearing) and living.”

Seattle Weekly: “I’m still deciding whether I want to try to camp out overnight and hear the whole thing.”

Performer Byron Au Yong on Vexations

Vexations Quotations:

French and English text on a black background: “Pour se jouer 840 fois de suite ce motif, il sera bon de se préparer au préalable, et dans le plus grand silence, par des immobilités sérieuses.” “In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.” Erik Satie, notes on Vexations.
Image of a piano's strings with text: "The music starts feeling like the weather – you look out the window, and small changes happen all the time." "The floor is creaking and now you felt your back as if to sooth a shooting pain, or perhaps you just corrected your suspenders. Yet many tones will flow out of your instruments, before this sound tape for a long-forgotten silent film turns silent. I don’t think Satie was quite sane, but a big thank you from me to you." "A very sad piece, which to me feels like a flow rather than a series of repetitions. I get many pictures in my head – heavy steps." -Visitors on a performance of Vexations by the Great Learning Orchestra, Stockholm, Sweden, 1999.
Image from inside a piano with text from performers of Vexations by the Great Learning Orchestra in Stockholm, Sweden, 1999: "It is long, yes, but rather addictive, at least for people like me who lack character. I’m going to go out on town a while… but only one more, then I’ll leave… or one more maybe…" "Now I’ve played for maybe 11 hours straight, with some breaks. One or two billion Vexations to go. Tomorrow I’ll buy new lips and teeth, for I’ve ran out of the old." "Times passes fast under the influence of cosmic tones. We have not yet learned the piece." I have forgotten time. I only know Satie. I tried, with all means, to get away from the friggin man. Sleeping bag, a bed in the dressing room, no clothes and a detective story. Shouldn’t have tried the detective story. The main character looked for and found his Satie CD already on the second page. He pursues us, all night and all day, wherever we are, whatever we do. By the way, I had a four and a half hour sit-in before. Too long? Well, who knows…"
Image of piano strings with text: "When I started at 7 a.m. the only audience for the first 80 minutes was the caretaker who (perfectly) carried on sweeping the floor. I found after an hour or so that I begin to imagine things (I was expecting your arrival?) and I kept being certain that someone had been standing behind me. I later found out that it was due to my being so conscious of the music that I forget that I also make sound! (Coat collar on back of neck – hence someone behind.) Later I found that the opposite was the case i.e. I heard more other things than the piano." "When I make a mistake it’s like the end of the world. The music’s unnerving because it’s impossible to get used to it – the unexpected keeps happening." "It’s like you say – the end of the world – like falling asleep while you’re driving along the motorway. I nearly fell off my chair with fright when C above middle C (B sharp rather) started to stick."
Photo of piano hammers, with a quote from Jarrad Powell, Cornish College of the Arts: "I have always thought of the piece as more of a riddle, a sort of musical Zen koan - not something to actually play, but rather to contemplate and be vexed by. People have tried to attribute its significance as a precursor of minimalism, but I think it is more a precursor of conceptual art. I think Satie was more interested in how one would prepare to play this piece, say 840 times, then in the actually playing of it - that is, the meditational state or state of tranquility, or something like that, that one would enter into. Plus there is the inevitable trace of Dadaism, poking fun at the mega-works of the Germanic classical tradition."

Order of performance:

4:00pm: Karin Kajita

4:30pm: Chase Hills

5:00pm: William Chapman Nyaho

5:30pm: Ann Cummings

6:00pm: Stanley Whitfield

6:15pm: Hayley Pike

6:30pm: Garrett Fisher

7:00pm: Jennifer Keuer

7:30pm: Brian Kinsella

8:00pm: Amy Rubin

9:30pm: Aleksandra Tsirkel

10:00pm: Gust Burns

10:30pm: Erin Rubin

11:00pm: Roger Nelson

12:00am: Daniel Arthur

12:30am: Ann Cummings

1:00am: Dawn Clement

1:30am: Byron Au Yong

2:00am: Korby Sears

3:00am: Garrett Fisher

4:00am: Gavin Borchert

5:00am: Rachel Matthews

6:00am: Shenandoah Davis

7:00am: Jensina Byington

7:30am: Nicole Truesdell

8:00am: Keith Eisenbrey

8:30am: Julie Ives

9:00am: Tito Ramsey

9:30am: Kelly Wyse

10:00am: Paul Kikuchi

10:30-11:20am: Tiffany Lin

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