I just started to learn Erik Satie's "Sonatine bureaucratique" after working through a bunch of somewhat boring minuets and other small pieces in the past weeks. I decided to try this one because it's funny, not too long and because it would be a step up from playing meaningless small pieces all the time that don't feel that rewarding. The piece, by making use of annotations, ironically describes moments in the day of a bureaucrat who for example is daydreaming about a raise and a new appartment. It also incorporates well known motives from the amateur piano repertoire of the 18th and 19th century, which underscore a certain dullness and antiquatedness of early 20th century bourgeois life.

However, I'm not sure if I underestimated the piece a bit and how much time it will take me to actually learn it. Most of the techniques required are not that hard and the minuets, some of which Satie ironically quotes, have prepared me quite well for it. But I do have some problems with certain jumps and with the rapid chord changes in some sections. So I'm excited to see if I can actually do it.

For those interested, here's a link to a particular fast interpretation of the piece with score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kME63-dByPQ

So what are you currently playing or working on?

  • PKMKII [none/use name]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I think the “digital producers/mixers/composers aren’t real musicians” mentality stems from rockism biases, that real music is done in the “four lads start a band and write/perform all their own music” mode and anything else is a perversion of the holy mid-20th century pop rock purity. Historically, plenty of great classical composers weren’t virtuosos or live performers (Debussy hated playing his pieces live), and countless successful songwriters were barely above novice level on whatever instrument they composed on.