Few composers deserve the phrase "ahead of his time" more than
the French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925). Ideologically
committed to a life of poverty, the composer removed his art
from the unconscious confinements of class and the corruptible
influences of popular acceptance. Though he did study briefly at
the Conservatoire de Musique et de Declamation, Satie was
primarily self-taught, a luxury that freed him to explore ideas
as he found them. As a result, he broke with convention to such
an extent as to become the conceptual godfather of the twentieth
century's Avant-Garde movement. In an environment where
Impressionism and Wagnerism ruled, Satie injected his work with
dry, ironic wit and deceptively simplistic progressions. Yet
underneath his seemingly casual whimsy lie crisp conceptual
models explored with such discipline as to become vaguely
spiritual. "Trois Gymnopedies," one of his most well-known
works, depicts ancient Greek gymnastic exercises. "Vexations,"
made famous by a John Cage performance, co