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Study On Satie: Style, Technique And Evaluation

Posted on:2007-07-04Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:J LiuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1115360185488063Subject:Music
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Satie, a French composer, is a controversial figure in the history of music. The disputes around him mainly concern about three aspects: style, technique, and evaluation, which are the topics of the present study.The first question is about his style. Satie' s works are of style of Impressionism, Neo-Classicalism, and so on; He had cooperated with artists from otherschools of art actively -such as Cubism, Surrealism, Dadaism. Meanwhile, theexperience of life left its vivid mark on Satie' s compositions (Rose+Croix, cabaret etc). Generally speaking, the compositions of Satie embodied blending style of Neo-Classicalism and Dadaism.The second one is about Satie' s technique. His simplicity can be seen from different angles in his compositions. The repetition and parallel arrangement of materials, "developing" skill based on the collage of motives, prepared chords and the collage of harmony, mathematical logic rather than developing logic, unvarnished orchestral technique, all these things and his simplicity, skill of musical understatement, and his strange sparse scores show his unique philosophy of aesthetics rather than his limitation of techniques.The third is about the evaluation of him. In the author's opinion, the ideas of Satie are of great historical significance. For one thing, he contributed a lot to the music with French characteristics during his efforts to resist the influence of Wagnerism on French music. For another thing, he made a strong impression on many prominent composers as a spiritual leader. For the last, he was a courageous and acuminous explorer who initiated many new musical languages in the 20th century and promoted the development of modern music.Even though we stress the significance of Satie' s ideas, we should not disregard the artistic values of his compositions. As far as French music and the western music are concerned, both his ideas and his works have everlasting values.
Keywords/Search Tags:Satie, French, 20th century, Style, Technique, Evaluation, Neo-Classicalism, Dadaism
PDF Full Text Request
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