I recently read the book Erik Satie Three Piece Suite by Ian Penman. It’s not exactly a biography of Satie, a composer who is best known for some lovely pieces he called Gymnopédies. It’s more of an offbeat appreciation of Satie and music in general–a quirky book with a non-traditional structure, parts of which are … Continue reading Erik Satie’s Notebooks
I recently came across a mention of notebooks used by Beethoven: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is recognized the world over as a composer of musical masterpieces exhibiting heroic strength, particularly in the face of his increasing deafness from ca. 1798. By 1818, the Viennese composer had begun carrying blank booklets with him, for his acquaintances … Continue reading Beethoven’s Conversation Books