Erik Satie and the Concept of the Avant-Garde

Author(s): Alan M. Gillmor

Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 69, No. 1 (Winter, 1983), pp. 104-119
Published by: Oxford University Press
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 ErikSatie and theConcept
of theAvant-Garde
ALAN M. GILLMOR

T is undeniablethatErikSatiepossesseda creativeimaginationofa
mostdistinctivekind and thattheinnovationsand aestheticatti-
tudesoftheingenuouscitizenofthegrimyParisiansuburbofArcueil-
Cachan provideda stimulusfora greatdeal ofcontemporary artistic
BythestandardsofthegreatAustro-German
activity. traditionand its
directextensions,Satie, in his lifetime,had to be considereda com-
poseroflittleconsequence,and unfortunately thetypeofbuffoonery
with which his name is irrevocablyassociatedhas long militated
againsthis generalacceptancebycritics,causing his achievementto
remainat bestmisunderstood and at worstshroudedin obscurity.As
WilfridMellershas pointedout:
Probablyno otherfigure in modernmusichas beensubjected to suchpersistently
ignorant as ErikSatie.Fearofresponding
denigration tosomething whichis gen-
uinelynewor disturbing to theircomplacencyhas led peoplewithonlythemost
superficial
acquaintancewithhisworktodismissSatieas an incompetent blagueur,
an eccentricwhowroteodd sentences overhis music,whosecompositions can be
ignoredwith cheerful or
irresponsibility atworstdismissedwith some suchepithetas
"thin."'

Throughout his lifeSatie eventuallyrejectedeach group of young

composerswhich gatheredaround him. Through this process he
managed to remaincontinuouslyin thevanguard,and his frequent
allianceswithyoungermenexplain,in part,his infantileand artless
naturewhilepointing,perhaps,toa deep-rooted and lifelonginsecur-
in
ity.Writing Jean Cocteau's ephemeralbroadsheet,Le Coq, Satie
declaredthata schoolofSatiedid notexistand thatitneverwould for

1 "ErikSatieand the'Problem'ofContemporary Music,"Music and Letters,XXIII (1942),

210.Partsofthisarticle,includinga slightlyabridgedversionofthepassagequoted,appearedin
"The Classicismof ErikSatie," The Listener,XVIII (August11, 1937),318.
104

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 105

"Sateism" was not possible. He added thatif such a school wereto

appear,he would be opposed to it. Satie wenton to notethatsubmis-
sion in artwas impossible.In each composition,he asserted,he tried
to use thestructureand contentthatwould confusehis followers.In
thatwayan artistcould notbecomea pedantor a founderofa school.2
Through his associationwiththelatesttrendsin Frenchmusic,Satie,
until his death in 1925, was a seminal influenceon a varietyof
vanguardmovements,some ultimatelyimportant,othersdecidedly
removedfromthemainstreamoftwentieth-century artisticevolution
and consequentlyshort-lived.
Afterthefirst
performance ofMercureat theTheitre de la Cigale
on June 15, 1924,thepoet and criticRene Chalupt reportedthatthe
balletwas poorlyreceived,even by Satie's bestfriends.3SergeLeoni-
dovichGrigoriev,who had servedas Diaghilev'sregisseurfortwenty
yearsand who in thattimehad witnessedmanystrangeand wonderful
things,feltthatMercurewas, quite simply,"utterlynonsensical."4
Apparentlythe criticforthe London Observerwas inclined to the
same view,forhis drolldescriptionoftheballet'srevivalin England
some threeyearslaterhas capturedsomethingofthefrivolousatmo-
sphereof Picasso's decor,Massine'schoreography, and Satie's banal
musicalcliches:
It began with a picturecalled "Night." This suggestedan anthropomorphic
powder-puff by hairpinsto a square, but sparsely-curranted,
transfixed bun. There
followeda dolorouslove-dancebetweenVenusand Apollyon,as rigorousin pose as it
was abortive;slow processionsof Ugly-wuggliescontrivedfromcardboardand ex-
panding metal;"The Bath of theGraces,"suggestiveof lifeon a submergedhouse-
boat as livedbythreeEdwardianbarmaidswithhypertrophied periodbusts;a sharp
encounterwithCerberus,and othercelestialand infernalprankswhosepagan charac-
terdefiesbriefdescription.
Throughthisseriesofplasticposes flewMercury, a vividfigurein whitetunicand
scarletcoat, enthusiasticallydanced by Massine. The whole was accompanied by
music to suit,dominatedbya grumblingtuba.5

2 Le Coq, No. 2 (June, 1920). Cocteau's broadsheet,foundedon March 6, 1920, was

destinedto appear only fourtimes:May,June,July/August/September, and November,1920.
Numbers3 and 4 werecalledLe Coq parisien.All fourissues,originallyprintedon largefolded
sheetsofpinkpaper,arereprinted in smallerfacsimilein a doubleissueofL'Approdo musicale,
No. 19-20(1965),dedicatedto "Il Gruppo dei Sei." Satie's texthas been reprintedin Ornella
Volta,ed., ErikSatie: Ecrits(Paris, 1977),p. 45.
3 "Paris Letter,"The Chesterian,VI (October,1924),24.
4 The Diaghilev Ballet,1909-1929,trans.and ed. Vera Bowen (London, 1953),p. 238.
5 H. H. [HoraceHorsnell], TheObserver
"Mercury," (London),July17,1927,p. 15.

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106 The Musical Quarterly

FivemonthsaftertheopeningofMercurein Montmartre, Relache,

Satie's partingsnub at theold worldhe entered(and left)veryyoung,
provokedan even greaterstormof protest,reminiscent of theheady
daysof Parade. Satie's erstwhilefriendand discipleRoland-Manuel,
his classmateat theSchola Cantorumand orchestrator ofseveralofhis
earlyworks including thePrelude de la porte heroique du ciel and the
secondGymnopedie,rathermaliciouslyentitledhisreviewofRelache
"Adieua Satie,"thussettingthetonefora floodofadversecriticism. In
the opinion of Roland-Manuel, the spiritof Dada had fed Satie's
incoercibleappetiteforslybuffoonery and had tragicallyundermined
the gracefulwhimsyof theearlierpiano works.The resultwas Re-
lache, a vulgar work of unimaginable boredom and distressing
silliness.6
Perceptivereadersof Le Journal litterairesix weeks beforethe
premiereoftheballetwould havebeenbetterpreparedforthefiascoat
theTheatredes Champs-Elyseeson December4.7In a rareinterview,
Satie outlined brieflythe surrealisticscenario of Relache and ex-
plained thathe intendedthemusic to be livelyand colorful,thathe
had in factcomposed,"forthe'chic set,'amusingand pornographic
(sic) music."' Additionalbait,if any wereneeded,was providedby
FrancisPicabia in a mockinterviewwiththedirectoroftheSwedish
Ballet,who asked thepainterto explain thescenarioof theballetin
preparationfor the opening performancea week away; Picabia's
characteristicallysuperciliousreply:"Relaiche?MusicbyErikSatie...
explain what to you my dear Rolf de Mare? Do you take me for
Einstein?"9
Forewarnedor not,the Parisian pressdescendedupon the com-

6 Roland-Manuel [Roland-AlexisManuel
Levy],"Adieu a Satie," Revue pleyel,No. 15
(December,1924),21-22.
7 Relache livedup toitsname,forthereis generalconfusionconcerningtheprecisedateof
the premiere.Of the standardmonographson Satie,only Anne Rey,Erik Satie (Paris, 1974)
providesthecorrectdate:December4, 1924.Scheduledtoreceive"Le Tout-Paris"on Thursday,
November27,theThehtredesChamps-Elysbes remainedresolutelyclosedtotheelegantcrowdof
ostensiblyowingtotheindispositionofJeanBi6rlin,
anxious first-nighters, leadingmaledancer
withtheSwedishBallet.Two dayslateran announcementto thateffect was seenin Comoedia,
followedby a shortexplanatorynote by FrancisPoulenc entitled"Pourquoi Relache a fait
relache,"whichappearedin thesamenewspaperon D)ecember 2,twodaysbeforetherescheduled
opening.
8 The ironical(sic) is in theoriginal.W. Mayr,"Entretienavec ErikSatie," Le Journal
No. 24 (October4, 1924),11.
litteraire,
9 Rolfde Mar&,"Apropos de Relhche,"Comoedia, November27, 1924,p. 2.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 107

poserand his Dada colleagueswitha vengeance.All themajorcritics

werein attendance-AndreMessagerforLe Figaro,HenryMalherbe
forLe Temps,Emile VuillermozforExcelsior,JeanGandrey-Rety for
Comoedia,RobertDezarnauxforLa Liberte,FernandLe BorneforLe
Petit Parisien, Paul Dambly forLe Petit Journal, Roland-Manuel for
L'Eclair, even Louis Schneider representingthe New York Herald.
Although therewas considerablepraise in some quartersforRene
Clair's pioneeringfilmEntr'acte,'0Satie's musicsuffered almostuni-
versalcondemnation,thegeneralopinion beingthatthescorewas so
poor and simple-"raving proletarianmusic" according to one
report"-that it was beneathcriticism.
Onlymonthsbeforehisdeathitappearedthatthegodfather ofLes
Six and L'Ecole d'Arcueilwas about todisappearbeneatha mountain
of negativepublicity.Undoubtedlythe public was wearyingof the
juvenile stuntsof the Dadaists. By 1924, the year which saw the
publicationof AndreBreton'sfirst SurrealistManifesto,theforceof
Dadaism was nearlyspent.It had begun to takeitselfseriously,had
allowed itselfto becomedogmaticallyallied withorganizedrevolu-
tionarypolitics,and had thustranspiredto rematerialize as Surreal-
ism, an artisticmovement strongly rootedin reaction to Dada's de-
structive anarchismand nihilisticspontaneity.Satie,on thestrength
of thescandalous Parade and theeven moreoutrageousLe Pi'egede
Meduse, a Jarry-like prefiguration of Dada and the Theater of the
Absurd,was takenup by theDadaists in theearly1920sas a kindof
unofficial composerto thegroup,and we can now see Relache as one
of the movement's last and mostgloriousspasms.
The "official"attitudetowardthecomposerof Mercureand Re-
lachewas perhapsbestsummarizedbyGeorgesJean-Aubry in a scath-
ing article which appeared several months before Satie's death."2
Again his lastwork was thechiefcause ofthereversalof opinion. Less
than a decade earlierJean-Aubry had paid homage to Satie in his
Musique frangaise d'aujourd'hui (1916); and, in the same year,writ-
ing foran Englishjournal in advanceofa proposedSatievisittoGreat

10 See, forexample,RobertDesnos, "Cinema: Entr'actepar FrancisPicabia, miseen scene

de Rene Clair," Le Journallitteraire,
No. 34 (December13,1924),15.Desnos does nothesitateto
nominateEntr'acteas "le plus beau filmde l'annee."
1 Paul Dambly, "PremieresRepresentations:Les Ballets suedois-Relhche," Le Petit
Journal,December9, 1924,p. 4.
12"The End of a Legend," The Chesterian,VI (May, 1925),191-93.

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108 The Musical Quarterly

Britain,'3theFrenchcriticwroteof the "genuine musicality"of the

composer,and concludedthat"behindhisapparentlackofrespectfor
music,lurksa sincereloveofit,such as one sometimesfailsto findin
the depthsof the soul of certainmasterbuildersof worksof large
dimensions,forwhom music is nothingmore than scientific bore-
to
dom."'4Butexposure the late balletsradicallyaltered
Jean-Aubry's
view,and, afterwitnessingthe scandal of Relache, the disgruntled
criticwas compelledto write:
... Relhche has at last opened the eyes,or ratherthe ears, of those who would neither
see nor listen and who persisted in maintaining thatSatie was a master. Disillusioned,
and having decided to remain no longer among those of whom the proverb says,
"none so deaf as those who will not hear," theywere forcedto confess,while listening
to Relaiche, that theywere, in fact,listening to nothing."5

Writingin thevituperative vein of one who has just discoveredthat

he has beenduped,Jean-Aubry wenton todenounceParade,and even
Socrate-perhaps Satie's chiefclaim to immortality--which he dis-
missedas a pretentiouspiece whereinpovertyand boredomare in
open conflict.His bitterconclusionis a judicious marriageof poetic
imageryand invectivetingedwithregret,as he sees in thecomposer
"an old actorwho, becausehe has once playedthepartof Napoleon
and beenapplauded byprovincials,imagineshimselfto be reallythe
greatcaptain, but who, looking in a mirror,sees only an old man
abandonedin themelancholytwilightof a desertedcafe."'16
HenryPrunieres,in hisobituaryforThe MusicalDigest,although
kinderto Satie than Jean-Aubry, echoed his colleague's opinion by
suggesting that Satie's rediscovery in thepostwarperiod,thrusting
him abruptlyinto the limelight,was detrimentalto his art. The
composeron severaloccasions experiencedthe frustration of seeing

13 "Erik Satie: A Musical Humorist,"The Music Student,IX (December,1916),135-36.

The proposed visit to Great Britain,mentionednowhereelse in the Satie literature,never
materialized.Jean-Aubry noted thatSatie was to have appeared in performancesof his own
worksat one of theWar EmergencyConcertsin SteinwayHall on December7, 1916,and that
fromLondon he was tohavetraveledtoNewcastleand Edinburgh.The Observer,December10,
1916,p. 15,revealsthattheguestofhonorin SteinwayHall on December7 was in factFlorent
Schmittin a performance of his Piano Quintet,Op. 51, withtheBelgian Quartet.In thenext
issueofThe Music Student,IX (January,1917),163,Jean-Aubry solvesthemystery
byreporting
thatSatie foundit impossibleto takepartin theperformances arrangedforhim in theUnited
Kingdom;thereis no evidencethatsuch a tripwas evermade at a laterdate.
14 "Erik Satie: A Musical Humorist,"136.
15"The End of a Legend," 191.
16 Ibid., 193.

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 Satie and the Avant-Garde 109

his innovations taken up by younger more talentedcomposers who

quickly outgrew their need of him. Consequently, Prunieres con-
tends, he became jealous of the success of composers whom he had
supported, and his formermodesty,dignity,and charm were gradu-
ally displaced by an intense bitternessand irascibilitywhich barely
managed to hide under the surfaceof an increasinglycaustic wit. As
Prunieres bluntlyput it: "His success killed him."'7
Satie had been dead only a fortnightwhen Eric Blom, in a harsh
notice forthe Musical News and Herald, wroteof France's "original
but ineffectualmusician" with the apparent intentionof closing the
Satie case once and forall:
Independent critics at no time cherished any illusion about the fertilityof Satie's
work. He mildly amused them once or twice by his humorous pieces and by the
pathetically comic false position into which he had been thrustbya fewof the people
who are evereager forinnovation, whateverits quality may be. But his last fewyears
deservedunalloyed pity.One was sorryforhim as fora preposterouseccentricwho has
been robbed of his beliefin therealityof his attitudes,whom lifehas lefthigh and dry
on an arid sandbank once mistaken by him fora fruitfulisland. It was said of Satie by
some manipulator of cliches that he was born beforehis time; all one can say now,
with thesorrowfulindulgence one owes to thedeparted,is thathe unhappily died too
late to leave a world of unwholesome flattery without bitterness.18

Thus many of Satie's cronies,perhaps under some pressurefromthe

critics,began to deserthim and his ideals, some, like Roland-Manuel,
with considerable fanfare,thegreaternumbersilently,although those
closest to him-Milhaud, Sauguet, Desormiere, Caby, Wiener-
remained faithfulto the end. Significantly,despite his periodic diffi-
culties with the implacable and extraordinarilysensitivecomposer,
Georges Auric, youngestof Les Six and one of Satie's firstdisciples,
was genuinelymoved byhis death,and he had thecourage to conclude
his front-pageobituary forLes Nouvelles litteraireswith a simple,
touching,and propheticstatement:"I will neverregrethaving heeded
the lesson of Satie. The yearspass-and the misunderstandings."'19
Satie opened and closed his careerwith a hoax, beginning in 1887
with the appearance of his firstpublished score facetiouslylabeled
Opus 62 and ending in 1924 with the scandal of Rela^che and his
notorious appearance on stage in a five-horsepower Citroen automo-
bile with a posterproclaiming Erik Satie "the greatestmusician in the
17 "The Failure of Success," The Musical Digest, VIII (July 28, 1925), 5.
18 "Erik Satie
(1866- 1925)," Musical News and Herald, LXIX (July 18, 1925), 53.
19 "Erik Satie," Les Nouvelles litt'raires,July 11, 1925, p. 1.

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110 The Musical Quarterly

world." Thus thereis a remarkableconsistencyin Satie's actions

which suggeststhat it is futileto attemptan explanation of his
behaviorin termsofa seriesoftraumaswhichsenthimspinninginto
theroleof theoutsider.His posturewas in thenatureoftheman and
his time,and when thecareersof his equally bizarrecolleagues and
contemporaries-EugeneVachette,JosephinPeladan, AlphonseAl-
lais,AlfredJarry-havebeenexamined,Satie'sveryuniquenesscomes
intoquestion.Althoughhe contrivedto livetwoseparatecareers,one
in the nineteenth,the otherin the twentiethcentury,therewas no
violentbreakin his stylistic development,no fundamentalchangeof
direction.His ideals were manifestedearly and he served them
throughouthis entirecareerwithundeviatingloyalty.
Satie's earlyachievementappearsquite remarkablein viewofthe
social and culturalmilieu of theearlyyearsof theThird Republic.
The Franco-PrussianWar had lefta prostrateFrance in a stateof
artistic,as well as political,confusion;the protractedhegemonyof
Germanmusicuneasilyjoined forceswitha renewedFrenchnational-
ism to producea kindof aestheticand culturalschizophreniawhich
was clearlyexemplifiedby two events:the foundingof the Societe
Nationalede Musique in 1871and thepublicationfrom1885to 1888
of theRevue wagne'rienne.Satie's importanceto the earlydevelop-
mentof modernFrenchmusicis due in largepartto thefactthathe
was demonstrably Frenchmusicianofhis generationtoreject
thefirst
completelythe regnantGermanstyleand the powerfulWagnerian
stimulus.MostofthenotableFrenchcomposersofthefinde si'ecle-
Lalo, Massenet,Delibes, Chabrier,D'Indy-simply gallicized the
Wagnerianlanguage thensweepingmuch of Europe, or continued
earlierFrenchRomantictraditionsin theformof lyricopera.
DespitetheeclecticismofmuchFrenchmusicofthe1880s,whenle
cultewagne'rienwas at thepeak of its influence,themusical avant-
gardesaw itstentative originsat thistime.In thesisterarts,progressive
trendsmultipliedso quicklyin thedecadesfollowingthedebacleof
1871 thata historianof the period was promptedto say that "the
twentieth centurycould not wait fifteenyearsfora roundnumber;it
was born,yelling,in 1885."20
The savagereactionto theParisCommunein 1871providessome
evidencethatFranceremainedpoliticallyconservative underthenew

20 RogerShattuck,The Banquet Years:The Originof theAvant-Gardein France1885to

WorldWarI, revisededition(New York, 1968),p. 4.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 111

Republic,as ithad beenundertheMonarchyand theEmpire.But the

artisticrevoltagainstthephilistinismand thesolid bourgeoisvalues
of Frenchsocietyhad begunlong before1870,withthecultivationof
l'art pour l'art in the earlypart of the century.Thus 1870 can be
considereda decisivedatein Frenchculturalhistoryonlyin thesense
that the disasterof the war had inflicteda psychologicalshock on
Francewhichultimatelybecamethecatalystforthesplendidartistic
achievements of la belleepoque and theearlytwentieth century.
The disasterof the Prussian War had servedto regeneratethe
artisticspiritof France; but Ars gallica was to run head on into
Wagner,that "greatmasterof intellectualeroticism,"as Philippe
Jullian so aptlydescribedhim.21It is one of thesupremeironiesof
Frenchmusic historythat the toxic Wagnerianvirus should have
infectedFrancepreciselyat the momentwhen young Frenchmusi-
cians weredeclaimingthevirtuesofArsgallica. It is paradoxical,too,
thatwithfewexceptions,thechartermembersoftheSocieteNationale
de Musique spentvaryingperiodsof theircareersgrapplingwiththe
specterofWagner.All of theimportantFrenchcomposersof thelast
decadesof thenineteenthcenturymade theobligatorypilgrimageto
Bayreuth.Saint-Saenswas therefortheopening in 1876;Chausson
and D'Indy wentin 1882forParsifal;eventhequintessentially French
Faure made thejourneyin 1883,followedby Debussy in 1888 and
again in 1889,and Chabrierand Lekeu, also in 1889.
AfterthedemiseoftheRevue wagne'rienne in 1888,theWagnerian
gospel was spread in France a of
by variety journalssuchas La Revue
independante, La Revue contemporaine, Le Saint-Graal,La Plume,
La Revue blanche,and manyothers,someephemeral,otherslasting
well into the twentieth century.AlfredErnst,from1891to 1895the
music criticof the influentialRevue blanche-a journal forwhich
Debussy became a criticin 1901-devoted nearlyeveryone of his
columnstoa discussionofWagner,as ifno othermusicalactivity were
takingplace in theParis of the 1890s.In thewordsof thecriticand
novelistRomain Rolland, "The whole universewas seenand judged
by thethoughtof Bayreuth."22
A furtherblow to the cause of Ars gallica was dealt by Charles
Lamoureux,a violinist-conductor who foundedtheSocietedes Nou-
21 Dreamersof Decadence: SymbolistPaintersof the 1890s,trans.RobertBaldick (New
York, 1971),p. 66.
22 Musicians of To-Day, trans.
MaryBlaiklock,reprintof 1915edition(Freeport,N.Y.,
1969),p. 253.

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112 The Musical Quarterly

veaux Concertson October21, 1881,and who forelevenyearspre-

sentedhis Concerts-Lamoureux at the Cirque des Champs-Elys'es.
Although he did a
present wide varietyof music,includingthatof
young French his
composers, overridingpassion was Wagner,and
more so than any otherindividualLamoureux was responsiblefor
forcingWagneron Paris. The literati,however,neededno persuad-
ing. The fanaticismwith which the Parisian intelligentsiawor-
shipped Wagneris apparentfromFrederickBrown'snuminousde-
scriptionof a Lamoureuxconcert:
CharlesLamoureuxconductedWagner'soperaseverySundayduringthesummerin
theCirque d'ete,likea priestconductingmass. Whenhe mountedthepodium, his
audience turnedits eyesinwardand observeda sacerdotaltrancetill the last note
sounded. Even Mallarme,and for that matterall the symbolists,attendedthese
dominicalrites.23

AlthoughWagner'sinfluenceon Frenchmusicwas feltwell into

the first
decadesof the twentieth century,by 1890,theyearof Cesar
Franck'sdeath,thereweresignsofa revolt,a movementawayfromthe
ubiquitousWagnerianvogue.Two organizationswerefoundedin the
1890swiththeexpresspurposeofstudyingand performing themas-
terpiecesof thepast. In 1892CharlesBordes,a pupil of Franckand
organistofthechurchof St. Gervais,createdtheChanteursde Saint-
Gervaisfortheperformance ofold polyphonicmusicand Gregorian
chant.In additiontoeditingand publishingold churchmusic,Bordes
pioneeredin theinvestigation and publicationof Frenchfolkmusic,
some of which he used as a basis forhis own compositions.In 1894
Bordes,along withD'Indy and theorganistFelix Guilmant,founded
the Schola Cantorumwith the intentionof revivinginterestin the
musicofthepast,perpetuatingtheteachingofFranck,and encourag-
ing contemporary composition.The Schola, underthedirectionof
thereactionary D'Indy,was instrumental in aiding therestoration
of
Gregorian chant, work which was begun in the 1850sand 1860sbythe
Benedictinemonks of Solesmes. In January1895,the Tribune de
Saint-Gervais,themonthlyBulletinof theSchola Cantorum,began
publication,and by 1908,theyearin whichSatiewas graduatedfrom
theinstitution,theSchola had 320 pupils and was a strongrivalof
theConservatoire as a traininggroundforcomposers.In spiteof all
this native activity,it was to take anotherFranco-Germanwar to
destroythelastvestigesof Wagnerismin France.In 1918Satie could
23 An ImpersonationofAngels:A BiographyofJeanCocteau (New York,1968),p. 8.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 113

sarcasticallyquestion thepatriotismof Frenchmenwho did not love

Wagner,pointingout in his deliciouslycrypticmannerthatWagner
was, afterall, a Frenchmanwho, by some geographicalaccident,
happenedto be bornin Leipzig.24
Withthedevelopmentof the l'artpour l'artaestheticin the Ro-
manticperiod,musichad come to be consideredbymany-Schopen-
hauer,forexample-as theverypinnacleofthearts,and thecreation
of music a sacredcalling. In itsmostelaborateform,thedoctrineof
sakedivorcedartentirelyfroma social context.Artwas to
art-for-art's
be freefromutilitarianstandardsand theartistabsolvedfromall laws
beyond those imposed by the formof art itself.The devoteesof
sakewithdrewas muchas possiblefromtheworldaround
art-for-art's
themand attemptedto make art the sole centerof theiruniverse.It
followsfromsuchan attitudethatthepartisansofl'artpour l'artfeltit
theirdutyto practicea pervasivecynicism.In the wordsof Albert
Guerard:
The passion smouldering beneath the hard and polished surface was the hatred of
successful mediocrity, Philistinism. The deluded populace could be ignored: the
enemy with whom therecould be no truce was the middle class, with its undeniable
cunning, its control of worldly goods, its capacity foraping the externals of culture.
Thus it was thatArtforArt's Sake assumed a non-moral, even anti-moral attitude,for
morality was the citadel of the Bourgeoisie.25

Derivingfrompost-KantianGermanidealismand importedtoFrance
in theearlynineteenth centuryunderseveralguisesbyvariousFrench
thecultofart-for-art's
litterateurs,26 sakefromitsinceptionfostered
an
artisticand spiritualelite,a selectgroupofsensitiveindividualswho
withdrewfromwhattheyconsideredthestifling and deadeninginflu-
ence of bourgeois banality. For the disciples of art-for-art's
sake,
artisticcreationand contemplationof thebeautifulwerethehighest
and noblestends of life.
It is hardlyto be wonderedthata generationimbued withsuch
loftyaestheticideals,a generationstillunderthepowerfulinfluence of
Wagnerismand all it representedto theartisticcommunity,should
reactto a composerofSatie'sstripewithbewilderment and an uneasy

24 "Cahiers d'un mammifere(extraits),"

L'Esprit nouveau, No. 7 (April, 1921),833; re-
printedin Volta,ErikSatie:Ecrits,p. 28; and idem,ErikSatie(Paris,1979),p. 103;and in English
translation,in Wilkins,The WritingsofErik Satie,p. 68.
25 ArtforArt'sSake (Bostonand New York,1936), 61.
p.
26 See JohnWilcox,"The BeginningsofL'ArtPour L'Art,"JournalofAestheticsand Art
Criticism,XI (1953),360-77.

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114 The Musical Quarterly

mixtureofstupefaction and hostility.To suchcritics,theinheritors of

The GreatTradition,theirreverent, clownishpostureof a Satie was
bound to be anathema,and ifa fewof themhappened to be sympa-
thetictowardhim,theywereforcedinevitablyinto theroleofapolo-
gist.In thecontextof theprevailingideologyof high culture,critics
have had no choice but to considerthejesterfromArcueila "prob-
lem," a "strangecase," and a "fascinatingenigma."" 27Thus theSatie
legend grew,and continuesto grow,and the composerremainsa
source of puzzlementand exasperationfor those who are utterly
encapsulatedby thegods of hauteculture.
It is arguable thatSatie was the firstcomposerto realize fully
avant-gardeideals, and, at a time when avant-gardism,like anar-
chism,remainedon thefringe,therewas no courseopen tocriticsbut
to see him as a freak,a dangerousinfluence,or a nonentity. Avant-
is
gardism inextricably linked to theconcept of sake.
art-for-art's Its
aestheticbasis is traceableto certainlibertarianpoliticalmovements
oftheearlyRomanticperiod-most notablyanarchismin itsvarious
forms-and the sociological factorswhich gave momentumto the
sake are to a greatextentthosewhichcon-
realizationof art-for-art's
tributedto the formationof avant-gardeideals in thefin de si'ecle.
Indeed, avant-gardismmight be consideredthe inevitableconse-
quence of the art-for-art's sake ideal, in its most virulentformits
reductio ad absurdum.
In his impressive study of The Theory of the Avant-Garde,28
Renato Poggioli isolatesseveralconceptsas beingcentralto a theory
ofavant-gardism, chiefamong themactivism,antagonism,nihilism,
and agonism.Poggioli definesactivismas agitation"forno otherend
thanits own self,out of sheerjoy of dynamism,a tasteforaction,a
sportiveenthusiasm,and theemotionalfascinationof adventure.""29
He demonstrates thatthisactivismis usuallymotivatedbya reaction
againstsomeoneor something,and thisspiritofoutwardhostilityhe
nihilism,is
oftheavant-garde,
calls antagonism.A thirdcharacteristic
defined as "joy ... in the inebriation of movement, ... the act of
beatingdownbarriers, whateverstandsin
razingobstacles,destroying
27 See, forexample,W. WrightRoberts,"The Problemof Satie," Music and Letters,IV
(1923),313-20;Rollo H. Myers,"The StrangeCase ofErikSatie," The Musical Times,LXXXVI
(1945),201-3;and EverettHelm, "Satie-Still a FascinatingEnigma,"Musical America,LXX-
VIII (February,1958),27-28, 166.
28 Trans. Gerald Fitzgerald(Cambridge,Mass., 1968).
29 Ibid., 25.
p.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 115

its way."30And finally, agonzsmresultswhen themovementreaches

thepointofapocalypse,"whereitno longerheedstheruinsand losses
ofothersand ignoresevenitsown catastropheand perdition."''1These
principalgoverningconceptsoftheavant-garde revealthepresenceof
a strongdestructive impulse, which seems implicitin thedoctrine,
and a belief in renewal and apocalypsethroughrevolution.
The externalmanifestations of avant-gardistic
activism,antago-
nism,nihilism,and agonism are manyand varied.The avant-garde
artist'santagonismtowardhis public resultsin nonconformism, ec-
centricity, and exhibitionism.In its extreme form the avant-garde
transcends merescornoftheaudiencebyquestioningitsveryrightto
exist. As a resultof these attitudes,pronounced experimentalism
becomesa normofavant-gardeart,and externalformlessness, obscu-
and
rity,inaccessibility, a preoccupation withsensation are soughtfor
theirown sakes. There emergeswith the avant-gardea tendencyto
exploreartformsto theirinnerand outerlimits,and ultimatelythere
are to be no limits.When the exploratorydriveis directedtoward
expansion of theinnerlimitsofart,theresultis a markedinterestin
theworldof theunconscious,in dreams,thestreamofconsciousness,
and theirrational,characteristics of such modernartmovementsas
Surrealismand Dadaism. Conversely,the expansion of the outer
limitsofartultimatelyleads tosuchnihilisticavant-garde practicesas
action painting,self-destructing sculpture,random verse, and the
happening.Moreover, the attitude
antitraditional of theavant-garde,
its extremerejectionof thepast,and its constantsearchforrenewal
explain in large part the cult's excessiveexaltation of youth,its
infantilism, and theconcomitantdevelopmentoftheconceptofartas
play.
It has been well documentedby Marxistaestheticiansthat the
rapid industrializationand increasedurbanizationof nineteenth-
centurysocietyproduceda senseof spiritualdiscomfort in theartist,
out of which grew a feelingof instabilityand isolation-a socio-
political conditionwhichhas been called alienation.The artist,be-
lievinghimselfestrangedfromthemasscultureofa bourgeois,indus-
trializedsociety,responds by cultivatinghis own norms,thereby
makinga virtueofhis seclusionfromthemass.As a consequence,his
audience,feelingitselfinsulted,threatened, or even disregarded, re-

30 Ibid., p. 26.
31 Ibid.

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116 The Musical Quarterly

spondsbyridiculingtheartistand charginghimwithwillfulincom-
prehensibility.Poggioli sees this mutual antagonismas a primary
cause of theavant-garde'spenchantforgrotesquerie, caricature,and
parody:
Sometimestheartistends up byconsideringthestateof alienationas a disgraceful
condemnation,a moralghetto,and seekingto reactagainst thatoppressivefeeling
findsno wayout butthegrotesqueone ofself-caricature
and self-mockery.
Conscious
of thefactthatbourgeoissocietyconsidershimnothingbuta charlatan,he voluntar-
ily and ostentatiously
assumestheroleof comic actor.32

In theperiodfollowingWorldWarI, especiallyin France,thecultof

the bizarreand the nonsensical,of parodyand caricature,reached
almostepidemicproportions.
In the last analysis,it would seem evidentthattheavant-garde,
essentiallya nihilistphilosophy,is distinguishedbya decidedicono-
clasm, an inclinationtowardthe irrationaland the farcical,a pen-
chantforobscurityand hermeticism, and a generaltendencytoward
abstractionand dehumanization.
Even a summarycorrelationofPoggioli's theorieswiththeexter-
nal eventsof Satie's careerrevealstheuncannyaccuracywithwhich
the French composer's artisticlife mirrorsthe avant-gardeideal.
Withoutbelaboringthepoint,one can statecategorically thatnoneof
his musical contemporariesso self-consciouslypracticed avant-
gardism,and fewso carefullyarrangedartisticsuicide,as did le bon
maitred'Arcueil.On severaloccasions afterhis "rediscovery" at the
hands of Debussyand Ravel after1910,thewaywas open to Satie to
withdrawfromthe fray,had he been willing to accept the role of
leader,prophet,indeed,pundit.But theidea ofbecomingevena petit
mahtrewas alien to theSatie aesthetic,even thoughtherejectionof
such a rolemeanthis own certaindestruction. Thereforethesincerity
with which he sought officialrecognitionat severalstages of his
career-notablyhis threenotoriouslyunsuccessfulattemptsto gain
admittanceto the Institutde France in the 1890s-has to be ques-
tioned. Had fate,in all its quirkiness,providedSatie with official
approbationwhenhe first stormedtheredoubtableacademies,he most
surelywould have rejectedit.
Satiewas a borniconoclast.It is evidentthatfromhisearliestyears
he was incapable of (and probablyuninterestedin) masteringthe
traditionalformsofmusicalexpression.As a consequencehe created
32Ibid., p. 110.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 117

his own psychologicalisland,developingeverything out of himself,

evento thepointofdevisinghis own parodisticreligion.There is an
overwhelmingtendency on thepartofmostcriticstoconcludethathe
was somehowforcedinto his role as musical humoristthroughhis
inabilitytowritemusicin theacceptedelitistsenseoftheword.It must
be remembered, however,thatSatie's artwas notrootedin The Great
Tradition, French or German,but ratherin late nineteenth-century
popular music. One can bestarriveat an appreciationofhis museby
tracinga line fromChabrierto Messagerby way of a host of lesser
luminariesof the caliber of Dynam-VictorFumet,ErnestFanelli,
Charlesde Sivry,and, ofcourse,his fatherAlfredand his stepmother
EugenieBarnetche-Satie, bothofwhomwereresponsiblefora consid-
erablenumberof music-hallsongs publishedin the 1880sand early
1890s.Among themthesepeople kepttheyoungcomposercontinu-
ously exposed duringhis formativeyearsto thesordidglitterof the
cafe-concert,withitsuniquelyGallic vitalityand wit.Satie,it might
be said, discoveredformodernmusic thephilosophyof thecabaret
and themusichall, themetaphysics of thecircus.
The eccentriccomposerwas nevera partof,norchosetobecomea
partof,themusical Establishment."Forced,nervouslaughtertakes
place," Satie's AmericandiscipleJohnCage has noted,"whensome-
one is tryingto impresssomebodyforpurposes of gettingsome-
where."33Satie was singularlyfreeofsuch self-interestand one must
conclude with Cage thatthe Masterof Arcueilwas freeto laugh or
weep as he chose. "He knewin his lonelinessand his courage,"Cage
wrote,"wherehis centerwas: in himselfand in his natureof loving
music."34
It can be arguedthatavant-gardism, withitsovertonesofantago-
nism,itsdefensiveness and self-consciousness,has become,forbetter
orforworse,absorbedintotheveryfabricofcontemporary artisticlife.
Indeed,Poggioli concludes, withalmostalarmingdetachment,that
"avant-gardismhas now become the typicalchronicconditionof
contemporary art.'35 In a curiousreversalof establishedtrends,the

33 "Satie Controversy,"Musical America,LXX (December 15, 1950), 12; reprintedin

RichardKostelanetz,ed.,JohnCage (New York,1970),p. 89.
34Ibid.
35 The Theoryof theAvantGarde,p. 230. It is interesting
to observein thisrespectthat
Poggioli rejectsthe Anglo-Americanpracticeof italicizingthe term"avant-garde."Many
Anglo-Americancriticsdo this, he argues, out of a feelingthat "avant-gardeart was an
internationalmanifestation
onlyin an indirectand mediatedway." Ibid., p. 8.

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118 The Musical Quarterly

twentiethcenturyhas witnessedtheultimatetriumphof theavant-

gardeand has seen theeclecticparadoxicallybecometheiconoclast.
Certainlyin theWestwheretheartistworksin relativefreedomfrom
aestheticdictates,it takesa greatdeal of courage to adhereto tradi-
tionalvaluesand toutilizeestablishedidiomsand procedures.Avant-
gardism,in becomingverynearlythenormin theWest,has becomean
establishedway of lifeforincreasingnumbersof youngcomposers,
and so commonplacehas thisactivitybecomesinceWorldWarII that
theterm"avant-garde"has ceasedto carrythemoreor lessdistinctive
connotationsitenjoyedin thefindesi'ecleand earlytwentieth century.
If thereis an avant-gardein the 1980s,it consistsonly "of thosewho
feelsufficiently
atease withthepastnottocompetewitht itorduplicate
it."36
Today's composer,supportedin largepartbytheuniversity or the
state,is expectedto createin an advancedidiom,to avoid duplicating
thepast,especiallyhis own past,to continuethesearch-as befitsthe
scholar-for new and startlingformsof artisticexpression.Indeed,
thereseems to be a directcorrelationbetweenthe uniqueness of a
composer'smusical language and his staturein theeyesof his col-
leagues.Hermeticismhas carriedthcday,and a highlyoriginalmusi-
cal vocabulary has become the.siie qu1a
(on for artistic success in
academia.Curiously,we arewitnessingthcfirst generationofstudents
to come to Chopin and MozartthroughStockhausen.Further,ifthis
formulais reducedtopurelyeconomictelrms, itwill be seenthatJohn
Cage, in his seventiesstilltheacknowledged leader oftheAmerican,if
not theinternational, avant-garde, is one of themostsuccessfulcom-
posersof our time,even thoughtheartisticmeritof his "process"is
open to endlessdebate.But despitethefactthata certainamountof
controversy surroundsextremeexperimentalists suchas Cage and his
disciples,the avant-garde, if it can be said to exist in any historical
sense,enjoystodayan unprecedented degreeofrespectability, a respect-
abilitywhich Satie as a progenitorof musical avant-gardismmust
now share.Acceptanceis a conditionof respectability, and as Satie
becomes increasinglyacceptable, indeed indispensable,as Cage
would haveit,thefascinating enigmacomesintomuchclearerfocus,
thenbeginsto fade.Althoughit would be presumptuousto declare
thatthe mystery ultimatelyevaporatessomewherealong the line of

36 Dick Higgins, "Does Avant-GardeMean Anything?"Arts in Society,VII (Spring

Summer,1970),31.

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 Satie and theAvant-Garde 119

thoughtproposed,perhapsone mightat theveryleastbe allowed the

perilous syllogismthattheSatie problemhas tendedto becomeab-
sorbedinto thetissuesof thevanishingavant-garde.
To date,theoverwhelmingmajorityofSatie's criticshave tended
to assume, with characteristic gravity,that the composer'scryptic
behaviorwas a mask foran underlyingseriousnesspreventedfrom
surfacingbecauseofa monumentallydeficient technicalability.Uti-
lizing the canons of a predominantlyGermanic criticaltradition,
thesecriticshaveseemedreluctanttoconcedethatthecomposerwas at
hearta fumisteand a fantaisiste-in a venerableGallic line,it might
be noted, stretchingfromFraniois Villon and Rabelais through
Ronsard and La Fontaine to Alphonse Allais and Leon-Paul
Fargue-and thatthis,contraryto makingof him a nonentity, is of
primarysignificance to thedevelopmentof theavant-gardeideal and
consequentlyto the evolutionof twentieth-century aesthetics."It is
not surprising,"RosetteRenshaw has perceptively noted,"thathis
enemieshavestriventoemphasizehisidiosyncrasies which,according
to them,outweigh his talent. If only Satie had erecteda barrier
betweenhis personallifeand his workas a musician,ifhe had been
contenttojoke abouteverything exceptthesublimedomainofmusic,
'serious' people would have forgivenhis buffoonery."37 But Satie's
irreverent attitudetowardart and life,his veryrefusal,in fact,to
differentiate the one fromthe other,is the primaryquality which
defineshis importance,and it is preciselythoseaspectsof his work
which can be identified as avant-gardisticwhich explain, to a great
extent, his relevanceand his ultimatehistoricalsignificance.If Satie
did in factweara mask,as manywould claim,itsfunctionwas notto
conceal his own alleged inadequacy,butrather,in thewordsofPeter
Dickinson,"to cloak a spiritualcrisiswhichhe sensedwell beforethis
century."'38
37 "Erik Satie (1866-1925),"La Nouvelle Revue canadienne,I (1951), 77.
38 "Erik Satie (1866-1925),"The Music Review,XXVIII (1967), 146.

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