840 encores: Igor Levit and Marina Abramović plan a mammoth 20 hour Erik Satie performance
Not published in his lifetime, 'Vexations' is a short piece that Satie wrote around 1893 without a time signature, dynamic markings, or even clear indication of how to include a bass-line added at the bottom.
But all these curiosities about the one-page piece pale in comparison to the impressionist composer's instruction before the music: 'In order to play the motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities.'
Many believe Satie's intention was for the piece to be played 840 times. Across 24 and 25 April at London's Southbank Centre, Levit will perform 'Vexations'. It's expected that his performance could last anything between 16 and 20 hours.
Past performances
It's not the first time 'Vexations' will have been performed in full. Levit himself performed it over livestream during the pandemic. In 2020, Levit gave a number of livestreamed piano performances through a series of 52 concerts. His performance of 'Vexations' was aimed to represent the 'silent scream' of musicians around the world.
In 1963, John Cage organised the first performance of 'Vexations'. Cage, the American modernist composer, had discovered the piece in 1949, nearly a quarter century after Satie's death. For the performance in New York, Cage organised a relay team of pianists to swap in and out to achieve the 840 repetitions.
Since then, other pianists have performed it. American pianist Aaron D. Smith played it non-stop in the longest solo piano version, lasting 36 hours and 22 minutes in 2021. Last year, Japanese artist Ai Onoda tried to match the feat at the Yamagoya gallery and shop in Tokyo wearing a diaper.
For his live solo performance, Levit is accompanied by arguably the leading figure in extreme performance art, Serbian artist Marina Abramović.
Abramović will direct the show. As Levit braves the endurance task, the platform around him will be deconstructed, allowing the audience to slowly get closer to the 37-year-old pianist. Levit will be able to drink, eat and 'discretely' relieve himself throughout the mammoth performance.
Staying the course
It's also not the first time Abramović and Levit have worked together. They previously created a performance of Bach's 'Goldberg Variations' where the audience were told to prepare for the music by sitting in silence with their phones locked away for half an hour.
Abramović has said that the pair 'are both ready to step into this unknown territory, leave our old ways of doing things, and emerge with a completely new experience.'
Satie is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century for the way he is championed as a leading voice in the transition to modernism. His often sparse compositions, filled with unresolved chords were massively influential on impressionist composers like Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Francis Poulence.
He is best known for his simple but elegant pieces, his 'Gymnopédies' and 'Gnossiennes', written in his early 20s. Shortly after writing 'Vexations' he became a recluse in his Paris apartment, allowing no visitors for the rest of his life, moving through different artistic traditions.
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