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Socrate is a work for voice and small orchestra (or piano) by Erik Satie. The text is composed of excerpts of Victor Cousin's translation of works by Plato, all of the chosen texts referring to Socrates. Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. ...
Victor Cousin (November 28, 1792 - January 13, 1867) was a French philosopher. ...
Statue of a philosopher, presumably Plato, in Delphi. ...
Socrates This article is about the ancient Greek philosopher, for all other uses see: Socrates (disambiguation) Socrates (June 4, ca. ...
Commission - composition The work was commissioned by Princess Edmond de Polignac in October 1916. The Princess had specified that female voices should be used: originally the idea had been that Satie would write incidental music to a performance where the Princess and/or some of her (female) friends would read aloud texts of the ancient Greek philosophers. As Satie, after all, was not so much in favour of melodrama-like settings, that idea was abandoned, and the text would be sung — be it in a more or less reciting way. However, the specification remained that only female voices could be used (for texts of dialogues that were supposed to have taken place between men). Satie, at the time, probably did not understand why the Princess was so attached to female voices: it was not until 5 years later that a first (and all in all minor) press scandal would reveal the Princess's lesbian nature. Winnaretta Singer (8 January 1865-26 November 1943), the Princess Edmond de Polignac, was an important musical patron, lesbian, and heir to the Singer sewing machine wealth. ...
See also: 1915 in music, other events of 1916, 1917 in music and the list of years in music. // Events February 1 - Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his , the Inextinguishable, in Copenhagen June 5 - Steins Dixie Jass Band plays its first gig under its new name, the Original...
Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...
Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, cantatas and similar works, is described as a melodic speech set to music, or a descriptive narrative song in which the music follows the words. ...
The term dialogue (or dialog) expresses basically reciprocal conversation between two or more persons. ...
This article is about homosexual women, not inhabitants of the Greek island of Lesbos A lesbian (lowercase L) is a homosexual woman. ...
Satie composed Socrate between January 1917 and the spring of 1918, with a revision of the orchestral score in October of that same year. During the first months he was working on the composition, he called it Vie de Socrate. In 1917 Satie was hampered by a lawsuit over an insulting postcard he had sent, which nearly resulted in prison time. The Princess diverted this danger by her financial intercession in the first months of 1918, after which Satie could work free of fear. See also: 1916 in music, other events of 1917, 1918 in music and the list of years in music. // Events May 12 - Béla Bartóks ballet The Wooden Prince is premiered in Budapest First Jazz recordings made by the Original Dixieland Jass Band First African American jazz recordings...
See also: 1917 in music, other events of 1918, 1919 in music and the list of years in music. // Events March 3 - Béla Bartóks String Quartet No. ...
The musical form Satie presents Socrate as a "symphonic drama in three parts". Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ...
"Symphonic drama" appears to allude to the "dramatic symphony" Hector Berlioz had written nearly eighty years earlier: and as usual, when Satie makes such allusions, the result is about the complete reversal of the former example. Where Berlioz' symphony is more than an hour and a half of expressionistic, heavily orchestrated drama, an opera forced into the form of a symphony, Satie's thirty minute composition reveals little drama in the music: the drama is entirely concentrated in the text, which is presented in the form of recitativo-style singing to a background of sparsely orchestrated, nearly repetitive music, picturing some aspects of Socrates' life, including his final moments. Roméo et Juliette is a symphonie dramatique, a large scale work in French for mixed voices and orchestra, by French composer Hector Berlioz. ...
Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des morts (Requiem) of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ...
The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera is an art form consisting of a dramatic stage performance set to music. ...
A symphony is an extended piece of music usually for orchestra and comprising several movements. ...
Recitative, a form of composition often used in operas, oratorios, cantatas and similar works, is described as a melodic speech set to music, or a descriptive narrative song in which the music follows the words. ...
As Satie apparently did not foresee an enacted or scenic representation, and also while he disconnected the male roles (according to the text) from the female voice(s) delivering these texts, keeping in mind a good understandability of the story exclusively by the words of the text, the form of the composition could rather be considered as (secular) oratorio, than opera, or (melo)drama (or symphony). This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ...
An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ...
It might be possible to think that Satie took formally similar secular cantatas for one or two voices and a moderate accompaniment as his examples for the musical form of Socrate: nearly all Italian and German baroque composers had written such small-scale cantatas, generally on an Italian text: Vivaldi (RV 649-686), Haendel (HWV 77-177), Bach (BWV 203, 209), etc. This link is however unlikely: these older compositions all alternated recitatives with arias, further there is very little evidence Satie ever based his work directly on the examples of foreign baroque composers, and most of all, as far as the baroque composers were known in early 20th century Paris, these small secular Italian cantatas would be the least remembered works of any of these composers. Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ...
Baroque music is Western classical music from the Baroque era, after the Renaissance music era and before the Classical music era proper. ...
Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Vivaldi (March 4, 1678, Venice – July 28, 1741, Vienna), nicknamed Il Prete Rosso, meaning The Red Priest, was an Italian priest and baroque music composer. ...
George Frideric Handel (German Georg Friedrich Händel), (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German Baroque music composer who lived much of his life in England. ...
In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural. ...
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue) is the numbering system used to identify musical works by Johann Sebastian Bach. ...
This article is about the musical term aria. ...
The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ...
The three parts of the composition are:
- Portrait de Socrate ("Portrait of Socrates"), text taken from Plato's Symposium
- Les bords de l'Ilissus ("The banks of the Ilissus"), text taken from Plato's Phaedrus
- Mort de Socrate ("Death of Socrates"), text taken from Plato's Phaedo
Symposium is a Socratic dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, student of Socrates. ...
Platos Phaedrus is a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus. ...
The Phaedo is the fourth and last dialogue detailing the final days of Socrates and contains the death scene. ...
The music The piece is written for voice and orchestra, but also exists in a version for voice and piano. This reduction had been produced by Satie, concurrently with the orchestral version.
Each speaker in the various sections is meant to be represented by a different singer (Alcibiades, Socrates, Phaedrus, Phaedo), according to Satie's indication two of these voices soprano, the two other mezzo soprano Alcibiades Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ancient Greek: ΑΛΚΙΒΙΑΔΗΣ ΚΛΕΙÎΙΟΥ ΣΚΑΜΒΩÎΙΔΗΣ)¹ (c. ...
Look up Soprano on Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a soprano is a singer with a voice ranging approximately from the A below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C (i. ...
A mezzo-soprano (meaning half soprano in Italian) is a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i. ...
Nonetheless all parts are more or less in the same range, and the work can easily be sung by a single voice, and has often been performed and recorded by a single vocalist, female as well as male. Such single vocalist performances diminish however the effect of dialogue (at least in the two first parts of the symphonic drama - in the third part there is only Phaedo telling the story of Socrates' death). The term dialogue (or dialog) expresses basically reciprocal conversation between two or more persons. ...
The music is characterised by simple repetitive rhythms, parallel cadences, and long ostinati. Cadence has a number of meanings, most of which involve music, sport, and performance movement activities (e. ...
The text Although more recent translations were available, Satie preferred Victor Cousin's then antiquated French translation of Plato's texts: he found in them more clarity, simplicity and beauty.
The translation of the libretto of Socrate that follows is taken from Benjamin Jowett's translations of Plato's dialogues that can be found on the Gutenberg Project website: Benjamin Jowett (April 15, 1817 - October 1, 1893) was an English scholar and theologian, master of Balliol College, Oxford. ...
Project Gutenberg (PG) was launched by Michael Hart in 1971 in order to provide a library, on what would later become the Internet, of free electronic versions (sometimes called e-texts) of physically existing books. ...
Part I - Portrait of Socrates [From Symposium, 32-33-35] - Alcibiades
- And now, my boys, I shall praise Socrates in a figure which will appear to him to be a caricature, and yet I speak, not to make fun of him, but only for the truth's sake. I say, that he is exactly like the busts of Silenus, which are set up in the statuaries' shops, holding pipes and flutes in their mouths; and they are made to open in the middle, and have images of gods inside them. I say also that he is like Marsyas the satyr. [...] And are you not a flute-player? That you are, and a performer far more wonderful than Marsyas. He indeed with instruments used to charm the souls of men by the power of his breath, and the players of his music do so still: for the melodies of Olympus are derived from Marsyas who taught them [...] But you produce the same effect with your words only, and do not require the flute: that is the difference between you and him. [...] And if I were not afraid that you would think me hopelessly drunk, I would have sworn as well as spoken to the influence which they have always had and still have over me. For my heart leaps within me more than that of any Corybantian reveller, and my eyes rain tears when I hear them. And I observe that many others are affected in the same manner. [...] And this is what I and many others have suffered from the flute-playing of this satyr.
- Socrates
- [...] you praised me, and I in turn ought to praise my neighbour on the right [...]
Part II - On the banks of the Ilissus [From Phaedrus, 4-5] - Socrates
- Let us turn aside and go by the Ilissus; we will sit down at some quiet spot.
- Phaedrus
- I am fortunate in not having my sandals, and as you never have any, I think that we may go along the brook and cool our feet in the water; this will be the easiest way, and at midday and in the summer is far from being unpleasant.
- Socrates
- Lead on, and look out for a place in which we can sit down.
- Phaedrus
- Do you see the tallest plane-tree in the distance?
- Socrates
- Yes.
- Phaedrus
- There are shade and gentle breezes, and grass on which we may either sit or lie down.
- Socrates
- Move forward.
- Phaedrus
- I should like to know, Socrates, whether the place is not somewhere here at which Boreas is said to have carried off Orithyia from the banks of the Ilissus?
- Socrates
- Such is the tradition.
- Phaedrus
- And is this the exact spot? The little stream is delightfully clear and bright; I can fancy that there might be maidens playing near.
- Socrates
- I believe that the spot is not exactly here, but about a quarter of a mile lower down, where you cross to the temple of Artemis, and there is, I think, some sort of an altar of Boreas at the place.
- Phaedrus
- I have never noticed it; but I beseech you to tell me, Socrates, do you believe this tale?
- Socrates
- The wise are doubtful, and I should not be singular if, like them, I too doubted. I might have a rational explanation that Orithyia was playing with Pharmacia, when a northern gust carried her over the neighbouring rocks; and this being the manner of her death, she was said to have been carried away by Boreas. [...] according to another version of the story she was taken from Areopagus, and not from this place. [...] But let me ask you, friend: have we not reached the plane-tree to which you were conducting us?
- Phaedrus
- Yes, this is the tree.
- Socrates
- By Here, a fair resting-place, full of summer sounds and scents. Here is this lofty and spreading plane-tree, and the agnus castus high and clustering, in the fullest blossom and the greatest fragrance; and the stream which flows beneath the plane-tree is deliciously cold to the feet. Judging from the ornaments and images, this must be a spot sacred to Achelous and the Nymphs. How delightful is the breeze:--so very sweet; and there is a sound in the air shrill and summerlike which makes answer to the chorus of the cicadae. But the greatest charm of all is the grass, like a pillow gently sloping to the head. My dear Phaedrus, you have been an admirable guide.
In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (Greek or ) was the wife and sister of Zeus. ...
Part III - Death of Socrates [From Phaedo, 3-23-25-28-65-67] - Phaedo
- As [...] Socrates lay in prison [...] we had been in the habit of assembling early in the morning at the court in which the trial took place, and which is not far from the prison. There we used to wait talking with one another until the opening of the doors (for they were not opened very early); then we went in and generally passed the day with Socrates. [...] On our arrival the jailer who answered the door, instead of admitting us, came out and told us to stay until he called us. [...] He soon returned and said that we might come in. On entering we found Socrates just released from chains, and Xanthippe, whom you know, sitting by him, and holding his child in her arms. [...] Socrates, sitting up on the couch, bent and rubbed his leg, saying, as he was rubbing: "How singular is the thing called pleasure, and how curiously related to pain, which might be thought to be the opposite of it; [...] Why, because each pleasure and pain is a sort of nail which nails and rivets the soul to the body [...] I am not very likely to persuade other men that I do not regard my present situation as a misfortune, if I cannot even persuade you that I am no worse off now than at any other time in my life. Will you not allow that I have as much of the spirit of prophecy in me as the swans? For they, when they perceive that they must die, having sung all their life long, do then sing more lustily than ever, rejoicing in the thought that they are about to go away to the god whose ministers they are." [...]
- Often, [...] I have wondered at Socrates, but never more than on that occasion. [...] I was close to him on his right hand, seated on a sort of stool, and he on a couch which was a good deal higher. He stroked my head, and pressed the hair upon my neck--he had a way of playing with my hair; and then he said: "To-morrow, Phaedo, I suppose that these fair locks of yours will be severed." [...] When he had spoken these words, he arose and went into a chamber to bathe; Crito followed him and told us to wait. [...] When he came out, he sat down with us again after his bath, but not much was said. Soon the jailer, who was the servant of the Eleven, entered and stood by him, saying: "To you, Socrates, whom I know to be the noblest and gentlest and best of all who ever came to this place, I will not impute the angry feelings of other men, who rage and swear at me, when, in obedience to the authorities, I bid them drink the poison--indeed, I am sure that you will not be angry with me; for others, as you are aware, and not I, are to blame. And so fare you well, and try to bear lightly what must needs be--you know my errand." Then bursting into tears he turned away and went out. Socrates looked at him and said: "I return your good wishes, and will do as you bid." Then turning to us, he said: "How charming the man is: since I have been in prison he has always been coming to see me, and at times he would talk to me, and was as good to me as could be, and now see how generously he sorrows on my account. We must do as he says, Crito; and therefore let the cup be brought, if the poison is prepared: if not, let the attendant prepare some." [...]
- Crito made a sign to the servant, who was standing by; and he went out, and having been absent for some time, returned with the jailer carrying the cup of poison. Socrates said: "You, my good friend, who are experienced in these matters, shall give me directions how I am to proceed." The man answered: "You have only to walk about until your legs are heavy, and then to lie down, and the poison will act." At the same time he handed the cup to Socrates [...] Then raising the cup to his lips, quite readily and cheerfully he drank off the poison. And hitherto most of us had been able to control our sorrow; but now when we saw him drinking, and saw too that he had finished the draught, we could no longer forbear, and in spite of myself my own tears were flowing fast; so that I covered my face and wept, not for him, but at the thought of my own calamity in having to part from such a friend. [...] and he walked about until, as he said, his legs began to fail, and then he lay on his back, according to the directions, and the man who gave him the poison now and then looked at his feet and legs; and after a while he pressed his foot hard, and asked him if he could feel; and he said: "No"; and then his leg, and so upwards and upwards, and showed us that he was cold and stiff. And he felt them himself, and said: "When the poison reaches the heart, that will be the end." He was beginning to grow cold about the groin, when he uncovered his face, for he had covered himself up, and said--they were his last words--he said: "Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?" [...] in a minute or two a movement was heard, and the attendants uncovered him; his eyes were set, and Crito closed his eyes and mouth. Such was the end, Echecrates, of our friend; concerning whom I may truly say, that of all the men of his time whom I have known, he was the wisest and justest and best.
Reception history
First performances The first (private) performance of parts of the work had taken place in April 1918 with the composer at the piano and Jane Bathori singing (all the parts), in the salons of the Princess de Polignac. Jane Bathori (June 14, 1877 - January 25, 1970) was a French opera singer. ...
Several more performances of the piano version were held, public as well as private, amongst others André Gide, James Joyce and Paul Valéry attending. André Paul Guillaume Gide (November 22, 1869 – February 19, 1951) was a French author and spokesman for gay rights (disputed — see talk page). ...
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered a significant writer of the 20th century. ...
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry (Sète, October 30, 1871 – Paris, July 20, 1945) was a French author and poet of the Symbolist school. ...
The vocal score (this is the piano version) was available in print from the end of 1919 on. It is said Gertrude Stein became an admirer of Satie hearing Virgil Thomas perform the Socrate music on his piano. Gertrude Stein was born in Pittsburgh on February 3, 1874 and passed on July 27, 1946 in Paris. ...
In June 1920 the first public performance of the orchestral version was presented. The public thinks to hear a new musical joke by Satie, and laughs - Satie feels misunderstood by that behavior.
The orchestral version was not printed until several decades after Satie's death.
Reception in music, theatre and art history Alexander Calder's first theatre set was a mobile, which he designed for Martha Graham's dance performance of Socrate in 1936. Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. ...
Kinetic sculptures are sculptures that move, ideally with a minumum of applied force. ...
Martha Graham and Bertram Ross in Visionary Recital, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1961 Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991), an American dancer and choreographer, is recognized as one of the foremost innovators in modern dance. ...
John Cage transcribed the music of Socrate for two pianos in 1944. Later he made Cheap Imitation based on Satie's Socrate. John Cage John Milton Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American experimental music composer and writer. ...
Merce Cunningham made a choreography to part of Cage's two-piano version of Socrate, which he named Idyllic Song. His later choreography Second Hand was also based on Satie's Socrate. Merce Cunningham is a choreographer born April 19, 1919, Centralia (Washington, United States). ...
Choreography (also known as dance composition) is the art of making structures in which movement occurs, the term composition may also refer to the navigation or connection of these movement structures. ...
The Belgian painter Jan Cox (1919 - 1980) made two paintings on the theme of the death of Socrates (1952 and 1979, a year before his suicide), both paintings referring to Satie's Socrate: pieces of the printed score of Satie's Socrate were glued on one of these paintings; the other has quotes of Cousin's translation of Plato on the frame. A painter is a person who paints woodwork, walls, etc. ...
Jan Cox (The Hague, 1919 - Antwerp, 7 October 1980) was a painter who spent the largest part of his creative life in the United States and Belgium. ...
The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787) The trial of Socrates in 399 BC gave rise to a great deal of debate and to a whole genre of literature, known as the Socratic logoi. ...
Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life; it is sometimes a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. ...
Recordings - This (abandoned) webpage gives an overview of recordings of Socrate up to the early 21st century: http://hem.passagen.se/satie/db/socrate.htm
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