Depot Concert: “Vexations” by Erik Satie

A very special concert experience behind the scenes at the Chemnitz Museum of Industry.

The French composer and musician Erik Satie (1866–1925) influenced 20th-century avant-garde music like no other. Around 1893/94, he composed Vexations, a piano piece intended to be repeated 840 times. The composition was premiered on piano by John Cage in September 1963 and is considered a precursor to both Minimalism and “machine music.”

The participating pianists have been invited by Chemnitz musician and performance artist Andreas Winkler, who also organized the first Chemnitz performance of Vexations in the early 1990s for the opening of the Markthalle underground car park. Performers include Pauline Mickelthwate, Torsten Reiz, Michiko Saiki, Mrika Sefa, and Emi Suzuki, coming from Japan, Portugal, and Germany, and living in Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig.

Satie’s “torments” will be performed as the finale of the exhibition John Cage: Museumcircle in the depot of the Chemnitz Museum of Industry. Visitors can come and go throughout the approximately 14-hour performance and explore the museum’s collection while the concert takes place.