Satie composes some slices of pear

Erik Satie
Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear (Trois morceaux en forme de poire)

-       1. Maniere de Commencement

-       2. Prolongation du Meme

-       3. Moreceaux 1: Lentement

-       4. Morceaux 2: En Leve

-       5. Morceaux 3: Brutal

-       6. En Plus. Calme

-       7. Redite. Dans le lent

Composed: 1903

Length: c. 13 minutes and 20 seconds

Orchestration: piano 4-hands

Erik Satie was a joker: an eccentric composer who saturated his work with humor, parody and critique. Whether playing motives from the Funeral March in Chopin’s sonata, leaving elaborate and at times ridiculous directions over measures in his scores or parodying Puccini’s operas, he found a way to use his wit and humor to poke fun at pedantry and musical restrictions in a beautiful and elegant way.



Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear is one of Satie’s lesser-known but greatest jokes. The joke does not end in the fact that there are not three pieces but seven; it also mocks Impressions and more specifically Claude Debussy. Debussy supposedly mentioned to Satie that his compositions lacked form, and this set of pieces along with their collective title was a response to that: he would compose it the form of a pear, which has different slices like his the seven pieces of which it is composed.

The first piece, translated title being “way of commencing”, starts with a few pretty impressionist-sounding chords floating about which are then abruptly interrupted by a loud chord which serves as point of development for his dissonant melodic development. The second piece is titled, “prolongation of the same”, is actually not similar to the first piece at all. It is a lively and bouncy little tune, which lasts less than a minute. This is then followed by three “Morceaux” or “parts”, the first of which starts with a motive reminiscent of the funeral march but quickly evolves through chromaticism and abrupt cluster chords. The next Morceaux starkly contrasts the first by beginning in a jaunty and lively manner and then becomes more subdued staying in a major key throughout. The last Morceaux is much more dissonant which is followed by a subdued but quietly intense “En plus”. The final “Redite” or “recapitulation” is a dark piece predominated by a march-like feel which is the last thing lingering in your ear when the seven song/3 piece sonata/pear comes to an end. In this clever and witty way Satie is not only replying to Debussy’s comment, but he is also mocking sonata form and the rigid structure which the impressionist composers where limiting themselves to.

Although Satie is best known for his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes, those examples alone do not fully capture the spirit of his body of work. From writing articles in the Dadaist magazine 391, to composing ballets with Francis Picabia, the innovative French composer left behind material that would make his contemporaries question their own art, would profoundly influence the avant-garde movement and the generation of composers after him, and would inspire people to think about his musical development and form for years to come; while still keeping a light-hearted and witty approach!