Erik Satie was a French avant-garde composer born in 1866. He was also a writer who contributed to publications such as Vanity Fair. His work anticipated 20th century music and is considered minimalist by today’s standards. Some compositions featured instruments which mimic animal sounds and other non-instrumental noises.
In 1879 he entered the Paris Conservatory, where his teachers said he was a lazy and untalented pianist. He never finished at the school. He performed mainly for caberet and cafe audiences, as his work was not widely accepted by the public. He became friends with Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, who helped bring his work into the public eye. He died in 1925.
