Celle qui parle trop – The Woman Who Talks Too Much (Chapitres tournés en tous sens, No. 1)

Erik Satie · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Impressionist · Piano

The first of the three pieces of Chapitres tournés en tous sens (“Chapters Turned Every Which Way”, 1913): a chatty wife deafens her husband with a stream of eighths; Satie filled the score with humorous comments. A piece by Erik Satie, pioneer of musical simplicity and humour. C major, 6/8, 53 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• The stream of eighths must stay light and even, like chatter that never stops: don’t rush it. Soft, even tone and an unchanging pulse: the beauty comes from simplicity. In 6/8, count the beats as groups of three eighths (dotted beats) to keep the lilt. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment.

More pieces by Erik Satie

• Le porteur de grosses pierres – The Carrier of Large Stones (Chapitres tournés en tous sens, No. 2)
• Regrets des enfermés – Regrets of the Prisoners (Chapitres tournés en tous sens, No. 3)
• Sa Taille (Three Distinguished Waltzes of a Jaded Dandy)
• Danse maigre (Croquis et agaceries)
• Tyrolienne turque
• Españaña (Croquis et agaceries)
• Ses Jambes (Three Distinguished Waltzes of a Jaded Dandy)
• Son Binocle

Source : Mutopia Project · CC BY-SA 4.0