An international conference organized by the Music and Media Section of the Department of Humanities of the University of Turin, the Department of Theory, Analysis and Musicology of the «G. Verdi» Conservatory of Turin and the «V. Bellini» Conservatory of Catania, in collaboration with the Institut de recherche en Musicologie (IreMus) of the Sorbonne Université, the «Correspondencias entre la música y la literatura en la Edad de Plata II» (MULICO2) project of the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM), the Società Italiana di Analisi e Teoria Musicale – GATM and the town of Honfleur with the Maisons Satie and the Eugène Boudin Museum.
One hundred years after the death of Erik Satie (1925), researchers are still making new discoveries about his music and context. Despite his biographical roots in the 19th century, the composer’s visionary poetics has continued to inspire many generations, building a remarkable legacy, from Debussy and Les Six to American minimalism, including developments in pop culture.
Satie’s interdisciplinary nature brings us to evaluate links with theatre, dance and cinema, starting from the pioneering Parade (1917) and Entr’acte (1924): two works that suggest multilayered analysis.
The aim of the conference is to encourage dialogue between musicologists and scholars in the fields of dance, theatre, silent cinema, literature and visual arts. Satie’s multifaceted work requires input from many different disciplines in order to fully evaluate his contribution.
This stylistic specificity owes much to the vitality of Satie’s Parisian scene. In fact, this cultural network often directly impacted on Satie’s music including groups such as the esoteric circle of Rose-Croix, the Ballets Russes, the anti-academic circle of the Chat Noir, the Librairie de l’Art Indépendant led by Edmond Bailly, the salon of the Princesse de Polignac, the Dadaist group or the growing Socialist movement. This demonstrates the eclecticism of a composer who is impossible to categorize.
The conference proposes reflection focused on Satie’s legacy in the 20th and 21st centuries, comparing different repertoire from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Furthermore, the event will investigate the problem in trans-disciplinary terms, because the composer moved beyond the semantic and aesthetic boundaries of music itself. Nevertheless, this broader perspective does not neglect the musicological outlook. New contributions – mainly from an analytical perspective – are expected because of our partnership with the Conservatory of Turin. Indeed, this collaboration will also provide a performance element to the event, engaging students from different classes in the interpretation of Satie’s work.
Suggested topics proposed by the scientific committee are the following, though we welcome proposals on other topics:
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The relationship with silent cinema. An investigation of Entr’acte encourages an evaluation of the influence of this pioneering masterpiece on subsequent work, including music for moving image.
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Connections with esotericism. Satie’s membership in the Rose-Croix circle requires deeper historical analysis.
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The transformation of musical dramaturgy. The central role played by Parade, within the aesthetic context of the late 1920s, involved complementary movements, from Surrealism to Dadaism. Cocteau’s work produced some remarkable transformations in the fields of theatre and dance, deserving – one hundred years later – a new examination.
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Research on humor. The well-known tendency of the composer to play musical jokes, elaborated in some of his works, allows scholars to pursue a meta-textual investigation of the scores and the letters, encouraging appropriate comparisons with the development of music and literature up to the present day.
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Musical analysis. The apparent simplicity of Satie’s music calls for the application of the most up-to-date analytical methodologies of post-tonal repertoire.
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Aesthetic reflection. The complex ontological identity of this music suggests transdisciplinary readings, including the reinterpretation of boundaries conventionally attributed to the musical discipline.
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Musical interpretation. Discussion with performers, as well as a comparative evaluation of available interpretations, will engender new ideas about Satie performance practice.
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The visual arts. Recent research has emphasized the relationships between Satie and artists of the Parisian scene, a phenomenon to be examined thoroughly in an interdisciplinary way.
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The synesthetic and sensory dimension. Satie’s works feature sounds, colors, evocation of images, landscapes and emotions. These links could be explored in relation to their legacy from the 19th to 20th century.
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The Norman origins of Satie. Investigating the relationship with landscape and light in his scores and writings, identifying the Norman network in his circles of friends, deepening the lesser-known artistic collaborations with movements such as Pou qui grimpe (founded in Coutance) could enlighten the perception.
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Daily life as source of inspiration. His interest in including the everyday life in the humoristic presentation of his personality and the creative principles of his compositions and writings as well (Musique d’Ameublement) could be investigated in order to understand, through contemporary resonances in arts, music and society, the perpetual charm exerted by Satie’s universe.
Abstracts (no more than 250 words) with a biography (about 100 words) and a related bibliography (no more than 5 references) should be sent to satie2025@unito.it before the deadline of 30 April 2025. The scientific committee will respond by 15 July 2025.
The duration of papers should be no more than 20 minutes. The languages accepted for the conference will be Italian, French and English. The scientific committee will evaluate the possibility of publishing a selection of papers.
The conference will be in three parts and will take place in Honfleur (Maisons Erik Satie and Museum Eugène-Boudin) on 31 October 2025, Turin (University and «G. Verdi» Conservatory) on 5 and 6 December 2025, and Catania («V. Bellini» Conservatory) on 9 and 10 December 2025. The organising committee reserves the right to plan the distribution of the topics in the three venues, as soon as the selection of proposals is completed.