Igor Levit
(c) Felix Broede
On Saturday, May 30th at 2 pm (CET), Igor Levit will perform at the b-sharp-studio in Berlin one of music history’s longest compositions: Eric Satie’s Vexations, which lasts approx. 20 hours.
Igor Levit: “It has always been a strong wish of mine to be able to perform Eric Satie’s Vexations. While written in the 19th century, this piece was revolutionary thanks to its atonal harmony. The few notes – a theme and two variations – fit on just one sheet. The 840 repetitions though herald early on a future of aesthetic repetitiveness.
The sheer duration of over 20 hours of Vexations doesn’t feel like a ‘nuisance’ or ‘torture’ to me, as the title would suggest, but rather a retreat of silence and humility. It reflects a feeling of resistance.
That’s why it feels right to play the Vexations right now. My world and that of my colleagues has been a different one for many weeks now and will probably remain so for a long time. Vexations represent for me a silent scream. »
The performance will be streamed under the following link: https://www.thegilmore.org/
