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Satie

Erik Satie (1866–1925) was a French composer and pianist who worked as a café musician in Montmartre before developing a style so stripped of conventional ornament that it influenced Debussy, anticipated minimalism, and prefigured ambient music by half a century. He coined the term musique d'ameublement for compositions designed to be heard without being listened to. When he died and his apartment was entered for the first time in years, it contained hundreds of umbrellas, seven identical velvet suits, and a piano whose broken pedals had been bound with string. His Gymnopédies remain among the most immediately recognisable pieces in the repertoire.

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