In 1887 when he was 21, and before before his famous Gymnopodies and Gnossiennes had been completed, Erik Satie composed this first Sarabande as one of three he wrote for piano. At the time he was an impoverished conservatory dropout making his living as a piano player in bohemian taverns and cabarets like Le Chat Noir. The Sarabandes were not published until 1911 with the support of Ravel who also introduced and performed the second Sarabande in concert in 1911. Satie's sometime friend Debussy wrote orchestral arrangements of the piano Gymnopodies in 1897 and conducted them to Satie's great acclaim in 1911 in Paris. Here Berkeley composer Guillaume Pearson has written a lovely orchestral arrangement to accompany my two guitar version of Satie's 1st Sarabande. Hope you enjoy the quiet mystery and captivating harmony that attracted me.

listen to more of Guillaume's beautiful soundtracks here:
https://soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

cover artwork Matisse La Musique

Erik Satie 1st Sarabande

original piano version written by hitoshi yasui of chairhouse, guitar arrangement by naldo, orchestration by guillaume pearson.

as always, special thanks to hitoshi for his daily musical beauty and for helping us to adapt this song. his luminous piano version from june 12, 2020 is here:
https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/i-looked-beyond-2372-by-chair-house-06122020

more of guillaume's songs & cinematic orchestrations:
https://soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

cover art: Alexander Brook, portrait of Peggy Bacon & black cat

I Looked Beyond

A cello elegy dedicated to the great San Francisco photographer Fred Lyon who passed away yesterday, August 26, 2022 at the age of 95.

you can see his work here:
https://www.fredlyon.com/about

cover photo: Castle Street night view of Coit Tower, San Francisco, 1947 by Fred Lyon

Elegy for Fred

Joyeux Anniversaire. Erik Satie was born on this date May 17 in 1866.

In 1887 when he was 21, and before his famous Gymnopodies and Gnossiennes had been completed, Erik Satie composed this third Sarabande as one of three he wrote for piano. At the time he was an impoverished conservatory dropout making his living as a piano player in bohemian taverns and cabarets like Le Chat Noir. The Sarabandes were not published until 1911 with the support of Ravel who also introduced and performed the second Sarabande in concert in 1911. Here i've arranged the third Sarabande for 2 guitars doubled. Hope you enjoy the mystery and captivating harmony that attracted me to it.

Erik Satie Third Sarabande

The Pièces froides are two sets of piano pieces composed in March 1897 by Erik Satie. Unpublished until 1912 when Ravel played them publicly, they marked Satie's break from the mystical-religious music of his Rosicrucian and Gymnopodies period (1891–95), and were a harbinger of his humoristic piano suites of the 1910s. 

The title Pièces froides, translated as Cold Rooms or Cold Cuts, is a punning allusion to the dire poverty Satie experienced during his last years living in Montmartre. In July 1896, he had been forced to move into an unheated ground floor closet (he called it a "cupboard”. The space was so small that Satie's camp bed all but blocked the door shut, and on frigid nights he kept warm by sleeping fully dressed with the rest of his clothing piled on top of him.

This the second of the two cold pieces: Danses de travers (Crooked Dances)
1. En y regardant à deux fois (Give it a good look)
2. Passer (Go on)
3. Encore (Again)

Here i've arranged the original solo piano for 2 classical guitars, 12-string, celeste, woodwinds & strings.

cover art: Le Repas Frugal by Picasso

Erik Satie, Pièces Froides

When I first heard chairhouse’s beautiful Single Camellia Bloom it reminded me of one of french guitarist/composer Francis Kleynjans’ graceful barcarolles and i knew i wanted to arrange it for guitar. I recorded a solo guitar version last year. 

It is also one of the chairhouse songs that caught the ear of my musical friend Guillaume Pearson who has written a beautiful orchestration to accompany and elegantly embellish a newly recorded guitar track.

As always thanks to Hitoshi Yasui of chairhouse for his wonderful daily piano improvisations and for allowing us to create our version of Single Camellia Bloom. He recorded his original piano version on August 16, 2017 as number 1340 in his piano ten thousand leaves project. As Hitoshi often writes, happy if this makes you feel peaceful. (<;

chairhouse original piano version:
https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/single-camellia-bloom-1340-by-chair-house-08162017

my solo guitar version: https://soundcloud.com/naldeau/single-camelia-bloom?si=86665591ca494599b59e3170f29869eb&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

artwork: Sarah Berhardt, La Dame aux Camelias by Alphonse Mucha

Single Camellia Bloom

orchestration by guillaume pearson. guitare & ambient setting by naldo, 

As always, special thanks to Hitoshi Yasui of chairhouse for his daily musical piano beauty and for helping us to adapt these songs.
original chairhouse piano: https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/those-thoughts-would-turn-me-into-something-2229-by-chair-house-01212020

more of guillaume's songs & beautiful cinematic orchestrations:
soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

artwork: Tonal Spring by Milt Kobayashi

Those Thoughts

the orchestration is by guillaume pearson, guitar arrangement by naldo and the original song is by hitoshi yasui of chairhouse. it's been wonderful to work on these arrangements of chairhouse songs with my musical cloud friends guillaume and hitoshi over the last trying months of covid quarantine and separation. hope you can find some similar, perhaps temporary comfort from their beauty. 

you can hear original chairhouse piano here:
https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/ayant-servi-pour-plusieurs-parfums-1371-by-chair-house-09162017

more of guillaume's songs & beautiful cinematic orchestrations:
soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

artwork by Alphonse Mucha

Plusieurs Parfums

can’t say goodbye, just good riddance to this year and glad for the departure. no fond farewell, au revoir, wiedersehen or さようなら to 2020. in the words of Ray Charles, just hit the road and don’t you come back no more, no more.

in spite of quarantine lockdowns and turmoil i’m grateful to have had the inspiring music of so many wonderful soundcloud musicians who kept on playing and creating music throughout a difficult year. special thanks to hitoshi yasui of chairhouse for his daily musical gems and for allowing us to create our versions of his beautiful piano music. looking forward to a better 2021 and wishing everyone a happy, healthy, peaceful and musical new year. play on friends. 

this orchestration and mix is by guillaume pearson, guitar arrangement & SFX by naldo, original song written by hitoshi yasui of chairhouse. his lovely piano version can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/cant-say-goodbye-yet-419
more of guillaume's songs & cinematic orchestrations:
soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

close your eyes, it's a movie without pictures. the intro voice is Celia Johnson from the film Brief Encounter directed by the great David Lean. the cover art is Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in their goodbye scene at a 1945 London train station.

Can't Say Goodbye

the title on this song seems fitting today as an american inauguration takes place. hopefully a turbulent, stormy era is subsiding and a new beginning is unfolding on january 20th.

the orchestration is by guillaume pearson, guitar arrangement by naldo. the full title of the original song by hitoshi yasui of chairhouse is: "the sweet breath of spring played amidst its branches". his beautiful piano version can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/chairhouse/the-sweet-breath-of-spring-played-amidst-its-branches-2448-by-chair-house-08272020

more of guillaume's songs & cinematic orchestrations:
soundcloud.com/guillaumelecompositeur/tracks

the cover art is Fandango by Milt Kobayashi

Sweet Breath of Spring

guitarist, composer, recording in logic with roland guitar synth, stratocaster and tiny amps.
please visit kid otari soundcloud for more rock collaborations with guillaume: https://soundcloud.com/user-970486418/tracks

and NG-Xp cloud for experimental orchestral & soundscape collaborations of naldo & guillaume here: https://soundcloud.com/ng-xp/tracks
https://soundcloud.com/ng-xp/tracks

Tracks by naldo