A century after Erik Satie’s death, a remarkable musical trove has emerged. French pianist Alexandre Tharaud has released a new album featuring 27 works by the composer that had never been heard before—until now.
These pieces, reconstructed from incomplete manuscripts and forgotten pages found in archives in Paris and Boston, offer a new perspective on one of music history’s most elusive figures. The project is the result of years of research by composer and violinist Sato Matsui and musicologist James Nye, who undertook the task of turning Satie’s sketches into performable scores.
The resulting collection, now released by Erato under the title Satie: Discoveries, spans a rich variety of styles. Some of the works seem destined for the bustling cafés of Montmartre, where Satie once played, with dance rhythms, operetta influences, and theatrical flair. Others lean into his more introspective side—nocturnes and miniatures marked by delicacy and ambiguity, echoing the enigmatic mood of the Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes.
Among the new discoveries are a playful Cancan Grand-Mondain (previously known from a different version), a series of bitonal sketches, and a set of surreal, vignette-like miniatures titled Soupirs fanés—with movements named Poil, Barbouillage, Familial désespoir, and Souvenirs fadasses. Two familiar pieces also appear in new arrangements: Prestidigitateur chinois from Parade, played in duet with Gautier Capuçon, and a solo version of Cancan Grand-Mondain, newly transcribed by Tharaud.
In several pieces where the original vocal line was missing, Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulović steps in, lending a lyrical voice to works such as Le Champagne and Mélodie.
“Most people who say they love Satie know only a few of his melodies,” Tharaud remarks in the album booklet. “But there’s so much more to him—so many layers behind the irony, the restraint, the humour. These works allow us to hear that complexity more fully.”
Through this release, Tharaud invites listeners into a lesser-known corner of Satie’s musical world: fragmentary, humorous, melancholic, and always elusive.
Subscribe to our newsletter