Satie the Bohemian

`Steven Moore Whiting now goes further than anybody in accounting for Satie in terms of his popular music context. He has also provided more detail about it than I ever thought possible - as a result of some twenty years' study and brilliant detective work. ... an indispensable repository of detailed information which enriches our enjoyment of this unique composer on every page. It is expensive but it's well produced and its dedicated research readably delivered brings Satie and his environment alive in a way which is not likely to be superceded.' Peter Dickinson, Indispensable, 25 February 2001. `Brilliantly argued, deeply researched study showing how the Montmartre cabaret music influenced Satie's mature work.' BBC Music Magazine `Whiting's accomplishment is an all-too-rare example of exhaustive first-rate scholarship and page-turning readability ... His explications of Satie's performance directions and parodies ... should be essential for any performer.' J. McCalla, Choice, Vol.38, No.1. `The shaping of the story and the engaging prose speed the reader through what in other hands might have been an oppressive recital ... an exemplary study.' J. McCalla, Choice, Vol.38, No.1. ... Professor Whiting not only writes engagingly but has something new and perceptive to say about every composition. / ... excellent and thought-provoking book.../ Whiting's skill in providing a clear, succinct and enviably readable summary of the Dada movement from this minefield of warring artistic factions and obfuscation leaves any interested reader in his debt. So, too, does the way in which he lavishes so much attention on the cultural, political and even the legal background to Satie's artistic achievements./ ... Whiting possesses the rare ability to penetrate the strange logic of Satie's compositional mind.../ ... this book will remain indispensible to anyone interested in Satie's music well into the coming millenium./ Robert Orledge, Professor of Music, University of Liverpool, TLS, 14/05/99. One by one, illuminated in the clear light of professor Whiting's brilliant scholarship, there emerge the shadowy figures who influenced Satie during the 20-odd years he spent as a pub pianist in the smoke-filled bars of Montmartre. Whiting elaborates his thesis with a magnificent displayof erudition conveyed in lucid, elegant prose. This is a splendid book, valuable to anyone interested in French popular culture. - James Harding, BBC Music - August 1999