Vexations

Apparently conceived for keyboard (although the single page of manuscript does not specify an instrument), it consists of a short theme in the bass whose four presentations are heard alternatingly unaccompanied and played with chords above.

The piece bears the inscription "In order to play the motif 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, by serious immobilities."

Since there is no musicological evidence linking Vexations to the other works in the volume, its appearance in that context indicates nothing more than an editor's desire to publish Satie's uncollected compositions in three-part assemblages such as the Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes, etc.

Pianists included John Cage, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Philip Corner, Viola Farber, Robert Wood, MacRae Cook, John Cale, David Del Tredici, James Tenney, Howard Klein (the New York Times reviewer, who coincidentally was asked to play in the course of the event) and Joshua Rifkin, with two reserves, on 9 September 1963.

Satie made no effort to get either "Vexations" or "Bonjour Biqui" published during his life, scarcely, or not at all, communicating about their existence (there were more of his compositions sharing this fate).

In 1970, Australian pianist Peter Evans decided to abandon a solo performance of the piece after five-hundred and ninety-five repetitions because he felt that "evil thoughts" were overtaking him and observed "strange creatures emerging from the sheet music".

[9] On 12 December 2012, French pianist Nicolas Horvath performed in the Palais de Tokyo a non-stop solo version lasting 35 hours.

[10] In September 2016, during the three days of the sci-tech Trieste Next[11] festival, the pianist and multimedia artist Adriano Castaldini performed an open-air solo of the entire Vexations, conceiving a very new way of interpreting the piece, i.e. making audible the psycho-physical experience of vexation by connecting his body to the live electronic processing of the piano sound: during the performance, the pianist wore a sensor system (EEG, EMG, GSR and temperature sensors) not simply for medical feedback, but to process medical data in real time using a software (coded by Castaldini himself) that turned data into control values for the piano sound live processing (the sound was captured by seven microphones inside the piano).

[14] On 2 December 2017, alt-classical concert series ChamberLab hosted a marathon performance of Vexations as a fundraiser for the American Civil Liberties Union, and raised $16,731.85 in pledges and donations.

[18] From the 29 to 30 January 2021, Bot_pianist.ver, a robot made by ATOD, performed all 840 repetitions of Vexations for 19 hours 30 minutes at Platform-L Contemporary Art Center in Seoul.

It was a part of Furniture Music in the 4th Industrial Revolution Era: a convergence of an exhibition and performance; a reconstruction of Satie's Vexations conducted by PyoungRyang Ko.

Instruments used were piano, French horn, trumpet, cello, double bass, key harmonica, voice, organetta (street organ), organite (hand-cranked music box).

[20] On 13 August 2021, American pianist Aaron D. Smith performed a non-stop solo version lasting 36 hours and 22 minutes in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood.