Erik Satie (1866-1925) was composer. His piano music distinguished itself by a quiet pace and large periods of silence. The titles of his work were the opposite of serious: Rêverie de l'enfance de Pantagruel, Prélude de la porte héroÏque du ciel. He became famous after the scandal the performance of his ballet Parade in 1917 by the Russian dancer Diaghilev created in Paris.
Satie was not an active member of Dada, but he befriended dadaists like Man Ray, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. His piano pieces were popular amongst dadaists. Emmy Hennings played his pieces at Soirées in Cabaret Voltaire in 1916, when Satie was unknown. In 1923 and 1924 the performances by Nelly van Moorsel (the girlfriend of Theo van Doesburg) at the Dada tour through the Netherlands aroused more enthousiasm.

Updated 5 februari 2001; Comments to Martin Woestenburg.

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