Eric Satie: Minimalist Muse

A century after his death, the peculiar, beautiful music of Erik Satie is well-known and beloved across so much of our culture. You may have heard it for the first time at a concert hall – or a rock gig… Or lifting up an eerie film soundtrack, nostalgic TV advert – or easy listening compilation. But his work was often dismissed by the critics of his day as naive or a joke.

Music journalist and broadcaster Jude Rogers uncovers how and why Satie’s minimalist music has posthumously influenced such an astonishing array of composers and musicians – not only from the classical world but genres like prog rock and synth-pop. And discovers why his work is so often seen as a precursor to ambient music, minimalism, film and advert music, conceptual art, and surrealism.

‘Satie teaches what, in our age, is the greatest audacity: simplicity.’ [Jean Cocteau]

With contributions from composer Roger Eno; concert pianist Joanna MacGregor; Anton Lukoszevieze of Apartment House; biographer Ian Penman; electronic pioneer John Foxx; synth pop legend Gary Numan; Guitarist and former member of prog rock band Genesis, Steve Hackett; Brian Bath of the KT Bush Band; musicologist and John Cage expert James Pritchett; Japanese producer Yoshio Ojima and Pianist Satsuki Shibano.

Producer: Victoria Ferran

Broadcast: 29th June 2025