anti-virtuosity

Satie's deliberate rejection of technical display. His music avoids passage-work, arpeggios, and the conventional signs of pianistic brilliance, presenting simple textures that reveal any excess of ego or sentiment immediately.

Anti-virtuosity is harder than virtuosity. In Satie, a simple melody in the right hand over a quiet ostinato bass has nowhere to hide: any imperfection of tone, any excess of pedal, any sentimental lingering is exposed immediately. The simplicity demands absolute clarity of touch, perfect evenness, and the discipline not to add expression that the music does not request. Less is always more; silence is always an option.