Je te veux

Je te veux (I want you) is a song composed by Erik Satie to a text by Henry Pacory. A sentimental waltz, it was written for Paulette Darty, whose accompanist Satie had been for a period of time. The text consists of two verses and a repeated chorus.

The song was registered with SACEM on 20 November 1902, but Roland-Manuel argued it had actually been composed in 1897. Satie composed various versions of the Je te veux waltz: for piano and voice, for an orchestra of brass instruments and for full orchestra (including a Trio). The piano and voice version was first published in 1903.

The melody was performed to the public in 1903 at the La Scala music hall in Paris. In 1925 the song was recorded with Yvonne George as singer. Je te veux was also recorded by Mathé Altéry, Régine Crespin, Gigliola Negri, Nicolaï Gedda and Davide Bassino, and later by sopranos Jessye Norman, Marie Devellereau and Angela Gheorghiu. Other notable renditions include the ones by Japanese group ALI PROJECT and Japanese chip musician SAITONE.

Erik Satie

Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (French: [eʁik sati]; 17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925) – he signed his name Erik Satie after 1884 – was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, Surrealism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd.

An eccentric, Satie was introduced as a "gymnopedist" in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a "phonometrician" (meaning "someone who measures sounds"), preferring this designation to that of "musician", after having been called "a clumsy but subtle technician" in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.

In addition to his body of music, Satie was "a thinker with a gift of eloquence" who left a remarkable set of writings, having contributed work for a range of publications, from the dadaist 391 to the American culture chronicle Vanity Fair. Although in later life he prided himself on publishing his work under his own name, in the late 19th century he appears to have used pseudonyms such as Virginie Lebeau and François de Paule in some of his published writings.

Surname

A surname or family name is a name added to a given name. In many cases, a surname is a family name and many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name". In the western hemisphere, it is commonly synonymous with last name because it is usually placed at the end of a person's given name.

In most Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries, two or more last names (or surnames) may be used. In China, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Madagascar, Taiwan, Vietnam, and parts of India, the family name is placed before a person's given name.

The style of having both a family name (surname) and a given name (forename) is far from universal. In many countries, it is common for ordinary people to have only one name or mononym.

The concept of a "surname" is a relatively recent historical development, evolving from a medieval naming practice called a "byname". Based on an individual's occupation or area of residence, a byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the same name.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Jean-Yves Thibaudet (born 7 September 1961) is a French pianist.

Early life and studies

Jean-Yves Thibaudet was born in Lyon, France, to non-professional musical parents. His father played the violin, and his mother, of German origin and a somewhat accomplished pianist herself, introduced the instrument to Jean-Yves.

Thibaudet entered the Lyons Conservatory at the age of five, and began seriously studying the piano with several prominent teachers. He made his first public appearance at the age of seven. He won a Lyons Conservatory gold medal in 1974, when he was twelve, and subsequently entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Aldo Ciccolini and Lucette Descaves. Three years later, he won the premier Prix du Conservatoire, and at the age of 18 he won the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York.

Career

He has performed with most of the world's leading symphonic orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de France, among others. He also performs in the great concert halls of Europe and North America and is quite fond of travelling to Australia, where he has a strong fan base. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame in 2010. Thibaudet's virtuosity is such that he even impressed the great Vladimir Horowitz, who called a performance he heard on the radio of Thibaudet playing Liszt "amazing."