My Quest for Breaking Everything: John Cale's Favourite Music | Page 9 of 14

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

8. Erik Satie‘Vexations’

Knowing of this experimental piece to be repeated 840 times to complete the song, of course, struck me as the ultimate in pushing boundaries in classical music. I’d learned that ‘instructions’ were key to forging classical toward the avant-garde. The fact that my first live performance in the US, after arriving from the UK via scholarship, was part of this legendary 18-hour performance organised by John Cage… history was made with this composition and its performance as per Satie’s instructions.

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