Satie, Erik. (1866-1925) [Pierre de Massot (1900-1969)]
Vieux Sequins et vieilles Cuirasses - Inscribed to Pierre de Massot
Paris: E. Demets [the label of Eschig laid over the imprint]. 1913. First edition. Folio, 25 x 33 cm. 11 pp. [PN] 1135. In very fine condition throughout. Inscribed at the head of the first page of music: "14 Juillet 1925 / Quel beau jour!..Rions, dansons, chantons. Oui. / Bon 14 juillet, Cher P. de Massot. Bien votre: ES [Satie's characteristic calligraphic monogram]" [14 July, 1924 / What a beautiful day! We laugh, we dance, we sing. Yes. Happy 14 July, dear P. de Massot. Yours truly: ES."]A significant and richly inscribed association copy, dated on the French national holiday "Bastille Day" (commonly known, as written here, as "le quatorze juillet") and with a lively celebratory note to the writer and journalist, Pierre de Massot.
Signed scores from Satie are highly uncommon.
Massot was a central figure in the Dadaist circle of Tristan Tzara, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp and was a close friend of Satie. In the famous violent disruption of Tzara's "Soirée du Coeur à barbe" at the Théâtre Michel on 6 July 1923, it was Massot whose arm was broken in an impassioned tussle with Breton (provoked by an apparent reference to the demise of Cubism - 'Picasso dead on the field of battle' - Breton had jumped onto the stage). This famous event marked the definitive rupture between the dadaist and surrealist movements.
"The title Old Sequins and Breastplates, apart from telling us that the set will be about some enduring human concerns, money and warfare, also recalls the antique knick-knacks that Rodolphe Salis used to display at the Chat Noir, where (according to the Chat Noir-Guide) the first thing one saw upon crossing the threshold was a damascened halberd supposedly owned by the Duke of Marlborough and donated to the Chat Noir by the Queen of Tahiti. The sequin (in Italian, zecchino) was an obsolete gold coin first struck in Venice towards the end of the thirteenth century - hence the title of the first piece, 'Chez le Marchand d'or (Venise, XIIIe Siecle)'." (Steven Moore Whiting, "Satie the Bohemian," p. 389 -90) (5701)
Signed Document/Item Classical Music