Promoting Satie as precursor

There has been much debate about Satie's role in inspiring distinctive and defining aspects of Debussy's and Ravel's achievements. His Sarabandes are credited with guiding Debussy towards the so-called Impressionism that became a hallmark of his originality; thus for some, including Léon Vallas, Satie has detracted from the achievement of the more famous and successful composer. Ravel, for his part, drew inspiration from Satie's ‘simplicity’; the musical evidence is clear in Ma Mère l'Oye, which Ravel chose for the inaugural concert of the Société musicale indépendante in April 1910: he inscribed a score of the suite to ‘Erik Satie, grandfather of the Entretiens and other pieces, with the affectionate homage of a disciple’ Even after relations between Ravel and Satie had broken down, Ravel always acknowledged his indebtedness to the older composer, even claiming that Satie's influence on him was more significant than Debussy's.

1911 was the year in which Satie came to prominence as a precursor to his more famous compatriots, with Ravel and Debussy organising concerts in his honour. The first of these took place at a SMI concert on 16 January at the Salle Gaveau. The programme, with Ravel at the piano, included Ravel's transcription of the Prelude to the first act of Satie's Le Fils des étoiles, the Sarabande no. 2 and Gymnopédie no. 3.