The Truth About The Longest Piano Masterpiece Ever Produced

As Euphonic Space notes, Satie was renowned for the simple, repetitive minimalism of his work, and "Vexations" is a perfect example of this. He didn't publish or really publicize the piece, and it was first known to have been published by American composer John Cage in 1949.

Cage was never one to shy from a challenge, and in September 1963, he set out to perform it in Manhattan's Pocket Theatre. Not alone, however: he wisely assembled a squadron of eleven pianists he dubbed The Pocket Theatre Piano Relay Team. The New Yorker goes on to note that the musicians (John Cale of the upcoming Velvet Underground among them) played for twenty-minute shifts, and it took almost 19 hours to play the entire thing as directed by Satie.

Since this success, the challenge of "Vexations" has been taken up by brave pianists around the world. The first person recorded to have completed it for an audience by themselves was Richard Toop, in England, who took a full day to finish the piece four years after Cage's performance. Over to you, Elton John.

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