About this ebook
La Diva de “l’Empire” represents a perfect example of this. This Intermezzo Américain was composed for Paulette Darty, who was known as “The Queen of the Slow Waltz” in early 20th Century Paris. It was first performed about 1904 and subsequently published in 1919.
About the author
Erik Satie was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an undistinguished student and obtained no diploma. In the 1880s he worked as a pianist in café-cabaret in Montmartre, Paris, and began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his Gymnopédies.
He also wrote music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly attached. After a spell in which he composed little, Satie entered Paris's second music academy, the Schola Cantorum, as a mature student. His studies there were more successful than those at the Conservatoire. From about 1910 he became the focus of successive groups of young composers attracted by his unconventionality and originality. Among them were the group known as Les Six.
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About the Arranger
Internationally acclaimed guitarist Gregg Nestor has built up a strong following for his abilities as soloist, accompanist and arranger. Finalist in the New York Concert Artist Guild Competition (one of 16 out of 2,800 competitors) held at Carnegie Hall, Gregg Nestor has recorded and broadcast in Holland, Belgium and Spain, and for the BBC (England). In his London debut, The Times critic commented on his being “uncommonly communicative, a real artist in timing and shading, in stylish fluency and tact besides wholehearted communication with his composers.”
Over 60 works arranged by Gregg Nestor for solo/duo guitars or with various ensembles have been published with diverse groups such as Warner Bros. Music, Boosey and Hawkes (England) and Clear Note Publications. Gregg continues to be active in music and score preparation for Hollywood theatrical films and video games.
