Menus propos enfantins, arr. for recorder duet (various recorders possible)

from: E. Satie (1866-1925)

Originally for piano solo. Title means, Tiny Child-like Conversations. 1st mvmt: “Le chant guerrier du Roi des Haricots” (“War song of the King of the Beans”). 2nd mvmt: “Ce que dit la Princesse de Tulipes” (“What the Princess of Tulips said”). 3rd mvmt: “Valse du Chocolat aux Amandes” (“Waltz of the Chocolate with Almonds”). As the great Satie scholar Ornella Volta has said of Satie's children's pieces, they are not “about children, or for children, but indeed child music.” (From the introduction to the 2005 Eschig edition of Pièces Enfantines.) In other words, Satie wrote music from the perspective of his own carefully preserved child-self, and, by the way, without the slightest hint of condescension. Can be played on practically any recorders, provided that the relationship between the parts remains the same. It is preferable that it be played at original pitch, as indicated in the arrangement, but all 3 movements may be played on soprano and alto, or 2 altos—the extremely constrained ranges make many configurations possible. I would like to mention the possibility of playing the outer movements on bass recorders, and say that this would then be a two-bass hit. I dedicate this arrangement to the memory of the one from whom I first heard that term, my former mentor in music and jokes, who died in 2001, the wonderful early-musician Arnie Grayson. Minor revision (of texts) 7.19.7.