Erik Satie / Danceries

Founded in 1972 by conductor and lutist Ichiro Okamoto, Danceries was an ensemble that played medieval and Renaissance-era music on period-appropriate instruments. They were a skilled bunch of classically trained Japanese musicians, touring Europe and sticking strictly to a repertoire of medieval compositions in their early days. In 1974, Okamoto says, they were asked to mix some traditional Japanese music into their performance while doing a show in France. They were hesitant at first but reluctantly agreed. “To our surprise,” Okamoto wrote in the liner notes of their 1981 album, “the European instruments imbued it with a rich, new color.” Since then, they continued to experiment with playing more modern music. One of their more unusual fusions is a collection of works by Erik Satie. Alongside the popular Gymnopédies are some of the lesser performed vocal works. It’s a bizarre mishmash of styles, performed with the rigor of well-trained performers while having levity that can only come with not caring that they’re taking the music way out of context.