"Erik Satie, Medieval and gentle musician, lost in this century". - Claude Debussy

Satie was inspired by his study of Gregorian chant, but also by the architecture of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Plainchant, with its purity bordering on austerity, its diatonicism, its ancient or ecclesiastical modes without chromaticism or sensibility, its slowness and free metre. And the Ogives were the first example of Satie abandoning measures.

The architecture, with its explicit reference to the emblematic technique of the Gothic period, the four ogives forming the outline of a pointed arch and intersecting at the keystone to form a structure of mineral stability and durability.
From this, Satie deduced the number and identical shape of his own Ogives. Each of them is itself composed of four parts which, in imitation of the choir of the faithful alternating psalmody of the readings or psalms performed by a soloist and responsorial chant (where the congregation sings together a response to the cantor's proposal), alternate pp and ff. Thus, in the first part, the theme is set out in unison in bare octaves, in the second part it is harmonised in parallel chords doubled at 2 octaves, imitating the tuning of an organ stop, the third part varies the previous one by limiting the harmony to the fundamental chord, and the fourth part is a repetition of the second part (though with very subtle differences in the harmonisation of the 2nd and 4th).

Frédéric Cellier - 2002

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).
He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).
Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, but also performs his own version for clarinet, piano and string orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.
Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of pieces of light music and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments acclaimed by numerous personalities in the music world:

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation