Bruce Liu’s Waves: Music by Satie

The much-anticipated debut studio album from Bruce Liu, winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, was released by Deutsche Grammophon to critical acclaim in November 2023. Waves: Music by Rameau · Ravel · Alkan focused on three composers who played a part in the evolution of keyboard music in France between the 18th and early 20th centuries. The vinyl and limited-edition deluxe versions featured bonus tracks by a  fourth composer: Erik Satie. Liu’s readings of his Gnossiennes are now available as a digital album – Waves: Music by Satie. Out now, it presents two performances of all six works – the original grand piano versions and newly recorded upright piano interpretations. A video for No. 4, Lent (grand piano version) will be premiered on the DG YouTube channel at 3pm (CEST) today.

The eccentric and iconoclastic Parisian composer Satie invented the title Gnossienne for six deceptively simple short works for solo piano he wrote between 1890 and 1897. Full of new and unexpected colours, with a sometimes oriental feel, they may have been influenced by the eastern music Satie heard at the 1889 Paris Exposition. Bruce Liu, who was himself born in Paris, creates two distinctive but equally captivating soundworlds here with his grand and upright piano versions – from the richer tones of the former to the more intimate, hushed sounds of the latter. Both versions capture the purity and restraint of Satie’s pianistic style.

Waves: Music by Satie has been released on the eve of the knockout stage of UEFA Euro 2024 – and Bruce Liu’s piano is part of the soundtrack to the championship. As immersed as he is in his career as a professional musician, Liu is also passionate about sport. Having performed as part of the annual UEFA European Club Football Season Kick-Off event in Monte Carlo last August, he recently recorded a special rendition of Fire, the official Euro 2024 song – a collaboration between Italian producer trio Meduza (Luca de Gregorio, Mattia Vitale and Simone Giani), US band OneRepublic and German singer-songwriter Leony. The orchestral version, it too produced by Meduza, has accompanied the teams as they emerged from the tunnels at stadiums around Germany over the last two weeks.