In May of 2010, Jack Straw presented a performance by a rotating cast of 30 pianists, playing through Erik Satie’s infamous “Vexations” theme 840 times, as suggested by the composer’s vexatiously enigmatic note on the original manuscript. The performance started at 4:00pm on Saturday, May 15th, and ended the following day at 11:20am, after the piece had been played exactly 840 times. To our knowledge, this was the first time this had been done in Seattle.

Pianist and composer Roger Nelson performed the eighth hour, from 11pm to midnight.

Read more about this project on our website: https://www.jackstraw.org/program/art-heritage-partnerships/vexations-live-at-jack-straw/