Vexations

Vexations is Eric Satie’s extraordinary piano marathon: a short section of music which the composer suggests should be played 840 times.

The London Sinfonietta's performance on 1 May 2010 lasted 18 hours (running over by just seven minutes!) and 27 pianists from very different backgrounds, including the ensemble's own Principal pianist John Constable, took part.

The Vexations room became a chill-out zone for the festival, with visitors able to dip in and out of the performance at any time throughout the day, grab a beanbag, do the crossword and enjoy the music, all set against a moving image installation by visual artist Tony Comley.

Read the Vexations participants' real time blog from the event.

6.00am – 9.00am

Andrew Burke
Jon Bunker
Alex Metcalfe

9.00am – midday

Peter Jackson
Karla Chaloupka
Adam Johnson
Diego Garcia Rodríguez

midday – 3.00pm

Fiona Harvey
Yoon Chung
Amanda Heish
Gabriela Georgieva
Alice Pinto

3.00pm – 6.00pm

John Constable
Claire Jones
Jennifer Carter
Jason Preece
Agalia Tarantino

6.00pm – 9.00pm

Hannah Gill
Laonikos
Christine Stevenson
Termirzhan Yerzhanov
Anna Sera

9.00pm – midnight

Antoine Francoise
Lukas Filipczak
Matthew Knowles
Alex Wilson
Philip Lawton