Satie vs. Dixie

On the way to the concert described below, an odd adaptation of Erik Satie's "Gnossienne no. 3" came on: clarinet, trombone, tuba and drums (there may have been other instruments, I'm not sure) playing it in a dixieland style. That sounds like an odd idea and, well, it was. At first, the sense of aimless wandering was maintained nicely by the clarinet, but with a steady drum beat and oom-pah tuba, it's kind of hard to maintain that special barline-less feel. Then the clarinet became much harsher, morphing into a laughing hyena/circus sound. The tuba foundation tended to make the static harmony sound poor rather than pure.

I would need to hear the piece again to really make a judgement as to whether I liked the overall result or not, but I doubt I'll be trading in my Aldo Ciccolini recordings any time soon.