Alfred Éric Leslie Satie (Honfleur, 17 May 1866 – Paris, 1 July 1925) was a French composer, pianist, and writer. Over the years, Erik Satie would be described as a precursor of movements and styles as varied as impressionism, neo-classicism, dada, surrealism, conceptual art, minimalism and ambient music. As taking the first steps towards techniques such as prepared piano and music-to-film synchronisation, Satie became one of the first musicians to perform a cameo appearance in the 1924 film, Entr'acte, by the French filmmaker René Clair.