In a typically humorous manner Satie countered the myth of the great master's last thought with his Next-to-last thoughts (Avant-dernieres Pensees). As was usual with his piano works from 1912 onwards, each of the three highly distinctive pieces with their sound sensitive piano settings contained a short whimsical story printed in the musical text as a subtext, which is more or less closely connected with the music. Satie dedicated his Next-to-last thoughts to prominent contemporaries: Claude Debussy (for no. 1 Idylle), with whom he was close friends, Paul Dukas (no. 2 Aubade, in English Dawn serenade), whose music he greatly admired, and Albert Roussel (no. 3 Meditation), his former teacher of counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum in Paris.