The ''Ogives'' are four pieces for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

composed by

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

in the late 1880s. They were published in 1889, and were the first compositions by Satie he did not publish in his father's music publishing house. Cloître des récollets (Saverne) 04

Satie was said to have been inspired by the form of the windows of the

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

in Paris when composing the ''Ogives''. An

ogive An ogive ( ) is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object. Ogive curves and surfaces are used in engineering, architecture and woodworking. Etymology The earliest use of the word ''ogive'' is found in the 13th c ...

is the curve that forms the outline of a pointed gothic arch. The calm, slow melodies of these pieces are built up from paired phrases reminiscent of

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. ...

. Satie wanted to evoke a large pipe organ reverberating in the depth of a cathedral, and achieved this sonority by using full harmonies, octave doubling and sharply contrasting dynamics. Satie wrote this music without bar-lines.

Modern interpretations

An arrangement of ''Ogive'' No. 2 (incorrectly titled "Ogive number 1") was used in

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

's 1999 album ''

Pieces in a Modern Style ''Pieces in a Modern Style'' is the sixth album by electronic instrumentalist William Orbit. He is credited as arranger, programmer, producer, and performer of the album. It was released in 2000 by WEA and Warner Music UK in Europe and Maverick ...

'', and subsequently used in the 1999 film ''

Human Traffic ''Human Traffic'' is a 1999 British-Irish-Welsh independent coming of age comedy drama film written and directed by Justin Kerrigan. It is a cult film of the Cool Cymru era of arts in Wales. The film explores themes of coming of age, drug and ...

''.

Media

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

rendition, 1:30 minutes, 5 KB * for Charles Levadé, MIDI rendition, 1:32 minutes, 5 KB *, MIDI rendition, 1:47 minutes, 4 KB * for Conrad Satie, MIDI rendition, 1:35 minutes, 5 KB

References

Höjer, O.
Compositions by Erik Satie Compositions for solo piano 1889 compositions {{classical-composition-stub