Gymnopédies

The ''Gymnopédies'' (), or ''Trois Gymnopédies'' ('Three Nude Dances"), are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. He completed the whole set by 2 April 1898, but they were at first published individually: the first and the third in 1888, the second in 1895.

History

The work's unusual title comes from the French form of gymnopaedia, the ancient Greek word for an annual festival where young men danced either naked or, perhaps figuratively, simply unarmed. The source of the title has been a subject of debate. Satie and his friend Alexis Roland-Manuel maintained that he adopted it after having read Gustave Flaubert's novel ''Salammbô'', while others see a poem by J. P. Contamine de Latour as the source of Satie's inspiration, since the first ''Gymnopédie'' was published in the magazine ''La Musique des familles'' in the summer of 1888 together with an excerpt of Latour's poem ''Les Antiques'', where the term appears.

It remains uncertain, however, whether the poem was composed before or after the music. Satie could have picked up the term from a dictionary such as Peter Lichtenthal's ''Dictionnaire de Musique'' (1839), where ''gymnopédie'' is defined as a "nude dance, accompanied by song, which youthful Spartan maidens danced on certain occasions", following a similar definition from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ''Dictionnaire de Musique''.

In November 1888, the third ''Gymnopédie'' was published. The second ''Gymnopédie'' did not appear until 1895, and its impending publication had been announced in several editions of the '' Chat Noir'' and ''Auberge du Clou'' magazines. The three pieces were not published together until 1898.

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes' symbolist paintings might have been an inspiration for the atmosphere Satie wanted to evoke with his ''Gymnopédies''.

Music

These short, atmospheric pieces are written in time, with each sharing a common theme and structure.

The melodies of the pieces use deliberate, but mild, dissonances against the harmony, producing a piquant, melancholy effect that matches the performance instructions, which are to play each piece "painfully" (''douloureux''), "sadly" (''triste''), or "gravely" (''grave''). The first few bars of ''Gymnopédie No. 1'' (shown below) consist of an alternating progression of two major seventh chords, the first on the subdominant, G, and the second on the tonic, D.

Reception

By the end of 1896, Satie's popularity was waning and his financial situation deteriorating. Claude Debussy, a friend of Satie's whose popularity was on the rise, helped draw public attention to Satie's work. In February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the third and first ''Gymnopédies''.

Legacy

Since the second half of the 20th century, the ''Gymnopédies'' have often been erroneously described as part of Satie's body of '' furniture music'', perhaps because of how John Cage has interpreted them. Collectively, the ''Gymnopédies'' are regarded as an important precursor to modern ambient music.

The first and second ''Gymnopédies'' were arranged by Dick Halligan for the group Blood, Sweat & Tears under the title "Variations on a Theme by Erik Satie" on the group's eponymous album, released in 1968. The recording received a Grammy Award the following year for Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance.

In 1980, Dame Cleo Laine and Sir James Galway released a version for jazz vocalist and flute entitled "Drifting, Dreaming (Gymnopédie No.1)", with lyrics by Don Read.

Also in 1980, Gary Numan produced a track called " (First Movement)", which appeared on the B-side of the single "We Are Glass".

The post-Jane's Addiction band, Deconstruction, covers a portion of ''Gymnopédie No. 1'' on the track "Wait for History" on their 1994 self-titled album.

A sample of ''Gymnopédie No. 1'' is featured in the Janet Jackson single " Someone to Call My Lover" (2001), which peaked at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

''Gymnopédies'' have been heard in numerous movies and television shows, such as the documentary '' Man on Wire'', Wes Anderson's ''The Royal Tenenbaums'', and Community Season 2 Episode 19 "Critical Film Studies".

The Woody Allen film '' Another Woman'' (1988) and the Louis Malle film ''My Dinner with Andre'' (1981) both use ''Gymnopédie No. 1'' in their soundtracks.

The Japanese animated drama film '' The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'' (2010) prominently features all three ''Gymnopédies'', and they are included in the film's soundtrack release as a bonus disc, including Satie's ''Gnossiennes'' and his composition " Je te veux".

''Mother 3'' features ''Gymnopédie No. 1'' in its soundtrack as ''Leder's Gymnopedie''.

In 2007, arranged the first and the third ''Gymnopédie'' for The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic. Jack DeJohnette included a tribute to ''Gymnopédies'' in his 2016 album ''Return''.

In 2018, Fernando Perdomo included a portion of ''Gymnopedie No. 1'' on his album ''Out to Sea''.

In 2021, violinist Fenella Humphreys released an arrangement of ''Gymnopédie No.1'' for violin. Stephan Koncz, cellist in the Berlin Philharmonic and the Made in Berlin quartet, wrote a string quartet piece called ''A New Satiesfaction'' (a portmanteau of "Satie" and "satisfaction"), based on ''Gymnopédie No.1'', which was recorded by the quartet for their first violinist Ray Chen's album ''The Golden Age''.

Notes

References

External links

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Public Domain sheet music of the ''Gymnopédies''
Mutopia Project

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1888 compositions
Compositions by Erik Satie
Compositions for solo piano
Ancient Greece in art and culture