Gymnopédie
Encyclopedia
The Gymnopédies, published in Paris
starting in 1888, are three piano
compositions written by French
composer and pianist Erik Satie
.
These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopédies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music
— gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars of Gymnopédie No. 1 consist of an alternating progression of two major seventh chords, the first on the subdominant, G, and the second on the tonic, D.
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 "slowly", "dolorously" or "gravely".
From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music
, perhaps due to John Cage
's interpretation of them.
Satie claimed they were inspired by reading Flaubert's Salammbo
. (Orledge, P.207)
The exact connotation
intended by Contamine in using the Greek word gymnopédie
remains uncertain, among the possibilities are:
Gymnopédie also appears as an infrequently used word in 19th century France
, to the point it might have been perceived as a neologism by many. Further, in the Contamine poem gymnopédie is used in the singular, while the original Greek word (γυμνοπαιδία - "gumnopaidia") is always plural. It was, however, already mentioned in Jean-Jacques Rousseau
's Dictionnaire de Musique (Paris: Duchesne, 1775), where Gymnopédie is described as “Air ou Nome sur lequel dansoient à nu les jeunes Lacédémoniennes
” (vol 1, p. 376).
All this might indicate that Satie and Contamine chose the word gymnopédie perhaps rather for its intangible exoticism, than for connotations of which they were probably hardly aware themselves.
tried to cut himself loose from the conventional 19th century "salon music
" environment of his father and stepmother. In September 1887 Satie composed three "sarabands
" (Trois Sarabandes), taking a quote from Contamine's La Perdition by way of introduction. By this time, Satie knew Contamine personally.
Satie apparently used the word "gymnopédiste" (gymnopaedist), before having written a note of his later so famous gymnopédies.
The anecdote of Satie introducing himself as a "gymnopaedist" in December 1887 runs as follows: the first time Satie visited the Chat Noir
cabaret, he was introduced to its director, Rodolphe Salis
, famous for serving sharp comments. Being coerced to mention his profession, Satie, lacking any recognisable professional occupation, presented himself as a "gymnopaedist", supposedly in an attempt to outwit the director.
The composition of the three Gymnopédies started only two months later, and was completed in April 1888.
In August 1888, the "First Gymnopédie" was published, accompanied by the verse of Contamine quoted above. However, it remains uncertain whether the poem was composed before the music, or whether Contamine intended the verse as a tribute to his friend, who had now completed both a set of sarabands and gymnopédies.
Later the same year the "Third Gymnopédie" was published. There was, however, no publication of the "Second Gymnopédie" until 7 years later, with several announcements of an impending publication of this gymnopédie being made in the Chat Noir and Auberge du Clou periodicals.
, whose popularity was rising at the time, helped draw public attention to the work of his friend.
Debussy expressed his belief that the "Second Gymnopédie" did not lend itself to orchestration. (Orchestrations of this gymnopédie were only realised many decades later, by other composers, and without being frequently performed). Thus, on February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the Third and First only, reversing the numbering:
The score was then published in 1898.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
starting in 1888, are three piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
compositions written by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer and pianist Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
.
These short, atmospheric pieces are written in 3/4 time, with each sharing a common theme and structure. Collectively, the Gymnopédies are regarded as the precursors to modern ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
— gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition. For instance, the first few bars of Gymnopédie No. 1 consist of an alternating progression of two major seventh chords, the first on the subdominant, G, and the second on the tonic, D.
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 "slowly", "dolorously" or "gravely".
From the second half of the 20th century on, the Gymnopédies were often erroneously described as part of Satie's body of furniture music
Furniture music
Furniture music, or in French musique d’ameublement , is background music originally played by live performers...
, perhaps due to John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
's interpretation of them.
Contamine de Latour poetry
The work was possibly based upon the poetry of J.P. Contamine de Latour (1867–1926), who wrote Les Antiques ("The Ancient"), a poem containing these lines:| French version | English translation |
|---|---|
|
|
Satie claimed they were inspired by reading Flaubert's Salammbo
Salammbô
Salammbô may refer to:*Salammbô , the original novel by Gustave Flaubert*Salammbô , an unfinished opera, based on Flaubert's novel, on which Modest Mussorgsky worked between 1863 and 1866...
. (Orledge, P.207)
The exact connotation
Connotation
A connotation is a commonly understood subjective cultural or emotional association that some word or phrase carries, in addition to the word's or phrase's explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation....
intended by Contamine in using the Greek word gymnopédie
Gymnopaedia
The Gymnopaedia, in ancient Sparta, was a yearly celebration during which naked youths displayed their athletic and martial skills through the medium of war dancing...
remains uncertain, among the possibilities are:
- dance - probably, as he mentions it alongside another dance, the saraband(e)SarabandeIn music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
; - antiquity - supposedly, given the title of the poem. This however does not yet give a clear picture of how antiquity was perceived in late 19th-century France (see below);
- nudity - maybe, although words like "gymnastique" (gymnasticsGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
) and "gymnase" (gymnasiumGymnasium (school)A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
) based on the same Greek word for nudityNudityNudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
(γυμνός - "gymnos") were common in those days, but had lost any reference to nudity; in Sparta, when much of schoolwork was physical training, the youths were typically nude. It seems clear that -ped refers to children (paed). As suggested below, a dance or parade by children from the gymnasium seems a reasonable interpretation. - warfare (as in Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
the word indicated a war danceWar danceA war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare....
) - probably not; little war-like intent is apparent in the poem; - religious ceremony/festivity (which was the context of the Ancient gymnopaediaGymnopaediaThe Gymnopaedia, in ancient Sparta, was a yearly celebration during which naked youths displayed their athletic and martial skills through the medium of war dancing...
) - probably neither; there seems to be no allusion made to them in the poem.
Gymnopédie also appears as an infrequently used word in 19th century France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to the point it might have been perceived as a neologism by many. Further, in the Contamine poem gymnopédie is used in the singular, while the original Greek word (γυμνοπαιδία - "gumnopaidia") is always plural. It was, however, already mentioned in Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
's Dictionnaire de Musique (Paris: Duchesne, 1775), where Gymnopédie is described as “Air ou Nome sur lequel dansoient à nu les jeunes Lacédémoniennes
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
” (vol 1, p. 376).
All this might indicate that Satie and Contamine chose the word gymnopédie perhaps rather for its intangible exoticism, than for connotations of which they were probably hardly aware themselves.
Satie gymnopaedist
The Gymnopédies are the first compositions with which Erik SatieErik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
tried to cut himself loose from the conventional 19th century "salon music
Salon music
Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the romantic style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and often focus on virtuoso pianistic display or...
" environment of his father and stepmother. In September 1887 Satie composed three "sarabands
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
" (Trois Sarabandes), taking a quote from Contamine's La Perdition by way of introduction. By this time, Satie knew Contamine personally.
Satie apparently used the word "gymnopédiste" (gymnopaedist), before having written a note of his later so famous gymnopédies.
The anecdote of Satie introducing himself as a "gymnopaedist" in December 1887 runs as follows: the first time Satie visited the Chat Noir
Le Chat Noir
Le Chat Noir was a 19th-century cabaret, meaning entertainment house, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris...
cabaret, he was introduced to its director, Rodolphe Salis
Rodolphe Salis
Louis Rodolphe Salis was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir cabaret With this establishment Salis is remembered as the creator of the modern cabaret: a nightclub where the patrons could sit at tables with alcoholic drinks and enjoy variety acts on a stage, introduced by a master of...
, famous for serving sharp comments. Being coerced to mention his profession, Satie, lacking any recognisable professional occupation, presented himself as a "gymnopaedist", supposedly in an attempt to outwit the director.
The composition of the three Gymnopédies started only two months later, and was completed in April 1888.
In August 1888, the "First Gymnopédie" was published, accompanied by the verse of Contamine quoted above. However, it remains uncertain whether the poem was composed before the music, or whether Contamine intended the verse as a tribute to his friend, who had now completed both a set of sarabands and gymnopédies.
Later the same year the "Third Gymnopédie" was published. There was, however, no publication of the "Second Gymnopédie" until 7 years later, with several announcements of an impending publication of this gymnopédie being made in the Chat Noir and Auberge du Clou periodicals.
Orchestrations by Claude Debussy
By the end of 1896, Satie's popularity and financial situation were ebbing. Claude DebussyClaude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, whose popularity was rising at the time, helped draw public attention to the work of his friend.
Debussy expressed his belief that the "Second Gymnopédie" did not lend itself to orchestration. (Orchestrations of this gymnopédie were only realised many decades later, by other composers, and without being frequently performed). Thus, on February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the Third and First only, reversing the numbering:
- "First Gymnopédie" (original piano setting by Satie) → "Third Gymnopédie" (orchestration by Debussy)
- "Third Gymnopédie" (original piano setting by Satie) → "First Gymnopédie" (orchestration by Debussy)
The score was then published in 1898.