Today we received a very interesting request from a fan of ours, so we chose that wish for our article.
Gymnopedies No 1 by Erik Satie is the star of our website today.
Erik Satie was a French composer and pianist who lived between 1866 and 1884.
Even if he wasn’t a bright student and obtained no diploma, Erik Satie started playing the piano in a café-cabernet in the 1880s and after that, he began composing his own work – for example, the free Gymnopedies No 1 piano sheets.
Erik Satie composed music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was attached.
Today we are going to talk about the Trois Gymnopedies – three piano compositions written by Erik Satie.
Erik Satie completed the Gymnopedies set in April 1888 and it published Gymnopedies No 1 and No 3 in 1888 and No 2 in 1895.
The interesting fact about the song is the title of the free Gymnopedies piano sheet music comes from the French form of gymnopaedia, the Greek word used to describe an annual festival where young men danced naked or unarmed.
The song’s interpretation was also described as a "nude dance, accompanied by the song".
The first Gymnopedies was published in La Musique des Familles in 1888, also with an excerpt of Latour’s poem Les Antiques and there has been a debate whether the poem was composed before the music.
In the winter of 1888 – November, the Gymnopedies No 3 was published and the second one appeared in 1895.
Looking at the complete piece, the three compositions were released as a whole in 1898.
The pieces are written in ¾ time, with a common theme and structure – D major/D minor, C major and A minor.
The composition has been interpreted and covered by many artists and in many movies and TV shows over the years.
Some examples you should dedicate your time to listening are the ones by Louis Malle, Wes Anderson or Woody Allen.
