As soon as you hear Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, you always remember it. Not that pop culture would let you forget it: the piece has been, and continues to be, reinterpreted and sampled by musicians working in a range of genres from pop to digital to steel. In versions that appear close to what Satie would have intended when he composed it in 1888, it’s also been included in many movies and television programs. It’s even heard with some regularity in YouTube videos, though when it comes to the one from The Songs Teacher above , it’s not simply the soundtrack, yet likewise the subject. Utilizing an annotated score, it describes just what makes the piece so enduring and significant.
Upon” an easy iambic rhythm with two uncertain major 7 th chords,” Gymnopédie No. 1 presents a tune that” drifts above an ascetic procession of notes,” after that” steps down the octave from F# to F#.” With its absence of a clear key, along with its absence of development and dramatization that the orchestral songs of the day would have trained listeners to anticipate, the piece was “as surprising as the dance of nude Spartans it was meant to stimulate.”
The melody makes its turns, but never ever quite reaches its seeming destinations, walking around in circles instead– before, suddenly, swerving into the” minor and dissonant “before finishing in “profound moody.”
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In spite of music generally having long since absorbed the daring top qualities of Gymnopédie No. 1, the original piece still captures our ears– in its refined method– whenever it begins. So, in another method, do the less well-known and more experimental Gnossiennes with which Satie followed them up. In the video clip above , the Songs Teacher provides an aesthetic description of Gnossienne No. 1, throughout whose performance” soft harshness hangs in the air” while” an interested tune floats over gentle syncopations in the left hand” over just 2 chords. Ball game features” surreal comments”:” Très luisant .,”” [************ ] Du spell de la pensée ,” “ Postulez en vous-même , “” Questionez ” Satie is frequently credited with introducing what would end up being ambient songs ; can these be proto – Oblique Approaches
Related Material:
View Animated Ratings of Eric Satie’s Many Famous Pieces:” Gymnopedie No. 1 and” Gnossienne No. 1
Listen to Never-Before-Heard Functions by Erik Satie, Performed 100 Years After His Death
The Velour Underground’s John Cale Plays Erik Satie’s Difficulties on I’ve Obtained a Secret ( 1963
Based in Seoul, Colin M a rshall writes and broadcas ts on cities, language, and culture. His tasks consist of the Substack e-newsletter Publications on Cities and guide The Stateless City: a Go through 21 st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social media network previously called Twitter at @colinm a rshall