Whispered Words to Satie's Gymnopedie No 1
The Best Moments
Trois Gymnopédies, No. 1 (1888)
I'm Erik Satie, and these are the best moments of my Gymnopedie No 1. In about three minutes of solo piano, you'll follow one gentle, unhurried melody that settles over the room like a quiet afternoon, and that calm is well worth your time. Here on this site, my fellow composers and I also coach you to recognize our pieces the moment they begin, so why not give the Trainer a go ?
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Slow and Painful, but Mostly Slow
I open the piece with a left hand that plays one low note and then a soft chord, over and over, and I marked the whole thing "Lent et douloureux", which means slow and painful. Don't worry, the pain is mild, because it feels like tiptoeing through a quiet house in your socks, and the only real suffering is how little anyone is in a hurry.
The Hammock Can't Decide
In the middle I let the harmony rock back and forth between two gentle chords, a bit like a hammock that can't decide which tree it likes better. Then an E major seventh chord wanders in for a moment, and for a few bars things feel almost adventurous, by my standards.
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
I end the piece after about three minutes, and it fades out so politely that you may not notice it has left the room. That's fitting, because more than twenty years went by before the piece became famous, around 1911, when Maurice Ravel helped to bring it out, so I suppose I was simply early and very patient.
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Well, that's the end of my little walk through Gymnopedie No 1, and I hope you enjoyed learning about its best moments. Did it leave you with a bit more to listen for the next time you hear it? Looking back, I'm still fond of how little the piece asks for: a gentle left hand, a few soft chords and a melody that never raises its voice. It lasts only about three minutes, yet it seems to leave a lot of quiet room behind it. There's still plenty more to explore in Gymnopedie No 1, from the story of how Debussy orchestrated it to the way it took more than twenty years to become famous. If you'd like to keep going, please click on the links provided and wander a little further. I'd be glad to have you along, and I hope the music keeps you company for a long time.