Whispered Words to Satie's Gymnopedie No 1
The Listen Guide
Trois Gymnopédies, No. 1 (1888)
I'm Erik Satie, and this is the listen guide to my Gymnopedie No 1. You'll learn to hear how a left hand that rocks between two soft chords carries a single plain melody through about three minutes of solo piano, which makes the piece easy to love. My fellow composers and I also teach you on this site to recognize our music when it starts playing, so see what the Trainer asks of you.
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One Piano, Two Hands, No Hurry
There is only one instrument here, a solo piano, so you can relax, because nobody is hiding at the back with a trumpet. Listen first to the left hand, which acts as the floor of the piece: a low bass note on the first beat, then a chord on the second and third, so you can count one-two-three along with it. It has a waltz-like sway, but please don't call it a waltz, because it's far too slow and wistful for anyone to dance to. Then let your ear drift up to the right hand, which sings the melody on top, and simply follow that tune the way you would follow a thread through a quiet room.A Name Borrowed from Sparta
The title Gymnopédie points back to the Spartan festival I mentioned, and the idea is that this slow, steady music should feel like a ceremony from very long ago. Where I got the idea is a small puzzle, because I said it was inspired by Flaubert's Salammbô. The story goes, though, that a poem called "Les Antiques" by Contamine de Latour appeared next to the music in 1888, so nobody can say for sure which of the two sparked the name. Historians can't even agree whether those ancient dancers were naked or only unarmed, which makes for a livelier dinner conversation than my music ever did.No Grand Structures, Not Even a Waltz
Choosing the form for this piece was a small adventure, mostly because I decided to leave the grand structures alone. What I wrote is a quiet, song-like piece that you can hear in three stretches: an opening, a middle where something new appears, and a closing stretch that settles back toward the mood of the start. It all stays in 3/4 time and in the key of D major, and the whole journey takes about three minutes. I'll walk you through the three sections one at a time, so you'll know exactly where you are.Section 1: Setting the Table
The opening is marked "Lent et douloureux", and the tempo never speeds up, so you can settle in without any worry. The harmony here moves between a G major seventh chord and a D major seventh chord, two soft colors that take turns without ever arguing. Over the steady left hand the melody joins in, simple and a little sad, and it sounds like someone thinking out loud. The mood is hushed and still, and that stillness is the whole point of this first part.Section 2: A Guest with a Different Hat
In the middle section the music keeps its calm tempo, but the color changes a little as the E major seventh chord makes its brief appearance. It is the only real visitor in the piece, so you may notice a faint brightening, as if a curtain had been drawn back an inch. The left hand carries on counting in three, and that steadiness is what stops the moment from turning into a drama. I like to think of this part as the piece looking up from its thoughts for a moment, before it settles down again.Section 3: Back to the Armchair
Now the calm of the opening comes back, and it feels different on the second visit because you know where it is going. The two seventh chords from the start take over again, and the piece sinks back into its original mood of gentle, wistful calm. Nothing is wrapped up with a big flourish, because the music just grows quieter and lets you go. The printed first Gymnopédie carries a dedication to Mademoiselle Jeanne de Bret, so you could say this last page is my quiet bow to her.Your Turn: Press Play
Now I invite you to hear it for yourself, so press play and let the music settle around you. It lasts only about three minutes, so you can't say you don't have time. As you listen, keep in mind the counting left hand, the singing right hand and the one visitor chord in the middle, and I hope the piece gives you as much pleasure as it gave me when I wrote it. Afterwards, try the version Debussy orchestrated at my request, which helped many more people discover the piece.---
So we've come to the end of this little walk through the Gymnopédie No. 1, and I hope the three minutes felt longer than they really were. I wrote it as a quiet piece, and I've always liked that it asks nothing of you except a little attention. Did you enjoy this listen guide to Gymnopédie No. 1? I hope it gave you a few new things to notice the next time the music begins. Once you know where the left hand sits and where the melody floats, the piece starts to sound different each time you return to it. There is still more to discover in Gymnopédie No. 1 than I could fit into this guide. The other two Gymnopédies have their own moods, and each one is worth hearing next to the first. Then there is the story of how the piece traveled from my piano to other musicians and, eventually, to a much wider audience. If you'd like to explore further, please click on the links provided below. Take your time with them, the same way the music takes its time, and let me know which part stays with you the longest.