Gymnopédies

This is more of a compilation of info around the web regarding various aspects of a song I enjoy. Gymnopédies has become a staple in my daily routine, and I thought it would be interesting to share.

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 an important precursor to modern ambient music — gentle yet somewhat eccentric pieces which, when composed, defied the classical tradition.

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 painfully, sadly, or gravely.

Satie was a colorful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, repetitive music, and the Theater of the Absurd.

An eccentric, Satie was introduced as a “gymnopedist” in 1887, shortly before writing his most famous compositions, the Gymnopédies. Later, he also referred to himself as a “phonometrician” (meaning “someone who measures sounds”) preferring this designation to that of a “musician”, after having been called “a clumsy but subtle technician” in a book on contemporary French composers published in 1911.

I first discovered the Gymnopédies many years ago in this brilliant commercial, perfectly capturing the music’s contemplative mood. It may be one of the best commercials I have ever seen.

I rediscovered Gymnopedie №1, which plays in the background of the commercial, on my son’s lullaby soundtrack. It’s unbelievably calming and gentle. Perfect for falling asleep…for both him and me.

I love ambient music, and highly recommend listening to this. In addition to the lullaby, I have recently started casting high definition nature scenery to my TV with my Chromecast, and use ambient music and natural lighting manipulations (i.e., closing the blinds) to set my family up for our morning or evening routines — winding up or winding down.

Doing this with Gymnopedie №1 and an hour-long beachfront sunset in high definition is an incredibly effective way to wind down after a long day, and gently enter into a sleep window.

The combined effect looks and sounds like this (click here)

The Gymnopédies are a pretty well known series of compositions, and it’s a shame I discovered them through a commercial of all things. But reading about Satie’s life and his music online was really interesting.

I eventually became interested in the word “Gymnopédies” itself, as it is so foreign to me that I’m not quite sure how to say it, let alone how to type that accent over the “e.”

It is said the word could have been borrowed from part of a poem called Les Antiques (The Ancients) by J.P. Contamine de Latour; translated to English:

Slanting and shadow-cutting a bursting stream
Trickled in gusts of gold on the shiny flagstone
Where the amber atoms in the fire gleaming
Mingled their sarabande with the gymnopaedia

So, Gymnopédies is a French translation of the Greek word Gymnopaedia, which is some kind of youthful naked Spartan war dance (frankly, that led me down a path I did not want to go). The etymology of all things “gymno” (e.g., gymnastics) apparently comes back to nakedness.

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. 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).

Google provides the following translation, though I may need help from a native speaker to get through this one. (Lacademonia was apparently a part of Sparta)

Air ou Nome sur lequel dansoient à nu les jeunes Lacédémoniennes

to

Air or Nome on which dansoient naked young Lacedaemonian

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.

I can’t fault them for using something that sounded cool — especially in the time they were in. Today, I wonder what the modern equivalent would be. Though, modern day neologisms seem much less cool, in both usage and meaning.

Anyway, I was hoping to discover Gymnopédies was something inspirational or meaningful, or maybe something as emotive or contemplative as the song’s mood itself. Certainly sits in stark contrast to the Spartan Gymnopaedia. Why had Satie chosen a title that seems to have no meaningful relationship to the work?

What I guess is less well-known is that Satie seems to have invented the term “gymnopedie” himself. But it’s not entirely clear what he meant by it. There have been, in fact, scholarly papers written debating exactly how Satie came up with the word.

Satie was, by all accounts, a strange but clever duck. A famous anecdote, probably at least partly apocryphal, recounts the aspiring composer’s first visit, in 1887, to Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat) nightclub, at that time the epicenter of the Paris musical scene. According to the story, Satie, lacking any artistic reputation at that point, arranged for his arrival to be announced by a friend with the words “Erik Satie, gymnopediste.” Rodolphe Salis, Le Chat Noir’s formidable proprietor, is said to have been temporarily taken aback, finally responding, “That’s quite an occupation.”

Satie picked the word to impress the crowd, which it certainly did, but what, if anything, he meant by it is a mystery. Most likely, Satie simply chose the term for its absurdity and risque overtones.

Satie did have an explanation to the title of these three pieces, and that was that the pieces were instigated by him reading a book called Salammbô, by Gustave Flaubert, which is set in Carthage, after the First Punic War (Carthage’s battles with the Ancient Roman Empire, known most for Hannibal, the leader of the Second Punic War). Although how Satie related this record of violent history to a beautiful and gentle piano piece isn’t clear.

For me to discover that Gymnopédies may be a meaningless word feels mildly anticlimactic and disappointing, but the irrational use of the word also connotes playfulness and eccentricity …and maybe even reflecting a kind of a childish purity for our human need to connect through something so absurd.

This may be what makes it so special.

C’est la vie