Satie/Debussy - Gymnopédie I & III {Orchestrated 1897}

Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde. His work was a precursor to later artistic movements such as minimalism, Surrealism, repetitive music, and the Theatre of the Absurd.

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From 3 Gymnopédies No. 1 and 3 orchestrated by Claude Debussy (1897)

3. Lent et grave
1. Lent et douloureux

orchestra info later

The Gymnopédies are the first compositions with which Erik Satie tried to cut himself loose from the conventional 19th century "salon music" environment of his father and stepmother. In September 1887, Satie composed three sarabands (Trois Sarabandes), taking a quote from Contamine's La Perdition by way of introduction. By this time, Satie knew Contamine personally.

Satie apparently used the word "gymnopédiste" (gymnopaedist), before having written a note of his later famous gymnopédies.

The anecdote of Satie introducing himself as a "gymnopaedist" in December 1887 runs as follows: the first time Satie visited the Chat Noir cabaret, he was introduced to its director, Rodolphe Salis, famous for serving sharp comments. Being coerced to mention his profession, Satie, lacking any recognisable professional occupation, presented himself as a "gymnopaedist", supposedly in an attempt to outwit the director.

The composition of the three Gymnopédies started only two months later, and was completed in April 1888.

In August 1888, the first Gymnopédie was published, accompanied by the verse of Contamine quoted above. However, it remains uncertain whether the poem was composed before the music, or whether Contamine intended the verse as a tribute to his friend, who had now completed both a set of sarabands and gymnopédies.

Later the same year the third Gymnopédie was published. There was, however, no publication of the second Gymnopédie until 7 years later, with several announcements of an impending publication of this gymnopédie being made in the Chat Noir and Auberge du Clou periodicals.

By the end of 1896, Satie's popularity and financial situation were ebbing. Claude Debussy, whose popularity was rising at the time, helped draw public attention to the work of his friend.

Debussy expressed his belief that the second Gymnopédie did not lend itself to orchestration. (Orchestrations of this gymnopédie were only realised many decades later, by other composers, and not frequently performed). Thus, in February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the third and first only, reversing the numbering: Satie's first became Debussy's third, and vice versa. The score was then published in 1898.

[EmailBibleStudies]

Having not played flute in over 35 years since graduating college, I found a piece that I was able to play along- niceeee and slooow...hehe

[MrGer]

Great performance ! Thanks for sharing!

[spliff]

First part sounds like work of Arvo Part. Beginning of the second part sounds like music from the movie Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

[LimaCastor]

00:06 3. Lent et grave
03:05 1. Lent et douloureux

[FrancoiseBonnefoy]

I just heard of these orchestrations. Thank you for posting. Exquisite.

[glummdelclitch]

Music for the end of the world... sad and beautiful.

[nemo]

When geniuses met, a miracle was brought to the world. This is one of those truly rare occasions.

[workpine]

The miracle feelings that Debussy just add to the color of this piece is so amazing, like how in the world this happened, is so beautiful

[danielbolanos]

Indescriptible lo que lograron Debussy y Satie. Sus melodías conmueven totalmente el alma.

[paatacha]

Thanks for your videos! Unfortunately I didn’t find this scores in web, even in imslp, maybe you could tell me where can I find it ?

[shin-i-chikozima]

Sorrow bleeds from me whenever I listen to this masterpiece

From
Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵

[maestrotheoretically]

What's with the wierd use of 8va's in 1st and 2nd violins during gymnopédie no.3? I tried sight reading along, and that really caught me off guard

[PointyTailofSatan]

It's like being in the elevator of some 5 star hotel.

[alainlejeune]

Cette version me semble un peu lente, mais pleine de charme.

[erikbeermann]

Beatiful orchestration of Satie’s piano works

[johnathanolson]

What's the cymbal that happens in no 3? It sounds like a modern effect