Monday 29 March 2010
Tune of the Day: Gymnopédie No. 3
from “Trois Gymnopédies” by Erik Satie
Satie's Gymnopédies are what many consider to be the groundwork for today's ambient music, a kind of music that should be as ignorable as it is interesting. The three pieces, originally composed for solo piano, are calming, reflective, ethereal, relaxing, soothing, and elegant.
The third of the Gymnopédies, marked “Lent et grave” (“Slow and solemn”), has achieved further fame as an orchestral work, having been orchestrated, along with the first, by Claude Debussy. It is in the Gymnopédies that Satie first revealed the unique and unusual style that would make him famous (or infamous) in European musical circles: simple but occasionally unexpected chords, a straightforward melody and nothing else.