Trois gymnopédies

Trois gymnopédies, three pieces for solo piano by French composer Erik Satie, written in 1888. The word gymnopédies was derived from a festival of ancient Sparta at which young men danced and competed against each other unencumbered by clothing, and the name was a (presumably) droll reference to Satie’s gentle, dreamy, and far-from-strenuous piano exercises. (Satie is known to have introduced himself as a gymnopédiste.) The Trois gymnopédies are the best-known of Satie’s piano pieces.

Satie’s vision of the piano’s strengths was minimalist and abstract. The mood of the three works is stately and serene, almost drifting from one moment to the next. Each of the three examines a common theme from a different perspective. Claude Debussy, who was an older contemporary and a friend, later orchestrated Gymnopédies No. 3 and No. 1.