So what can we hear of surrealism and his personality in the Gnossiennes No. Satie was known to be friends with many painters and non-musical artists, with his irreverent wit and experimentation meaning that he was often dismissed by more ‘serious’ musicians and composers of the time. Let’s start with the definition of Surrealism: “the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations” or “a style in art and literature in which ideas, images, and objects are combined in a strange way, like in a dream.”. As such, the surrealist elements that Satie sought to represent may also be less obvious to today’s audience and that is what I thought I would try to explore in this blog post.
This music may not sound experimental to our ears today, which perhaps evidences how influential it has been. Especially given the fact that his interest in ancient Greece and reimagining of its music had already been the subject of his Gymnopedies (also for piano), composed just a few years earlier. A number of archeological sites linked to that myth were excavated around the time that Satie was composing the Gnossiennes, so it seems a reasonable theory. One theory is that it comes from the name of the Cretan city “knossos” or “gnossus”, home of the story of King Minos and the minotaur. The term gnossienne was also an invention of Erik Satie’s, although where he derived it from is subject to debate. They were highly experimental pieces, lacking the usual form and structure of classical music, not even having bar lines to denote the strong beats and phrasing. The Gnossiennes are a collection of works for piano written in the late 19th century and the first one is probably the most well known.
I therefore wanted to choose something restful and nourishing for the soul.
This song on the playlist marked the start of Round 3 of my friend’s cancer treatment (see my About page for more about how and why I started this blog).
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