The Gymnopédies Trois Gymnopédies, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. He completed the whole set by 2 April 1888, but they were at first published individually: the first and the third in 1888, the second in 1895. Claude Debussy , a friend of Satie’s whose popularity was on the rise, helped draw public attention to Satie’s work. In February 1897, Debussy orchestrated the third and first Gymnopédies. Today we will hear an organ arrangement of the first Gymnopédie by Alan Ridout as the prelude. Satie’s example guided a new generation of French composers away from post- Wagnerian impressionism towards a sparer, terser style. Among those influenced by him during his lifetime were Maurice Ravel and Francis Poulenc , and he is seen as an influence on more recent, minimalist composers such as John Cage and John Adams.
