Greetings everyone! A group of PWF members organized as a team late last September to present the works of French composer Erik Satie. These were posted earlier today in a couple of threads on the ABF. It was suggested we create this separate thread for those who do not regularly view postings on "Rostoskys Serious Thread" and the "Themed Recital" threads.
I consider this recording of "Gymnopedie 1" to be just the beginning of a learning journey, and I would classify this performance as a "work in progress." I still have a lot of work to do on this piece such as more focused attention to the dynamics, memorization, etc. However, I'm fairly satisfied with what I've pulled together in a relatively short timeframe.
Now that I've gotten it to this level, I am looking forward to finishing my work on this piece. I was so close to getting it memorized. However, I knew I wouldn't meet our November deadline, and I did find a workable solution to the problem. I also plan to pursue learning the other 2 movements of Gymnopedie.
At first I was extremely reluctant to take on this project because of the extremely busy work schedule I typically experience in October. However, I'm now glad that I got the opportunity to participate in this team effort!
My thanks again to Richard for agreeing to do the Sunday classical postings, which also helped me free up more time to at least get this to a presentable level.
I think this is an improvement on last time (metamorphosis piece) because I this time I was able to create ideas about the structure of the piece. While playing I imagined a French peasant (represented by the melody)wandering in the country with church bells in the distance (the accompaniment). However, when it came to listening to it it sounded more like raindrops (melody) on a puddle - hence the video we chose! And fortunately the background noise on the recording sounded a bit like rain - which fitted quite well.
Excuse the slips - missed notes, chords sounding uneven and overloud and scrappy at times. The piano also needs tuning.
I find Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes to be dreamlike, slowly wending their way through slightly unusual harmonies, repeating with very slight variations. The Gymnopedie No. 3 is in A minor in 3/4 time. The tempo marking is Lent et grave. A rhythmically repetitive bass line of single notes on the downbeat followed by a tenor triad on beat two grounds a reflective melody in the treble, which is repeated with a variation in the first phrase.
The challenge in this piece for me was not the fingering, but the nuances: playing the left hand softly enough to allow the right hand to sing out over it; trying to add subtle dynamics as marked in the score; seeking a sense of rubato. This performance doesn't capture the ideal of what I'd like to be able to do with this piece, but it captures the best of what I can do right now.
What can I say... I love the mysterious quality of much of Satie's work. The Gnossienne's have no measures and some very strange instructions left to us by the composer. Instructions such as "Advise yourself carefully", "Very shiny" and "Postulate within yourself". I chose to play this piece a bit faster than many play it and I give the low F a steady drone using the sostenuto pedal.
This is my first attempt at recording where people might actually hear it, and my first real experience recording on my acoustic. What an eye opener! I got so self-conscious of my errors it was hard to emote! Next time! The pictures are purely filler of stuff in our yard.
Anyway. Gnossienne 2. I envision Satie running into that girl he was in love with, and the whole gamut of emotions that goes with running into someone you once cared a great deal for: the shock, the happiness, the self-consciousness and awkwardness, the spark of sadness in the end.
I thought the pedaling in this piece was extremely tricky. You need to be very precise, or it sounds warbly and drones on and on. Technique wise, I am having some strength issues lately with my left hand, so trying to quiet the chords and play them evenly was the biggest challenge. I'm not thrilled with my performance, but I am happy I got through it and was able to participate finally! It was a great learning experience. Special thanks to Dipsy for roping me in.
I came to know about Satie by Gnossienne 3! I accidentally found it while browsing the performance videos of an youtube user. It moved me so much by creating an unusual feelings that I still can't express exactly: some kind of eerie dreams that I never dreamed before. But it surely has a strong hypnotic attraction that evolves from the combination of all the dark emotions it produces inside the listener, that's why I can't stop loving it and listening to it again and again!
About its interpretation, I was so confused! It looks so easy on the sheet, but the apparent freedom in its interpretation makes it quite difficult to translate the charm of the piece musically! During my journey of learning this piece I learned a lot by facing difficulties and trying to overcome them - one of most important of them would be controlling the dynamics of the left hand chords accompanying the right hand melodies. Overall, I had a great experience and I'm so happy to become a part of this recital!
I’ve read several theories about the origin of these pieces, but above all, this Gnossienne inspires me serene beauty, and this has been the viewpoint of my attempt to perform this music.
For the video, I’ve chosen some paintings by Joaquín Sorolla, a Spanish painter of the early twentieth century, together with the original manuscript of this Gnossienne.
I was first introduced to Satie's music as a teenager when my brother gave me this wonderful CD (http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Williams-F...williams+barber). I loved the simple, melancholy sound of Satie's Gymnopédies. I've had the piano music for some time, but never felt like I could do this music the same justice as the orchestra on that CD. Thank you PW friends for giving me an opportunity and the encouragement to buckle down and learn one of these piano pieces!
Before signing up for this recital I’d not heard Gnossienne 6. In the playing I found myself a prisoner of the phrasing - mostly three or four beat motifs. I couldn’t find any continuity and Satie, rather than help us out, prefers as always to make fun of us with his cryptic directions (rigourous sadness, healthy superiority, haggardly).
Checking out YT I found a handful ranging from Leeuw’s clockwork to Pascal Roge’s wild and wonderful phrasing. In my hands that sort of thing would come out sounding contrived and ridiculous so I played it safe and sedate. Wish I'd played it slower but every take has something wrong with it; being mindful of one thing, I forget another. I’ll be going back to Roge later to see what, if anything, I can learn.
Anyway, it’s been a mixture of fun and exasperation and, the biggest payoff, after 50 years stuck playing exclusively between f and ff - a chance to try mf and p. Wow! Who knew? Still so much work to do.
When the thread’s up I’ll pour myself a large glass of wine and let your Gymnopodies and Gnossiennes fill the airwaves around me. What a treat!(monochrome, in a desperate attempt to add moodiness)
I too hadn't heard of Eric Satie until this recital. Although I have heard a couple of the pieces before. I chose Gnossienne 7, as I thought it sounded unique. The challenge for me was making it sound musical. This wasn't my best performance, but it was the best take I got.
Wow!!! Thank you everyone for this lovely recital!! Your playing is beautiful. I'm enjoying all the pieces and am inspired now to learn some Satie! Thank you for all your efforts and for sharing your playing. I'll be listening many times over in the days to come.
Griffin - this is the only one of Satie's pieces that I've tried to play, so I can understand some of the physical challenges in getting it into good shape. I think you did a great job capturing the delicacy of the piece - and you made it sound easy! Lovely playing!
Dipsy - I enjoyed your performance, though the rushing water was a little bit loud at the beginning, it was a fun addition to the experience. I liked your description of the French scene, and churchbells. My church bells (about 100metres from my door!) were ringing as I listened and that added to the idea. Good work on getting this to the level you did.
Piano Student 88 - any recordings we do are wonderful "snapshots" of where we are in a given moment. I think that your performance was very good - you definitely caught the dreamy mood. It was very interesting for me to listen to all three of these pieces one after another and to hear their similarities and differences. My compliments!
Peyton - interesting interpretation - I like the faster performance better than slower versions I've heard! Satie's instructions to the pianist are indeed rather odd. "Postulate with yourself"? I had a "hall of mirrors" feeling imagining myself wandering around in an absinthe haze of unreality. How's that for immersing yourself in the mood? Excellent performance!
AimeoO, what an interesting background story you gave to your piece. The challenges you mentioned with getting your recording are not at all obvious to my ear. I think you managed to get the voice right, and good job on the pedalling! I know from my limited experience what a beast that can be to conquer! your garden looks pretty too!
Rupak - you really did a super job on the dynamics in this piece. I see a smokey room, something rather Turkish, carpets, cushions, decadence, dreaminess, yes... but not the simple sleep of a child! Well done indeed!!!
Recaredo! That was wonderful - I'm so impressed with your progress! I missed hearing you in the ABF recital this time, but I can see that you were dedicating your time to something quite marvellous! I thought that at the beginning of the piece, the water in the paintings looked mysterious and dangerous - but as you went through it became lighter and welcoming. I loved being introduced to this piece, the painter, and seeing the original manuscript - what a great combination of sensory input!
Lady Chen - well this one is quite different isn't it? The left hand voice has a similar pom pom with the large leaps, but the right hand is such a different mood from the previous performances - it sounds as though Satie was in a much more cheerful mood! I think your performance was simply charming! Well done!
Dire Tonic...safe and sedate? Well, perhaps - but MOST enjoyable! I have to repeat what I said to Lady Chen - this one is different again - a completely different mood. Here I would guess Satie was content. Your playing looked so confident and though I'm not familiar with the piece, the tempo sounded well balanced to me. If you had played it more slowly I suppose it might have sounded a bit less content..hmm? Well, who knows? This performance was a pleasure to experience.
Wayne33yrs - This is different sounding! The first few bars had me thinking it was going to have a sort of jazz feel to it, but then, nope! This made me think of desert sands, a caravan, mystery, blazing sun and brilliant stars in a blue-black sky. Excellent dynamics. Well done indeed!!!
I'm so impressed with all the work that went into this Themed Recital - I hope that you are all feeling very proud of yourselves!!! I feel that I've had a wonderful introduction to these pieces and appreciate all the time and effort each one of you put into your performances.
What comes across loud and clear is that you all found challenges to deal with in these pieces - but that you also found your way through a unique team collaboration and support system. It is also very clear that you have all ended up feeling something very special about your work, the group, and what you've learned through working on these very particular pieces.
What a wondeful start to my week - thank you to each and every one of you!
I'm trying to give them all a listen today. this is very neat being able to listen to them in order and all by members of the forum. Dipsy, I love the video you show with yours. And you are right, the background noise actually works. The overall feeling of a rainy day on the water is enhanced.
This recital is just great! These pieces look easy at first sight but it looks like the slow tempo makes it extremely difficult to maintain an even rhythm, plus dynamics and tone must be a nightmare to get right. Thank you for all the work you put in this!
I adore this kind of atmospheric music and I really think I will give it a try myself in a couple of months before starting Alfred's book 3, even if it's way above my level.
Thanks for your kind remarks Sinophilia and Valencia. Cheryl, thanks for the feedback. That's always helpful. Also, thanks for suggesting we set up this thread.
Hey Rupak, looking at those three red lights I would say you're playing a Casio Privia DP set on "modern" mode You certainly know how to make it sound good.
Thanks a lot to Valencia, Cheryl, sinophilia and CarlosCC for your compliments! Cheryl, your feedback and comments are always encouraging to me! Your imagination of a smokey room is quite impressive. I never thought it that way, but it indeed matches with the illusive nature of this piece. Thank you very much for your enlightening comment!
Originally Posted By: sinophilia
Hey Rupak, looking at those three red lights I would say you're playing a Casio Privia DP set on "modern" mode
You're almost correct, sinophilia It's indeed a Privia PX-135 model, the "modern" mode is showing but it's hardly producing any sound I use it as a midi-controller and use some good software piano to get a decent quality piano sound with nice resonances etc. In this case I used Galaxy Vienna grand.
Griffin, Dipsy, PianoStudent88, Peyton, AimeeO, Rupak, Recaredo, LadyChen, dire tonic, Wayne33yrs, Thanks a lot for introducing this magic Satie's work to me. You all played it so sensitively. Especially I was touched by Gnoissienne 3 (Rupak). It has deadly motif indeed
You're almost correct, sinophilia It's indeed a Privia PX-135 model, the "modern" mode is showing but it's hardly producing any sound I use it as a midi-controller and use some good software piano to get a decent quality piano sound with nice resonances etc. In this case I used Galaxy Vienna grand.
Wow, then I was right, you make it sound really good! So can it still capture dynamics and touch when used like that? If I record mine as midi in GarageBand it sounds all flat.
It's really interesting to hear how much difference there is between your interpretations. And how much difference there is again with how I would like to play them.
For me, Gnossienne 3 by Rupak was closest to how I would like to play it. And I like dire tonic's black and white video (some had already been experimenting with color photography since 1840 but it was pretty rare till 1900).
Thanks for your feedback Wouter. I hope you might also consider joining the next Themed Recital being organized for next year. I know you could find this a very rewarding experience. I'm sure Wayne would love to hear from you.
If you haven't done so, check out the "Themed Recital --The Big One" thread. There are still lots of selections needing folks like you to perform them! .
This is fabulous, guys. I adore Satie. I'm always debating which is my favorite. Sometimes it's Gnosienne 5, sometimes 3, sometimes Gymno 1.... I love 'em all. It's great to see them all together in one place. Y'all did wonderful!
I've spent a very enjoyable hour listening to all these pieces.Consistently high standard of playing and nice vids. I think video recitals are a great idea.
Oh my gawd, someones going to get seventeen life sentences without hope of parole for stealing a loaf of bread to feed their seventeen adopted special needs starving children then.
>Thanks for your feedback Wouter. I hope you might also consider joining the next Themed Recital being organized for next year. I know you could find this a very rewarding experience.
griffin, yes I saw that recital and yes it looks inviting. But I have no time left at this moment - working on 1 new one and keeping up 3 for a coming recital takes away all my time and after that there will be the christmas break. I'll see next year.
Bravo to all of the players. I've just listened to every performance and found a new affinity for Mr. Satie that wasn't there before. Thanks so much to all of you for sharing the fruits of your labor.
If you haven't done so, check out the "Themed Recital --The Big One" thread. There are still lots of selections needing folks like you to perform them! .
You in on this one griffin?
Originally Posted By: Rostosky
Originally Posted By: TrapperJohn
Although I'm serving on jury duty right now
Trap
Oh my gawd, someones going to get seventeen life sentences without hope of parole for stealing a loaf of bread to feed their seventeen adopted special needs starving children then.
If you haven't done so, check out the "Themed Recital --The Big One" thread. There are still lots of selections needing folks like you to perform them! .
You in on this one griffin?
No thanks Wayne! My regular piano studies have taken a nosedive. Doing recitals with deadlines is not a good thing for me to do right now. I have some major pieces I'm working on with my teacher, and I have to remain focused on those for a while.
However, I'd be happy to post the recital if Rossy is too busy when the time comes.
Finally got a chance to listen at length and in depth - here are some brief reviews:
Gymnopédie 1 - Griffin - melodic and delicate - sensitively performed - I don't see how you could improve this much at all - very artistically done Grif!
Gymnopédie 2 - Dipsy - reflective and wistful - very nicely accomplished - good choice of accompanying video - just a tad more polishing and you've nailed it...
Gymnopédie 3 - PianoStudent88 - warm, lovely and thoughtful piece very assuredly played - fine touch on the keyboard - enjoyed your performance measurably...
Finally got a chance to listen at length and in depth - here are some brief reviews:
Gymnopédie 1 - Griffin - melodic and delicate - sensitively performed - I don't see how you could improve this much at all - very artistically done Grif!
Gymnopédie 2 - Dipsy - reflective and wistful - very nicely accomplished - good choice of accompanying video - just a tad more polishing and you've nailed it...
Gymnopédie 3 - PianoStudent88 - warm, lovely and thoughtful piece very assuredly played - fine touch on the keyboard - enjoyed your performance measurably...
Trap
Thanks for you thoughtful feedback TJ! I truly appreciate it.
Gnoissienne 1 - Peyton - mysterious indeed - if Satie's instructions had been "haunt your listeners" you have accomplished this to perfection - love the dark beauty of this piece with the clear, ringing melody line and the throbbing base - and your patient pacing is remarkable - a mesmerizing and masterful performance Peyton
Gnoissienne 2 - AimeeO - soft and sweet and thoughtful - very nice, gentle performance - so easy to listen to and get lost in - music for a twilight summer evening - well done.
Gnoissienne 3 - Rupak - everything I said about Peyton's performance of Gnoissienne 1 above applies equally well here - this piece could be a companion to that one (another movement in the same suite, as it were) - dark, brooding and mysterious - wonderful execution, especially the ever-so-slightly delayed pacing throughout, and the excellent highlighting of the melody line against the repeating and pulsating base - great touch and feel on the keyboard!
Gnoissienne 4 - Recaredo - still more dark and somber atmosphere - not sure the video matches the feeling here (maybe scenes along a lonely river bank in rain at dusk?) - very astutely and sensitively played though - good effort Recaredo!
Gnoissienne 5 - LadyChen - finally a brighter and lighter piece - really nice execution of the tricky right hand patterns against the repeating base - this is a very assured performance and a good listen - delightful LadyChen!
Gnoissienne 6 - dire tonic - appealingly done with a good deal of assurance and skill - after 5 previous Gnoissiennes it's hard to concentrate on or appreciate the merits of this piece above the others (which is unfair to you and Satie), but you did a fine job nevertheless...
Gnoissienne 7 - Wayne33yrs - yes, this one is unique, which could be either a good thing or a bad thing depending... the composition here seems to be a little more disorganized (or less structured) than the other Gnoissiennes which is probably not helpful - you said that the challenge was to make it sound "musical", which you did, although this seemingly wasn't an easy task - sorry that you didn't as you say "get your best performance" although this one was certainly good enough (all things considered). Nice, commendable effort.
Trap
P.S. Hope those of you who participated in this "Themed Recital" (and congratulations again for doing so!) but who have not previously submitted work to the quarterly ABF Recitals will consider doing so in the future - there is a lot of outstanding talent here that deserves to be heard on a much wider basis.
Thank you, Trap. You noticed in listening what bedevilled me in the performance. Not for nothing are those more familiar Satie pieces better-known. It was that haunting Satie mystique I tried without success to find in my piece. Frankly, it left me perplexed, lol! Still, it was a huge benefit to me in the doing of it. Thanks for listening and commenting. The invitation to the quarterlies is noted. Expect to have your patience tested with some R&B noodling in the not too distant.
Thanks to Cheryl also and everyone who posted their kind, appreciative comments. What makes this work so well is knowing we don’t do this in a vacuum.
Despite being written by the same composers this is a disparate collection of work. It's performed by players of different levels of skill and experience on different instruments in different parts of the world.
And yet there's a unity in the ten pieces pervading the recital as a whole. And it's not Satie, that whimsical and ambiguous joker. It's something else. I don't know what it is. I couldn't even listen to all the pieces on the one day, at least not in their entirety, but had to spread it over so many days.
I know from PM's with some of you how much has gone into this and how much it means to have been involved and now it's done it hardly seems fitting for me to add anything. There's nothing I can say that would either add or detract from your collected experiences. It's been a success. You've all taken it seriously, worked conscientiously and delivered to the best of your abilities and none of you have let the side down.
I hope the effort is going to spur on those that don't already participate in the ABF recitals to venture forth again with sharing a little of your playing. I know from my one and so far only submission that it adds a focus and attention to your practice that's hard to find elsewhere and provides a delight in the listening, even to beginners performances, that has, frankly, perplexed me.
You certainly know how to make it sound good.
I use it as a midi-controller and use some good software piano to get a decent quality piano sound with nice resonances etc. 
I've just listened to every performance and found a new affinity for Mr. Satie that wasn't there before. Thanks so much to all of you for sharing the fruits of your labor.