Violine (Gymnopédie)

Mentioning the word “gymnopédie” my mind goes immediately to the three famous compositions for piano by the French composer Erik Satie. These lovely pieces sound like slow, hypnotic dances, and personally I've always thought of them like dreamy waltzes. But Satie didn't actually invent the word “gymnopédie”, nor this musical form itself. Indeed he got inspired by a kind of dances that were very well regarded in the ancient Greece.

The “ gymnopédies” were feasts celebrated in Sparta in honor of Apollo. The participants were singing and dancing naked around the statue of the god, divided in a choir of boys and a choir of adults.

In his Gymnopédies Satie kept the element of hypnotic repetition, which is specific to folk music, and shaped it with his unique musical taste, creating these three dreamy and melancholic compositions. In my own Gymnopédie I decided to keep the same element of repetition, but giving the piece a bolder character. I chose to use flute and string trio because these instruments can either create timbral combinations which give the impression that one sole instrument is playing or keep their own identity such creating a dualism flute vs string trio. Furthermore, I can take advantage of the similarity between the strings' harmonics and the flute, creating more interesting situations.

The first part of the piece is an introduction characterized by the combination of the flute's pizzicato tonguing technique with the strings' pizzicato technique, which creates a new timbre. The continuous alternation between unisons and chords creates a contrast that emphasizes the perception of the quartet as a unit vs the clear identification of each instrument. At bar 22 the viola anticipates the main theme of the second part. The choice of using harmonics somehow creates a connection with the timbre of the flute, which later will perform and develop the same melody. The second part starts from bar 30. The rhythmic fragments which characterized the first part are joined together generating an ostinato played by the cello. The flute performs the main theme, which is reminiscent of a folk dance, while the violin and the viola mark the main accents with "sabers" of harmonics.

The short section from bar 60 to bar 68 works like a transitional moment in the piece. The ostinato is now played by the violin, and it lies on a soft tremolo “alla punta” performed by viola and violoncello. The gradual “sul ponticello” transition at bar 63 excites the two instruments' harmonics, and the flute fits in this range playing a bisbigliando. The microtonal dimension of the bisbigliando is perfectly complemented by the glissando played by viola and violoncello at bar 66 and 67 which ends this short section, followed by a bar of general pause.

From bar 69 to bar 88 the main theme is repeated for the last time. The ostinato disappears, and while the flute pays the melody, the string trio is now united marking the melody's main accents.

At bar 89 starts a Coda that recalls the first section. The rhythm gradually becomes more sparse, and the piece ends with the quartet performing a unison as a sole instrument.