Variations on a Theme

Gymnopédie #1 - Erik Satie

Variations on a Theme

Gymnopédie #1 - Erik Satie                             

Recording by: Randy Wilson

Details of Passage Depicted

Three different renderings of the same musical passage are presented together. This is the melody entrance.

It is a Landscape layout. Two parts have been portrayed separately.

The melody, played by an oboe is portrayed in all versions in red or orange tones.

The keyboard accompaniment is portrayed in blues in the outer two and in vertical struts in the center portrait.

The smaller rocks on the right side are overtones of the fundamental notes in the middle and on the left.

The ground plains do not represent the analyzed music. Only the three dimensional shapes represent the music.

Available as displayed, Individual Prints or a Tryptic

Notes about the Music and the Portrayal

Gymnopedie #1 is Erik Satie’s most famous piece. From a collection based on the Greek modes, #1 has a melody that is beloved around the world. In these portraits, that melody has been separated from the accompaniment to show the contours of each instrument more clearly. The overtones of both instruments blend and meld in different sections of the portraits, creating very unusual formations.