What if Satie wrote a 4th Gymnopedie?

When I heard the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat and Tear’s arrangement of Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie #1, it started a long love affair of listening to and playing the beautiful music of this eccentric French composer. A few years ago I was sight-reading through an anthology of his piano music. When I reached the “Trois Gymnopedies”, I played them over and over. After awhile I started improvising in the slow, doleful, 3/4 format of these pieces, and I got into a zone which felt like maybe I was channeling Satie’s spirit. My extemporization eventually took shape, and I created a completely new piece, very similar to Satie’s 3 Gymnopedies. I hope he would approve of my creation, which I call “Gymnopedie #4”.

The track is available on CDBaby and iTunes, or you can listen via YouTube below. If you are not familiar with the music of Satie, check it out!