Trois Morceaux en forme de poire: “Manière de commencement” (AKA Gnossienne No. 7), 2 versions

from: E. Satie (1866-1925)

Originally for piano duet, 1st version at original pitch, which requires a switch from tenor recorder to alto, and the 2nd transposed up a minor 3rd, for alto throughout. Title means Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear: “Way of Beginning.” There are in fact seven movements in this set—three “pieces” with two in front and two after. This is the first of the two that precede the “pieces.” Revised August 6, 2020. Considered to be another Gnossienne to add to the group of six that were so titled. Note that in measure 2, Satie brings in successively 3 chords, each of which stands in, as it were, for one of his previous pieces with harmonic innovations. The 2nd chord of the bar is identical with the 1st chord from Le Fils des Etoiles Prelude to Act 2, the 3rd one corresponds with the 1st chord from Prelude to Act 1 of the same piece, and the 4th chord is a dominant 9th of the exact same sort he introduced so innovatively in his 3 Sarabandes, which by the way could be considered the very first piece of music to be justly termed modern, in 1887. Then measure 3 reiterates two of those chord types, and the whole passage, not unremarkably considering the diverseness of its chords, is not only coherent but quite a rollicking start to the work. This intro, together with the very close resemblance of the main body of the piece with his Gnossiennes 1-6, makes the movement appear to be a highly unusual sort of musical autobiography. Revised Feb. 5, 2020.

Keyboard parts include separate recorder parts at no additional cost.

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