Gymnopédies
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The Gymnopédies, or Trois Gymnopédies, are three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie. He completed the whole set by 2 April 1888, but they were at first published indi
Beginning of 1st Gymnopédie in the autograph
Jeunes filles au bord de la mer (1879), painting by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Beginning of 1st Gymnopédie
Gymnopaedia
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The Gymnopaedia was an annual festival celebrated exclusively in ancient Sparta, which helped to define Spartan identity. It featured generations of naked Spartan men participating in war dancing and
Gymnopédies
…third compositions were published in 1888, while the second would not be published until 1895. The work's unusual title comes from the French form of gymnopaedia, the ancient Greek word for an annual festival where young men danced either naked or, perhaps figuratively, simply unarmed. The source of the title…
A theatre constructed in Ancient Sparta during the late Hellenistic / Early Roman period. Though the Gymnopaedia would have been celebrated for hundreds of years before this theatre, it has the same sloped view the Spartans likely used.
An artistic interpretation of Pyrrhic dance by Lawrence Tadema. Pryrrhic dance is similar to what the Spartans may have performed during the Gymnopaedia.
Palm leaves such as this would have been used to construct the thyreatic crowns for the festival.