Musical analysis of Erik Satie's works titled Gnossienne

Erik Satie, one of the twentieth century French composers, started to produce works in the Gnossienne genre after listening to the performances of the ensemble, known as the Romanian Lăutars, at the World's Fair in 1889. It is known that there are 7 piano works titled Gnossienne in the literature. Of these, No. 1-3, printed together with the name Trois Gnossiennes. No. 4-6 was published years after Satie's death. No. 7 was used in a different work of the composer while he was alive. The aforementioned works exhibit a sound universe that is almost entirely separated from the usual Major/Minor sonority from tonal music. Considering the composer's cultural environment, it is understood that the aforementioned sound universe belongs to modal music as the closest option. In addition to the modal effect in the works, the similarities and differences in the musical atmospheres are also striking. Based on this, it is thought that there may be a relationship between the composition/publishing processes of the works and the musical elements they contain. Therefore, within the scope of this thesis, works titled Gnossienne were examined in terms of formal, melodic, tonal/modal understanding, harmonic and rhythmic structure. It has been determined that in the works, -including some additions- one-two-three-part song forms and arch forms are used. While the content of the sections can be explained by structures such as "core", motif, sentence or the materials of the mentioned structures in No. 1-5; In No. 6-7 could only be expressed in musical "ideas". It was determined that modal scales are used in Central European folk music without a standardized name and the Medieval church modes. In particular, the [A] scales used in No. 1, 3, 4 and 7 -as heard in Central European folk music- draw attention. Likewise, this situation clearly reflects Satie's inspiration from Lăutari music. The work in which the Medieval church modes are concentrated is No. 2. Because, Dorian, Phrygian, Locrian, Mixsolydian and Lydian modes are encountered extensively in the work. Looking at No. 5-6, it has been determined that, unlike the others, arpeggio/chord sounds are used rather than modal scales. In addition to the modal scales used, modal elements in harmonic structure were also encountered. It has been determined that the functional harmony of tonal music, in other words, the Dominant-Tonic relationship is included in a different context in the works. Because it has been determined that the idea of producing chords from the modal scale is reflected in the works. Therefore, the fifth harmonic degree is also formed with modal scale sounds and is mostly used as a Minor Dominant. In addition, the widespread use of Plagal Cadence has also attracted attention. Because, Plagal Cadences, which were used before -as is customary in tonal music- without showing any Dominant-Tonic relationship, strengthened the modal sonority. When it comes to the rhythmic structures in the harmonic accompaniments of the works, the similarities in Nr. 1, 2, 3 and 7 have been determined. In particular, it has been determined that the rhythmic structure in the harmonic accompaniments of Nr. 1 and 3 is almost exactly the same. In the light of the data obtained, an inference was made about the similarities/differences between the works. The most similar works between them are No. 1 and 3 were found. Because the works mentioned are; It contains similar elements in formal, modal, harmonic and rhythmic terms. No. 2 could be included in this group due to the similarity in rhythmic structure and the use of a modal scale pointing to Central European folk music, although in a minority. Despite the difference in the rhythmic structure of No. 4, the modal scales used evoke No. 1-3. The musical atmospheres of No. 5-6 quite different from the first four. No. 7 was evaluated as "collage music". Keywords: Erik Satie, Gnossienne, mod, Lăutar.