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About this Piece

The quirky titles Erik Satie invented for his compositions may suggest a certain offhand cynicism, but there is no aural hint of that in the three pieces heard tonight. The title Gnossienne is as enigmatic as the music itself. It is a word coined by Satie, and we can’t even be certain of what it means, though there must be some connection to the obscure religious philosophies of Gnosticism.