Satie sometimes wrote for the piano as if it was anything but a piano...

An ogive is the curve that forms the outline of a pointed gothic arch. Erik Satie gave this title to a set of four piano miniatures published in 1886 at the beginning of his career. Their calm, slow melodies are built up from paired phrases reminiscent of plainchant. He wanted to evoke a large pipe organ reverberating in the depth of a cathedral, and achieved this sonority by using full harmonies, octave doubling and sharply contrasting dynamics.

Satie wrote this music without bar-lines; in the following midi sequences, I have assigned time signatures that keep the original note durations.

• Ogive No.1
• Ogive No.2   for Charles Levadé
• Ogive No.3
• Ogive No.4   for Conrad Satie

The three Gymnopédies of 1888 are Satie's most famous piano pieces. They all have a sustained melodic line - at one point the piano is asked to hold a note through four slow measures - with a chordal background. Maybe Satie had in mind a flute and lyre accompanying the barefoot dancers depicted on an ancient Greek vase. I've taken the liberty of sequencing these for flute or oboe with accompaniment:

• Gymnopédie No.1   for Mlle. Jeanne de Bret
• Gymnopédie No.2   for Conrad Satie
• Gymnopédie No.3   for Charles Levadé

Two years later, he published the first three Gnossiennes. They also suggest solos or dialogues by wind instruments against chordal accompaniments; I've taken even more liberties with:

• Gnossienne No.2

On the other hand, these are unequivocally piano music:

• Sarabande No.1
• Sarabande No.2   for Maurice Ravel
• Sarabande No.3

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