"Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces
by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th
century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was
one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new
term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had
and would use many novel names for his compositions
("vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on).
"Ogive," for example, had been the name of an
architectural element until Satie used it as the name
for a composition, the Ogives....(+)
"Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces
by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th
century. Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was
one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new
term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had
and would use many novel names for his compositions
("vexations", "croquis et agaceries" and so on).
"Ogive," for example, had been the name of an
architectural element until Satie used it as the name
for a composition, the Ogives. "Gnossienne," however,
was a word that did not exist before. Satie used it as
a title for a composition. The word appears to be
derived from "gnosis"; Satie was involved in gnostic
sects and movements at the time that he began to
compose the Gnossiennes. However, some published
versions claim that the word derives from Cretan
"knossos" or "gnossus" and link the Gnossiennes to
Theseus, Ariadne and the Minotaur myth. Several
archeological sites relating to that theme were
famously excavated around the time that Satie composed
the Gnossiennes. (Wikipedia)
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