Iannis Xenakis

Yannis Xenakis (in), born the May 29th 1922 with Braïla and dead the February 4th 2001 with Paris, is a Compositeur, Architecte and Engineer of Greek origin, naturalized French, married with the writer Francoise Xenakis, born Gargouïl, with which it had a girl, the painter and sculptrice Mâkhi Xenakis.

Biography

Architect of formation, raises in particular Le Corbusier, it assisted it in the construction of the Philips house at the time of the World Fair of Brussels in 1958. He had a great influence on the intellectual mediums.

From its training of architect and mathematician, it initially more particularly is interested in the Serial music, but it denounces dogmatic excesses quickly of them.

It then sets up the stochastic music (governed by laws Statistique S), which allows the stochastic Calcul to offer to the composition an semi-automated procedure. The computer will increase the possibility of creating a true “process” of creation, conceived in its globality.

It is also interested in the field of the acoustic music in a new spacialisation while placing the musicians in an unusual way, among the public, for example, or reiterating ancient around or remote procedures of the public. Many these experiments showed their effectiveness, generally at their time, the Festival of Royan of which it was one of most brilliant and surprising accustomed.

Xenakis created in 1976 a Graphical interface, the UPIC, with which it connects the visual world of graphics and the sound world of the music.

He was prize winner of the Prix of Kyoto in 1997.

Yannis Xenakis succeeds, by using procedures which could have made its works of the completely dehumanized productions, this feat of ingenuity to propose a music generally very lyric and often also, extremely moving. Nights , Orestie and its very last works which are rather close, curiously, in their voluntary simplicity, of the spirit of last works of Liszt. Undoubtedly this in this report is which the “Xenakis mystery resides” and, which knows, its genius.

Music and architecture

As of 1954, Yannis Xenakis creates Metastasis for 61 instruments; it is the first music entirely deduced from rules and mathematical procedures. For its creator, it is a question into practice of putting a direct relationship between music and architecture, combination certainly not very common, but which for the assistant of Le Corbusier goes from oneself.

He will make profitable this combination by using the same rules of construction in the development of the plans of the Philips house for the World Fair of Brussels in 1958; in this house will be emitted by loudspeakers, in the same concert, of works of Edgard Varèse ( electronic Poèmes ) and of Xenakis ( Concret pH for Parabole - Hyperbole). But this intrusion of a mathematical thought in the development of formalisms cannot profit yet from the tool computer to work out its representations.

Stochastic music

In 1956, a theorization of the stochastic music was published, which rests inter alia on the Game theory of John von Neumann. The chance is not there already more one simple chance; at Xenakis, contrary to the third sonata of Swell or to other “opened” works, contrary to Cage, and with its resignation of the type-setter, the probability is entirely calculated, the clarified rules (cf Achorripsis or ST/10-1 in 1961). The total process is foreseeable, even if the events which compose it are Aléatoire S. By this philosophy of creation, Xenakis tries to approach to the biological phenomena and the events of the alive world.

In 1957, appeared the first stochastic electronic parts: the Diamorphoses . For the first time, these theories profited from one technical support to the composition with a computer IBM (Xenakis worked in collaboration with Arnaud de Chambure). This part, which was also the first written by Xenakis with G.R.M., represents one of the first achievements led in this field of the “calculated” composition.

Music and space

Xenakis, initially with the Polytopes - son et lumi2ere displays proposed in various places of 1967 with 1978 -, then for the Diatope with the inauguration of the Center Georges-Pompidou, returned to the concept which is expensive to him of marriage between architecture and the music. Polytopes and Diatope (these two names come from mathematics) try to join together particular space dimensions specific to sound arts with those more usual of visual and the Kinesthésie.

Works (partial list)

Metastasis ( Metastaseis B' ) (1953-1954), for an orchestra of 61 instumentalists.
Pithoprakta (1955-1956), for an orchestra of 50 instumentalists.
Achorripsis (1956-57), for 21 instrumentalists.
East-Occident (1960), music for band extracted homonymous film of Enrico Fulchignoni.
Eonta (1963), for piano, 2 trumpets and 3 trombones tenors.
Oresteïa (1965-1966), on texts of Eschyle, continuation for chorus of children, chorus with accessories, and 12 musicians.
Terretektorh (1965-1966), for 88 musicians dispersed in the public.
Medea (1967), incidental music on texts of Sénèque, for a chorus of men and cymbals, and five musicians.
Nomos Alpha (1966), for violoncello alone.
Polytope of Montreal (1967), spectacle of light and sounds for 4 identical orchestras of 15 musicians.
Nights (1967), in Sumérien, Assyrian, Greek old and others Phoneme S, for 12 mixed votes and chorus.
Nomos Gamma (1967-1968), for 98 musicians dispersed in the public.
Anaktoria (1969), for a whole of 8 musicians.
Synaphaï (1969), for piano and 86 musicians.
Persephassa (1969), for six percussionnists. The Percussions of Strasbourg were the interpreters of creation.
Kraanerg (1968-1969), ballet music, for orchestra and soundtrack.
Persepolis (1971), for light and sounds (magnetic band).
Ashy (1973), for a mixed chorus of 72 (or 36) singers singing of the phonemes of Iannis Xennakis and 73 musicians.
Evryali (1973), for piano alone.
Shima (1975), on words of Hebrew and phonemes, for 2 mezzo-sopranes (or violas) and 5 musicians
Impressed (1975), for 85 musicians.
Psappha (1976), for percussions alone (variable instruments).
Dmaathen (1976), for oboe and percussion.
Khoai (1976), for harpsichord
Kottos (1977), for violoncello alone.
Rush beds (1977), for an orchestra of 109 instumentalists.
Pleiads (1978), for 6 percussionists.
For Maurice (1982), bariton and piano.
Shaar (1983), for a large string orchestra.
Stakes (1986), for a whole of 15 musicians
Keqrops (1986), for piano alone and an orchestra of 92 musicians.
Kassandra (Oresteïa II) (1987), for bariton (with amplification) playing of a Psaltérion with 20 cords and percussions.
Rebonds (has + b) (1987-89), for percussions alone.
the Goddess Athéna (Oresteïa III) (1992), for bariton and a mixed whole of 11 instruments.
Omega (1997), for percussion solo and 13 musicians. The last work of Xenakis.

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