Iannis Xenakis
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Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May
1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...
– 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
composer,
music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...
, architect, performance director and engineer. After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalised citizen of France eighteen years later. Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of
set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...
, stochastic processes and game theory and was also an important influence on the development of
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
and
computer music Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...
. He integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances. Among his most important works are '' Metastaseis'' (1953–54) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as '' Psappha'' (1975) and '' Pléïades'' (1979); compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as ''Terretektorh'' (1966); electronic works created using Xenakis's
UPIC UPIC (Unité Polyagogique Informatique CEMAMu) is a computerised musical composition tool, devised by the composer Iannis Xenakis. It was developed at the ''Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales'' ( CEMAMu) in Paris, and was ...
system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called ''polytopes'', that were a summa of his interests and skills. Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book '' Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (French edition 1963, English translation 1971) is regarded as one of his most important. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the priory of Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, on which the two collaborated, and the
Philips Pavilion The Philips Pavilion was a World's Fair pavilion designed for Expo '58 in Brussels by the office of Le Corbusier. Commissioned by electronics manufacturer Philips, the pavilion was designed to house a multimedia spectacle that celebrated postwar ...
at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed by himself.


Life


1922–47: Early years

Giannis Klearchou Xenakis was born in Brăila,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
—the site of a large Greek community, as the eldest son of Greek parents; Klearchos Xenakis, a businessman from
Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...
who was managing director of an English export-import agency and one of the richest men in the city, and Fotini Pavlou from
Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...
, a pianist who also spoke German and French. His two younger brothers were Jason, who became a philosophy professor in the United States and Greece and
Kosmas Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek name ( grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς), from Ancient Greek Κοσμᾶς (Kosmâs), associated with the noun κόσμος (kósmos), meaning "universe", and the verb κοσμέω (to order, govern, adorn) linked to propriet ...
, an architect, urban planner and artist. His parents were both interested in music, and it was Pavlou who encouraged the young child to learn more about it: the young Giannis was given a flute by his mother, and the family visited the Bayreuth Festival several times, due to his father's interest in opera. Her early death in 1927, when Xenakis was five years old, was a traumatic experience that, in his own words, "deeply scarred" the future composer. She had previously been infected from measles and died after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. He was subsequently educated by a series of English, French, and German governesses, and then, in 1932, sent to Greece to study at the Anargyrio-Korgialenio boarding school on the Aegean island of
Spetses Spetses ( el, Σπέτσες, grc, Πιτυούσσα "Pityussa", Arvanitika: Πετσε̱) is an upscale affluent island in Attica, Greece. It is included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis ...
. He sang in the school's boys' choir, where the repertoire included works by
Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...
, and Mozart's '' Requiem'', which Xenakis memorized in its entirety. Varga, p. 14. It was also at the Spetses school that Xenakis studied
notation In linguistics and semiotics, a notation is a system of graphics or symbols, characters and abbreviated expressions, used (for example) in artistic and scientific disciplines to represent technical facts and quantities by convention. Therefore, ...
and
solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music. Solfège is a form of solmization, though the tw ...
, being introduced to the music of
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
and Johannes Brahms and became enamoured of Greek traditional and church music. At the same time, he discovered the writer
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
and had a habit of visiting museums. In 1938, after graduating from the school, Xenakis moved to
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to prepare for entrance exams at its National Technical University, also studying
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
. He was encouraged by his friends and family to do so due to his interests in physics and mathematics. Although he intended to study architecture and engineering, he also took lessons in harmony and counterpoint with Aristotelis Koundouroff. In 1940, he successfully passed the exams, but his studies were cut short by the
Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...
, which began with the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. Although Greece eventually won the war, it was not long before the German army joined the Italians in the Battle of Greece, in April 1941. This led to the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, which lasted until late 1944, when the Allies began their drive across Europe, forcing the Axis forces to withdraw. Xenakis joined the National Liberation Front early during the war, participating in mass protests and demonstrations, and later becoming part of armed resistance — this last step was a painful experience Xenakis refused to discuss until much later in life. After the Axis forces left, Churchill ordered that British forces step in to help restore the Greek monarchy; they were opposed by the
Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...
, and the country plunged into a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. In December 1944, during the period of
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
's
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
, Xenakis (who was by then a member of the communist students' company of the left-wing ''Lord Byron'' faction of
ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
) became involved in street fighting against British tanks. He was wounded and facially disfigured when shrapnel from a tank blast hit his cheek and left eye, which was blinded; the fact that Xenakis survived the injury has been described as a miracle. The Technical University operated intermittently during these years. Despite this, and Xenakis's other activities, he was able to graduate in 1947, with a degree in civil engineering. Xenakis was then conscripted into the national armed forces. Around 1947 the Greek government began arresting former resistance members that were left-wing oriented and sending them to prison. Xenakis, fearing for his life, went into hiding. With the help of his father and others, he fled Greece through
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
by using a fake passport. On 11 November 1947 he arrived in Paris. In a late interview, Xenakis admitted to feeling tremendous guilt at leaving his country, and that guilt was one of the sources of his later devotion to music:
For years I was tormented by guilt at having left the country for which I'd fought. I left my friends—some were in prison, others were dead, some managed to escape. I felt I was in debt to them and that I had to repay that debt. And I felt I had a mission. I had to do something important to regain the right to live. It wasn't just a question of music—it was something much more significant.
In the meantime, in Greece he was sentenced
in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in ab ...
to death by the right-wing administration. The sentence was commuted to ten years' imprisonment in 1951, and only lifted some 23 years later, after the fall of the Greek junta in 1974. He later returned the same year.


1947–59: Architecture and music

Although he was an illegal immigrant in Paris, Xenakis was able to get a job at Le Corbusier's architectural studio. He worked as an engineering assistant at first, but quickly rose to performing more important tasks, and eventually to collaborating with Le Corbusier on major projects. These included a kindergarten on the roof of an apartment block in Nantes (
Rezé Rezé (; br, Reudied, Gallo: ''Rezae'') is a commune (municipality) and former bishopric in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It is a southern suburb of Nantes. It was also called ''Ratiate'' ...
), the
Unité d'Habitation of Nantes-Rezé The Unité d'habitation of Nantes-Rezé is an apartment building located in Rezé, a suburb of Nantes, France designed by Le Corbusier. It contains 294 units, and was completed in 1955. It is part of the housing concept of ''Unité d'habitation' ...
, parts of government buildings in
Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...
, India, the "undulatory glass surfaces" of Sainte Marie de La Tourette, a Dominican
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
in a valley near
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
, and the
Philips Pavilion The Philips Pavilion was a World's Fair pavilion designed for Expo '58 in Brussels by the office of Le Corbusier. Commissioned by electronics manufacturer Philips, the pavilion was designed to house a multimedia spectacle that celebrated postwar ...
at Expo 58—the latter project was completed by Xenakis alone from a basic sketch by Le Corbusier.
Hoffmann Hoffmann is a German language, German surname. People A *Albert Hoffmann (horticulturist), Albert Hoffmann (1846–1924), German horticulturist *Alexander Hoffmann (politician), Alexander Hoffmann (born 1975), German politician *Arthur Hoffmann ...
The experience Xenakis gained played a major role in his music: important early compositions such as '' Metastaseis'' (1953–54) were based directly on architectural concepts. At the same time, he dropped the "G" from his professional name to get the name he is most commonly known by, "Iannis". At the same time, while working for Le Corbusier, Xenakis was studying harmony and counterpoint, and composing. He worked long and hard, frequently far into the night, and sought guidance from a number of teachers, most of whom, however, ultimately rejected him. Such was the case with
Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...
, who was the first person Xenakis approached about lessons. He then tried studying with
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...
, whose reaction to Xenakis's music was unenthusiastic. As Xenakis recounted in a 1987 interview, Honegger dismissed a piece which included parallel fifths and octaves as "not music". Xenakis, who was by that time well acquainted with music of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
, Béla Bartók, and Stravinsky, all of whom used such devices and much more experimental ones, was furious and left to study with
Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
, but these lessons also proved fruitless. Annette Dieudonné, a close friend of Boulanger's, then recommended that Xenakis try studying with Olivier Messiaen. Xenakis approached Messiaen for advice on whether he once again start studying harmony and counterpoint. Messiaen later recalled:
I understood straight away that he was not someone like the others.  ..He is of superior intelligence.  ..I did something horrible which I should do with no other student, for I think one should study harmony and counterpoint. But this was a man so much out of the ordinary that I said... No, you are almost thirty, you have the good fortune of being Greek, of being an architect and having studied special mathematics. Take advantage of these things. Do them in your music.
Francisco Estévez Francisco Estévez (Paco) is a Spanish composer who gained recognition for his avant-garde and electronic work during the 1970s when he trained in classical composition techniques, and performed with Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos of Kraft ...
has described this work as "mathematical formulas translated . . . into beautiful, exciting, and above all, convincing music." Xenakis regularly attended Messiaen's classes from 1951 until 1953. Messiaen and his students studied music from a wide range of genres and styles, with particular attention to rhythm. Xenakis's compositions from 1949 until 1952 were mostly inspired by Greek folk melodies, as well as Bartók,
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
, and others; after studying with Messiaen, he discovered serialism and gained a deep understanding of contemporary music (Messiaen's other pupils at the time included
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
and
Jean Barraqué Jean-Henri-Alphonse Barraqué (17 January 192817 August 1973) was a French composer and writer on music who developed an individual form of serialism which is displayed in a small output. Life Barraqué was born in Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine. In 1931 ...
, among others). Messiaen's modal serialism was an influence on Xenakis's first large-scale work, ''Anastenaria'' (1953–54): a triptych for choir and orchestra based on an ancient
Dionysian The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by Fr ...
ritual. The third part of the triptych, ''Metastaseis'', is generally regarded as the composer's first mature piece; it was detached from the triptych to mark the beginning of the "official" Xenakis oeuvre. He was considered to be part of the
Darmstadt School Darmstadt School refers to a group of composers who were associated with the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music (Darmstädter Ferienkurse) from the early 1950s to the early 1960s in Darmstadt, Germany, and who shared some aesthe ...
, but later broke with the group of composers, who he believed focused too heavily on serialism and controlling all aspects of composition. In an article titled “The Crisis of Serial Music” he specifically accused Boulez and Stockhausen of steering music into dead-end. On 3 December 1953, Xenakis married the journalist and writer Françoise Gargouïl, who he met in 1950. Their daughter Mâkhi, who later became a painter and sculptor, was born in 1956 in Paris. In late 1954, with Messiaen's support, Xenakis was accepted into the Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète; an organization established by
Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...
and Pierre Henry, dedicated to studying and producing electronic music of the musique concrète variety. Shortly after that Xenakis met conductor Hermann Scherchen, who was immediately impressed by the score of ''Metastaseis'' and offered his support. Although Scherchen did not premiere that particular work, he did give performances of later pieces by Xenakis, and the relationship between the conductor and the composer was of vital importance for the latter. By the late 1950s Xenakis slowly started gaining recognition in artistic circles. In 1957, he received his first composition award, from the
European Cultural Foundation The European Cultural Foundation (ECF) is a Netherlands-based independent cultural foundation. Its mission is to “make a tangible impact on civil society, citizen initiatives, public opinion and policy proposals to combat the fragmenting forces ...
, and in 1958 the first official commission came through, from Service de Recherche of
Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...
. In the same year, he produced a musique concrète piece, ''
Concret PH Concret PH (1958) is a musique concrète piece by Iannis Xenakis, originally created for the Philips Pavilion (designed by Xenakis as Le Corbusier's assistant) at the Expo 58 and heard as audiences entered and exited the building (PH = '' parabol ...
'', for the Philips Pavilion. In 1960, Xenakis was well known enough to receive a commission from
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
for a soundtrack for a documentary film by Enrico Fulchignoni.


Later life

After leaving Le Corbusier's studio in 1959, Xenakis supported himself by composition and teaching, and quickly became recognized as one of the most important European composers of his time. In 1965, he became a French citizen. He became especially known for his musical research in the field of computer-assisted composition, for which he founded the Equipe de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (EMAMu) in 1966 (known as CEMAMu: Centre d’Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales, since 1972). He taught at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
from 1967 until 1972 (and established a studio similar to EMAMu there), and worked as visiting professor at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
from 1973 until 1989. Xenakis frequently lectured (for instance, from 1975 to 1978 he was Professor of Music at
Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ove ...
, London, giving free public lectures), and teaching composition. His works were performed at numerous festivals worldwide, including the
Shiraz Arts Festival The Shiraz Festival of Arts ( Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in the city of Shiraz ...
in Iran. His notable students include Pascal Dusapin,
Henning Lohner Henning Lohner (born 17 July 1961) is a German-American composer and filmmaker. He is best known for his film scores written as a long-standing member of Hans Zimmer’s music cooperative Remote Control Productions. Lohner has written scores t ...
,
Miguel Ángel Coria Miguel Ángel Coria Varela (born 24 October 1937 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish composer of classical music. His early work showed affinities to the music of Anton Webern, but he became increasingly influenced by Impressionism. From 1973 he e ...
,
Susan Frykberg Susan Frykberg (born 10 October 1954) is an electroacoustic music, electroacoustic composer and a sound artist. She also composes acoustic music in a variety of genres. Life Susan Frykberg was born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings, New Zealand, ...
, Norma Tyer,
Robert Carl Robert Carl (born July 12, 1954 in Bethesda, Maryland) is an American composer who currently resides in Hartford, Connecticut, where he is chair of the composition program at the Hartt School, University of Hartford. Music Carl studied with J ...
, and Julio Estrada. In 1983, he was elected as a member of the Académie Française. In addition to composing and teaching, Xenakis also wrote a number of articles and essays on music. Of these,
Formalized Music ''Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' is a book by Greek composer, architect, and engineer Iannis Xenakis in which he explains his motivation, philosophy, and technique for composing music with stochastic mathematical func ...
(1963) became particularly known and was later expanded into a full book. A collection of texts on applications of stochastic processes, game theory and computer programming in music, it was later revised, expanded and translated into English as ''Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (1971) during Xenakis's tenure at Indiana University. Xenakis was an atheist. Polish musicologist Zbigniew Skowron, describing ''Aïs'', wrote "In accordance with his atheist views, Xenakis emphasizes the finality of death as the ultimate event of human life, and this is probably why wild shrieks and moans punctuate his score". Xenakis himself wrote, "Man is one, indivisible, and total. He thinks with his belly and feels with his mind. I would like to propose what, to my mind, covers the term "music": ... 7. It is a mystical (but atheistic) asceticism ...". Xenakis completed his last work, ''O-mega'' for percussion soloist and chamber orchestra, in 1997. His health had been getting progressively worse over the years, and by 1997 he was no longer able to work. In 1999, Xenakis was awarded the
Polar Music Prize The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporar ...
"for a long succession of forceful works, charged with sensitivity, commitment and passion, through which he has come to rank among the most central composers of our century in the realm of art music, exercising within its various fields an influence which cannot be readily overstated". After several years of serious illness, on 1 February 2001 the composer lapsed into a coma. He died in his Paris home four days later, on 4 February, aged 78; and was shortly after cremated, with his ashes being given to his family. He was outlived by his wife, who died on 12 February 2018 in Courbevoie, and his daughter.


Works

Specific examples of mathematics, statistics, and physics applied to music composition are the use of the statistical mechanics of gases in ''
Pithoprakta ''Pithoprakta'' (1955–56) is a piece by Iannis Xenakis for string orchestra (with 46 separate solo parts), two trombones, xylophone, and Woodblock (instrument), wood block, premièred by conductor Hermann Scherchen in Munich in March 1957. A typ ...
'', statistical distribution of points on a plane in ''
Diamorphoses ''Diamorphoses'' ( gr, Διαμορφώσεις) is the first electroacoustic composition by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis. It was created between 1957 and 1958 and is considered a masterpiece in several academic books on history of electroacousti ...
'', minimal constraints in ''Achorripsis'', the
normal distribution In statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of its probability density function is : f(x) = \frac e^ The parameter \mu ...
in ''ST/10'' and ''Atrées'', Markov chains in ''Analogique'', game theory in ''Duel'', ''Stratégie'', and ''Linaia-agon'', group theory in ''Nomos Alpha'' (for Siegfried Palm),
set theory Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly conce ...
in ''Herma'' and ''Eonta'', and Brownian motion in ''N'Shima''. ''Persephassa'', commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival, was performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg, receiving its world premiere in Persepolis in 1969. Subsequently, he was once again commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival and composed ''Persepolis'' for the occasion, a "polytope" composed specific to the historic site. Although electroacoustic compositions represent only a small fraction of Xenakis's output, they are highly relevant to musical thinking in the late 20th century. Important works in this medium include ''Concret PH'' (1958), ''Analogique B'' (1958–59), ''Bohor'' (1962), ''La légende d'Eer'' (1977), ''Mycenae-Alpha'' (1978), ''Voyage absolu des Unari vers Andromède'' (1989), ''Gendy301'' (1991), and ''S709'' (1994). By 1979, he had devised a computer system called
UPIC UPIC (Unité Polyagogique Informatique CEMAMu) is a computerised musical composition tool, devised by the composer Iannis Xenakis. It was developed at the ''Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales'' ( CEMAMu) in Paris, and was ...
, which could translate graphical images into musical results. "Xenakis had originally trained as an architect, so some of his drawings, which he called 'arborescences', resembled both organic forms and architectural structures." These drawings' various curves and lines that could be interpreted by UPIC as real time instructions for the sound synthesis process. The drawing is, thus, rendered into a composition. ''Mycenae-Alpha'' was the first of these pieces he created using UPIC as it was being perfected. Xenakis also developed a stochastic synthesizer algorithm (used in GENDY), called ''dynamic stochastic synthesis'', where a polygonal waveform's sectional borders' amplitudes and distance between borders may be generated using a form of random walk to create both aleatoric timbres and musical forms.#Serra, Serra, 241. Further material may be generated by then refeeding the original waveform back into the function or wave forms may be superimposed. Elastic barriers or mirrors are used to keep the randomly generated values within a given finite interval, so as to not exceed limits such as the audible pitch range, avoid complete chaos (white noise), and to create a balance between stability and instability (unity and variety). Despite Xenakis's reputation as a "mathematical" composer, his works are known for their power and physicality. Alex Ross (music critic), Alex Ross wrote that Xenakis "produced some of the rawest, wildest music in history—sounds that explode around the ears. Rarefied methods were employed to release primordial energies." Ben Watson (music writer), Ben Watson expressed admiration for the "terrifying emotional impact of [Xenakis'] sonic objectivity", describing his music as possessing "truly majestic otherness. It is an alien shard, glimmering in the heart of the West." Tom Service praised Xenakis' music for its "shattering visceral power" and "sheer, scintillating physicality", noting its "deep, primal rootedness in richer and older phenomena even than musical history: the physics and patterning of the natural world, of the stars, of gas molecules, and the proliferating possibilities of mathematical principles." Service described Xenakis as a composer "whose craggily, joyously elemental music turned collections of pitches and rhythms and instruments into a force of nature, releasing a power that previous composers had only suggested metaphorically but which he would realise with arguably greater clarity, ferocity, intensity than any musician, before or since," and suggested that his music is "expressive: not in a conventionally emotional way, perhaps, but it has an ecstatic, cathartic power. Xenakis's music – and its preternaturally brilliant performers – allows its listeners to witness seismic events close at hand, to be at the middle of a musical happening of cosmic intensity." Service concluded: "it took Xenakis for music to become nature. On holiday in Corsica, Xenakis would pilot his canoe into the teeth of the biggest storm he and his paddle could manage. When you're listening to his music, you also go out there into the eye of a musical storm that will invigorate, inspire, and awe. See you out there..."


Writings

* Xenakis, Iannis. 2001. '' Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (Harmonologia Series No. 6). Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press.


References


Cited sources

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Further reading

* Amagali, Rosemary Tristano. (1975). "Texture as an Organizational Factor in Selected Works of Iannis Xenakis". M.M. Thesis, Indiana University. * * * Bardot, Jean-Marc. (1999). "Cendrées de Xenakis ou l'émergence de la vocalité dans la pensée xenakienne." Undergraduate thesis (equivalent). Saint-Etienne: Université Jean Monnet. * Biasi, Salvatore di. (1994). ''Musica e matematica negli anni 50–60: Iannis Xenakis''. Bologna. Università degli Studi di Bologna. * Boivin, Jean. 1995. ''La Classe de Messiaen''. Paris: Christian Bourgois. * Clark, Philip. (2009). "Xenakis", in ''The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music'', 191–198. London and New York: Verso. . * Dimitri Kitsikis, Kitsikis, Dimitri. (2014). Περί Ηρώων: Οι ήρωες και η σημασία τους για τον σύγχρονο ελληνισμό (On Heroes.: Heroes and Their Importance for Contemporary Hellenism). Athens: Herodotos. (Chapter "Iannis Xenakis: Souvenirs from Paris, by D. Kitsikis, Xenakis's Intimate Friend"). * * * Paland, Ralph, and Christoph von Blumröder (eds.). (2009). ''Iannis Xenakis: Das elektroakustische Werk. Internationales Symposion. Tagungsbericht 2006''. Signale aus Köln. Beiträge zur Musik der Zeit 14. Vienna. Der Apfel. . * * *


Obituaries

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External links


xenakis.musicportal.gr
from the Institute for Research on Music and Acoustics, Athens (Greece) – in Greek and English with many score and audio examples
Iannis-Xenakis.org
by the Friends of Xenakis


Luque, Sergio. 2009. "The Stochastic Synthesis of Iannis Xenakis." Leonardo Music Journal (19): 77–84

Works catalogue
70-page PDF from Xenakis's publisher Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig
Iannis Xenakis @ Boosey & Hawkes Publisher


by Markos Zografos

compiled by James Harley for Leonardo, The International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology, Leonardo/ISAST * Two articles by Grant Chu Covell (2006) documenting then-recent Xenakis recordings and books about Xenakis
Part 1
an

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25 March 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Xenakis, Iannis 1922 births 2001 deaths People from Brăila Romanian people of Greek descent National Technical University of Athens alumni Greek expatriates in Romania Greek emigrants to France Greek architects Greek atheists Greek people with disabilities 20th-century classical composers Greek classical composers French classical composers French male classical composers French people with disabilities Experimental composers Kyoto laureates in Arts and Philosophy Microtonal composers Nonesuch Records artists Electroacoustic music composers Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Professors of Gresham College Jacobs School of Music faculty Pupils of Darius Milhaud Musicians with disabilities Exiles of the Greek Civil War Greek People's Liberation Army personnel 20th-century French male musicians