Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I do want to talk.  Live listening to this piece was the greatest musical experience in my life back in September, 2008. I'm very sensitive to music in general, but with Psappha my emotions always go all-in. Been sitting in front of those big metal plates near the end I thought I could die from all that awe running through me. I could barely move for several minutes after it.

tab - just curious, did you hear this in Moscow? I try to keep track of modernist & avant-garde concerts here, but I sometimes miss them. I've never heard any Xenakis live and I envy you for this.

[tab]

tab - just curious, did you hear this in Moscow? I try to keep track of modernist & avant-garde concerts here, but I sometimes miss them. I've never heard any Xenakis live and I envy you for this.

Yes, I did. I can't remember any Xenakis in Moscow since 2009, but in 2006-2008 it was often performed by Pekarsky ensemble and Dmitry Schelkin in particular.

Here you can see him performing Rebonds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz5o40uy4lY

[petrarch]

I do want to talk.  Live listening to this piece was the greatest musical experience in my life back in September, 2008. I'm very sensitive to music in general, but with Psappha my emotions always go all-in. Been sitting in front of those big metal plates near the end I thought I could die from all that awe running through me. I could barely move for several minutes after it.

Of course, that was the greatest physical experience, but the very structure of Psappha made it possible. It's even more evident in Rebonds.

Well, my best live musical experience with Xenakis was the premiere of Dämmerschein (in which I also got him to sign the programme notes ). If I were to choose one as the greatest of all, it would probably be Nono's Quando stanno morendo, which is absolutely breathtaking in concert (even more so than Prometeo).

[bhodges]

Yes, I did. I can't remember any Xenakis in Moscow since 2009, but in 2006-2008 it was often performed by Pekarsky ensemble and Dmitry Schelkin in particular.

Here you can see him performing Rebonds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz5o40uy4lY

Well, my best live musical experience with Xenakis was the premiere of Dämmerschein (in which I also got him to sign the programme notes ). If I were to choose one as the greatest of all, it would probably be Nono's Quando stanno morendo, which is absolutely breathtaking in concert (even more so than Prometeo).

Guys, thanks for these.  I've never seen Psappha (or Rebonds) performed, despite being lucky enough to hear a few other unexpected Xenakis evenings, like the opera Oresteia.  (And that said, not sure it's one of his best pieces.)

--Bruce

[snyprrr]

Over the last week, I've dredged the net for any samples of Psappha. I was able to hear a few seconds of the Gualda (which didn't sound as boomy as had been expected) on some Japanese site.

I ended up ordering Peter Sadlo, on a Teldec disc called 'Drumming Together', the only solo percussion work on a cd which also includes Marimba Spiritual and Third Construction. From the sample, his sounds to be a very wood oriented reading.

Pedro Carneiro's recital (Psappha, Okho, Rebonds) seems to be getting the best reviews of all, though it certainly contains short measure. Why do I get the feeling I'll eventually end up with this one? Schick's Mode reading has been getting very reticent reviews, saying, though his is the most perfect reading, it also is a touch polite, especially at the end, when, instead of metal plates, he only uses cowbell (I NEED MORE COWBELL!!!), as opposed to Mortenson (BIS), who uses a very noisy (and exciting) bell tree.

Markus Hauke's reading (on the Russian NMC? label) seems to be the overall quickest, at @10'30.

anyhow...


I saw Rebonds at a Baltimore church 15 years ago, at a time when hearing Xenakis' 'tom tom' piece (a drum solo, haha) was by no means going to impress me. I currently have Johan Faber, who, as per my needs, makes it through the piece without hitting the two drumsticks together! Robert McEwan on Mode doesn't.

I can't just listen to Rebonds without any context. Growing up in a world with too many tom toms, I have to be careful so as not to confuse it with just a good Peart solo (now now, you haters!). Though Psappha and Rebonds are thee altar for percussionists, sometimes, having to listen to drum solos can be taxing to those who merely listen. I play drums, but I still sometimes have trouble 'just' listening to tom toms. I love sounds.

Adam West Lives!

[snyprrr]

Xas is turning into one of my fav later pieces. Currently, we have:

1) Rascher SQ on Caprice (the original from the '80s)

2) Rascher SQ on BIS ('Europe')

3) ST-X Ensemble on Mode

4) Habanera SQ on ('Mysterious Morning')

5) a new version on some small label



I have the Mode, which I think is passable. I just ordered the Caprice. I heard a sample of the 'Europe' cd, and, wow!, here the Rascher are just so plastic, so cool. I ordered the Caprice, hoping the performance would be just as good, but, hoping that the discmates might be a bit more exciting. I admit that the 'Mysterious Morning' cd has some exciting discmates (Donatoni, Gubaidulina), but, when comparing them to the Rascher, there is no comparison (like Lindberg on t-bone).

Some say Xas is not a major Xenakis work, but, as with much 'solo' Xenakis, the work has become a standard. It is no doubt one of the major works of this hip grouping. I think it is one of the most perfectly realized alien musics, very cool and distant and strange.

Can anyone compare the two Rascher versions?

[snyprrr]

I'm at the point where the only piece I really don't have is Gmeeorgh. I'm scared.



There is finally a recording, on Solstice. It promises to be $30. How long will I be able to hold out?

All I know is that it is one of his most forbidding works. I keep thinking it's going to sound like Bohor. Can anyone shed some light on this (without spoiling the ending, haha).



Well, it seems as though I've come to ends of the fruitful fields. I have poured over the available Xenakis recordings, and, yes, it's the same old faces, over and over again. I have what's out there, and, there is no where for a poor Xenakian to go. We still have some black holes:

1) the three choral/orchestral works (Cendrees, Anamoessa, Nekuia) remain in limbo (Cendrees is out there on YouTube)

2) Linea-Agon, for three brass, remains the most obscure X piece, with no recording,...or even a desription

3) Koiroanoi(?) remains the last big late work that Timpani didn't record. Sea-Change, his last orchestral work, is on some really obscure, Hellenic label (does anyone know that Greek website?), but, of course, should have been on Mode or Timpani.

4) Zythos, for t-bone & 6 percs. Why is this Lindberg/Kroumata piece still unrecorded?

5) Alax, Pour les Balienes, and other minor orchestral pieces seem like they will never see the light of day.



I wonder if we will ever see an all Xenakis cd from DG/Boulez? Why is he the one composer this label just doesn't seem interested in (except for Keqrops)?

ok, enough ranting for a Sunday morning!

[greg]

Wow, just Gmeeoorh? 

Here ya go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoRgo5_kzgA

(doesn't start off like Bohor, anyway)

just rip the music from the video, and you have all of his recorded stuff! Congratulations!

[petrarch]

2) Linea-Agon, for three brass, remains the most obscure X piece, with no recording,...or even a desription

FYI, it's called Linaia-Agon, and it's a piece in the gaming theory/strategy vein like Duel and Stratégie. It's for horn, trombone and tuba, written for the London Bach Festival in 1972. The subject of the music is the contest of Linos (a celebrated musician), represented by the trombone, and Apollo (the god of music), represented by the tuba. The horn sides with the tuba.

Quoting from Harley:

The programmatic aspect of the music is emphasized by the inclusion of a passage where the characters are introduced and the challenge put forward by Linos to be accepted by Apollo, a Suspens du Destin section, to be played while the referee totals the score, and a final Chant de Victoire et Requiem. It is the most improvisatory score by Xenakis, showing traces of Stockhausen's "intuitive" music, where the performers are guided both by the directions in the score as well as the choices of the other performers.

There's an article about it here:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a793740641

According to Harley, the author of the article also wrote a very detailed doctoral dissertation on it, a summary of which was published in 1985 in Interface.

[snyprrr]

Wow, just Gmeeoorh? 

Here ya go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoRgo5_kzgA

(doesn't start off like Bohor, anyway)

just rip the music from the video, and you have all of his recorded stuff! Congratulations!

ahhh, thank you,...I thought I'd just looked it up and couldn't find it,...maybe the extra "o", haha,...

anyhow, thanks for unearthing my old demo tape whilst on LSD! oy,...certainly, this doesn't take Bohor-ian patience to sit through, but it certainly didn't shoot up into my top3 X-tracks, haha. Honestly, the thing's got me bewildered. If you told me that it sucked, I'd be tempted to agree with you. If you told me it was a masterpiece,...mmm,...I'd have to l;isten to it again, haha!

I couldn't even form an opinion of this music, it was so,...so,...ugly,...and it definitely sounds electronic most of the time,...ugh, am I going to be listening to this non stop for months now??

I definitely lump it in the Hibiki-Hana-Ma category, as far as how it hits my ears. Some musical interest, but mostly swirling, noisy tones and clusters.

I think there is a specified second player, to do the manuals? I believe I'm hearing the organ change sound as it's being played.

Honestly, I feel dirty,...feral, after listening to that. Some Xenakis, mostly the electronic stuff, seems so dirty to me, so viral and angry. I'm not sure what X's point was hear,... maybe simply to make the organ sound electronic.. I'm just shaking my head,...

oh, and you ask me, What were you expecting? Well, I guess I was the whole thing to sound like the last minute. So, technically, the piece is 1000 better than I had imagined. However, it's cumulative effect is the same. It sounds very much like improv to me (though, of course, there would have to be coordination between the two players).

ugh, I was so stoked when I saw your link, and I got all comfy,...and now I just feel,...wrong!! Wow, sometimes I resent Xenakis for making me feel this way, haha. I remember the first time I heard Bohor. It was at the Peabody library, and I had to listen remote, so that I was not near the cd, and the piece just went on,..on and on,...and on.



Anyhow,...whew, thanks agin. I'm sure I'll be wearing that link out.

Still shaking my head. I just want to say, Awful music, awful!! But,..I know I'm not allowed to do that, because, otherwise, God will turn it into my favorite piece, haha!

[snyprrr]

I just got this great great cd, 'Drum Together', by Peter Sadlo&Friends, on Teldec. At first, I passed it over because I thought it would contain Okho, but, lo, it is Psappha, amoungst other, percussion ensemble, pieces.

Sadlo clocks in at 13'59, which puts it in the 'longer version' category, like Schick/Mode, as opposed to, say, Mortenson (11'), or Hauke (10+'). Though he seems to start a touch slow, by the end, the tempo is perfectly justified. Some have said that the Schick may be the most 'perfect' version so far (as far as note placement), and, though I don't know, Sadlo appears to be exactly precise. The tempo allows for everything, without seeming rushed (which can be a drawback of the faster versions).

But, it is in the choice of instruments, and the recording, where your ears will really get a treat. ithout going into it, Sadlo's choice of instruments is beautiful, including a 'petrol can filled with screws'. For the ending, where Schick uses cowbells, and Mortenson a bell tree, Sadlo uses a pretty funky cowbell tree that has some real twang to it. As a matter of fact, Sadlo uses resonence and ephemera quite nicely. When compared to Schick's tight, air-dry, super fast YouTube video, Sadlo's recording comes out sounding symphonic.

oh, and there's no drum stick accident hits! I had to listen closely once, before I could enjoy it the second time, but, at the end, Sadlo had me on the edge of my seat. 'Is he going to hit all the notes?' Is he, is he?? He did!!

I do want to give kudos to the YouTube performer, who plays on a stage littered with instruments (he is part of some ensemble). He dispatches Psappha in 9'59!!, and, it is truly the perfect performance. At this speed, all the notes make perfect sense. Do give him a try (just punch up Psappha and start scrolling. The ensemble begins with an "i".).

I got this for $5 on Amazon. There's another , $8 copy, still there, if you want it. And, the other, ensemble pieces (including the ubiquitous Marimba Spiritual and Third Construction) are a cornucopia of percussion sounds. They say almost 200 instruments were used on this album.

This may be the single best cde of it's kind I have ever heard. Buy it Now!!

[snyprrr]

ok, my least favorite Xenakis piece. I was just listening to the other percussion music, so I whipped out the old Arditti 'From France' cd (which has Okho on it??). I also have the ST-X/Mode recording.

The Montaigne version is the original, and everyone seems to like it better, but I listened carefully, and the Mode version has a lot more ephemeral djembe sounds coming out of the speaker. Around 7mins in, there is a rim solo, which is caught very nicely in the Mode version. Also, some of the tonal qualities of the djembe (able to produce ringy 'notes') come out better here. The Montaigne recording seems slightly muffled by comparison.

There are also versions by the Hague percussion group (Globe), and Pedro Carneiro (he takes a minute less than the rest). I thought there were more, but then I thought that every cd needed to have Okho on it.

What do you think of this piece? I just don't even pay it any mind, but it sits there in the back of my craw, saying, 'I'm an avant piece for three djembes, I'm an avant piece for three djembe's'. ahhh

oh, and don't forget the bass drum!

[snyprrr]

Do you know how I can get a copy of Les Percussions de Strasbourg's Philip's 2-cd set, which includes Taira, Mache, Dufourt, Xenakis,... yes!!, where is it?? I can't seem to find a site actually offering it.

[snyprrr]

I was just listening to this on YouTube (from the old LP). I think this is my new fav piece. It just has so much of the Xenakis I like here, even with the wimpering dog sounds! Has ANYONE heard Anemoessa or Nekuia? Will I EVER hear these two?? Nekuia has 3 percussionists and 2 harpists!! NOW!! I want it NOOOOWWWWW!!!

[snyprrr]

Of course I got it!

This was the missing link in the cd upgrade of old Xenakis LPs. There's nothing new, but I hadn't heard Atrees yet, and, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't sound exactly like the other ST pieces. And, Polla ti Dhina is a fun little infants and orchestra piece.

Of course, most of these performances have been better over the last 40 years, so, this is mainly for nostalgia (yes, nostalgia over Xenakis!). But, along with the old ChantduMonde cd (Metastasis, Pithoprakta, Eonta), and the nifty RZ-Edition 2cd set, we have in 3 sets all the early Xenakis of note (also including that electronic disk).

Has anyone else gotten this one?

[greg]

Which electronic disc would that be? (I have all of his electroacoustic stuff)

[petrarch]

I was just listening to this on YouTube (from the old LP). I think this is my new fav piece. It just has so much of the Xenakis I like here, even with the wimpering dog sounds! Has ANYONE heard Anemoessa or Nekuia? Will I EVER hear these two?? Nekuia has 3 percussionists and 2 harpists!! NOW!! I want it NOOOOWWWWW!!!

I've heard a recording of Anemoessa in the late 90s at a conference by Harry Halbreich (Charles Bornstein was also presenting some other stuff). The vocal element did not attract me.

[snyprrr]

Which electronic disc would that be? (I have all of his electroacoustic stuff)

The EMF disc with Bohor and the rest.

[greg]

The EMF disc with Bohor and the rest.

That one is one of my favorite Xenakis discs. Favorite pieces from there: Hibiki Hana Ma, Orient Occident, and Diamorphoses. I find Bohor to be okay, though kinda boring, and S.709 and Concret PH to be kinda annoying and stupid.

[snyprrr]

ok, so I've got all the Xenakis cds now in front of me. I've gone through Amazon's 'Xenakis' list for a week straight, constantly saying, 'Got that one, got that one', to the point where I realize that I've come to the end of the line. And, if I don't haaave it,...I haaad it, at one time, and obviously don't feel like I'm missing anything.

So, the only question is whether the 'Complete' Xenakis will be available before the world wide economic collapse, after which I don't see too many all-Xenakis cds being made!



Now I'm looking at these 30 odd cds and seeing what a confined little tiny space Xenakis takes up (but, hey, 30 cds isn't too bad,...Webern only gets 3!!). Do I know every note already? Is Xenakis boring to me now??

Thankfully, no. I've been listen this past week, and always (well, except for Okho, perhaps!) I am 'whelmed' by Xenakis' sheer creativity (not 'over' anymore, though,...I'm used to it).

Once again, I lament the fact that Xenakis' three largest works, the ones for chorus and orchestra, lie languishing in the dark, whilst Rebonds gets an umpteenth recording (yes, I know a drum set is cheaper than choruses and orchs). Nekuia, particularly, is a piece I just can't wait to hear. I has never been recorded.



btw- I think I have figured out what Mode's next installment is going to be:

Xenakis: Solos, Duos, & Trio for Strings

Mikka
Mikka s
Embellie
Nomos Alpha
Kottos
Ikhoor
Hunem-Iduhey
Roscobeck

I think that fits onto 80mins. Anyhow,...I'm counting on it.



btw PART II: I have written to Timpani, but have gotten no response, as to why their series has stopped. You are encouraged to shoot of an email.



Does ANYONE know where I can get that Percussions de Strasbourg 2cd Philips retrospec tive, with Persephassa on it? I finally heard a tiny snippet from the Demoe, on Stradivarius, and, from what I could hear, the acoustic is pretty tight, and I can't tell how clear and surgical the recording is. People have criticized the Mode version (the one with Dammerschein), and, I can hear how some detail might be getting lost in the ample recording space. Also, with the Mode (again, NOT RedFishBlueFish), perhaps because of the speed of playing, some detail gets lost to blurred playing. I can see why RFBF would overdub the last section. As it stands, the Carnegie Mellon (Mode) is 26'30, the Demoe is 27'+, and the RFBF is 28'. I am curious about the Percs de Strasbourg.



Yes, my Xenaddiction has been in full bloom lately!!

MEDIC!!