Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

Started by gomro, May 10, 2007, 01:54:54 PM

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petrarch

//p
The music collection.
The hi-fi system: Esoteric X-03SE -> Pathos Logos -> Analysis Audio Amphitryon.
A view of the whole


petrarch

#222
Quote from: Mirror Image on September 12, 2011, 05:22:05 PM
Thanks I'll check this post out. 8)

Not that much content in that post ;). But the DVD is worth it.
//p
The music collection.
The hi-fi system: Esoteric X-03SE -> Pathos Logos -> Analysis Audio Amphitryon.
A view of the whole

Mirror Image

Quote from: petrarch on September 12, 2011, 05:26:52 PM
Not that much content in it ;). But the DVD is worth it.

By the way, do you own the Timpani 5-CD set? I ordered it tonight. Any comments in regards to this set will be appreciated. Thanks.

petrarch

Quote from: Mirror Image on September 12, 2011, 05:31:25 PM
By the way, do you own the Timpani 5-CD set? I ordered it tonight. Any comments in regards to this set will be appreciated. Thanks.

Yes, I do, although when I got it it wasn't a set yet (got the 5 volumes separately). It's an excellent bundle of Xenakis' orchestral music, with a few notable omissions (which you can fill by getting the Xenakis on Edition RZ). That and the Arditti/Helffer chamber music release are probably the best multi-CD sets of Xenakis.
//p
The music collection.
The hi-fi system: Esoteric X-03SE -> Pathos Logos -> Analysis Audio Amphitryon.
A view of the whole

not edward

Quote from: petrarch on September 12, 2011, 05:43:09 PM
Yes, I do, although when I got it it wasn't a set yet (got the 5 volumes separately). It's an excellent bundle of Xenakis' orchestral music, with a few notable omissions (which you can fill by getting the Xenakis on Edition RZ). That and the Arditti/Helffer chamber music release are probably the best multi-CD sets of Xenakis.
Seconded on this and the Arditti/Helffer set (I bought volumes 1-3 of the Timpani series on release; still don't have 4 and 5). The one warning I have to give with the Timpani set is that Spyros Sakkas' voice had deteriorated badly by the time of the recording of Ais on Timpani; this collection on col legno (a disc which someone who shall remain nameless borrowed from me and then lost :P) showcases him in his prime, with very interesting couplings;

[asin]B00009VGD1[/asin]
"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

Mirror Image

Quote from: petrarch on September 12, 2011, 05:43:09 PM
Yes, I do, although when I got it it wasn't a set yet (got the 5 volumes separately). It's an excellent bundle of Xenakis' orchestral music, with a few notable omissions (which you can fill by getting the Xenakis on Edition RZ). That and the Arditti/Helffer chamber music release are probably the best multi-CD sets of Xenakis.

Thanks, petrarch. I'll check those out.

Mirror Image

Quote from: edward on September 12, 2011, 05:59:55 PM
Seconded on this and the Arditti/Helffer set (I bought volumes 1-3 of the Timpani series on release; still don't have 4 and 5). The one warning I have to give with the Timpani set is that Spyros Sakkas' voice had deteriorated badly by the time of the recording of Ais on Timpani; this collection on col legno (a disc which someone who shall remain nameless borrowed from me and then lost :P) showcases him in his prime, with very interesting couplings;

[asin]B00009VGD1[/asin]

Thanks Edward for your help. I'll check that one out.

snyprrr

Quote from: edward on September 12, 2011, 05:59:55 PM
Seconded on this and the Arditti/Helffer set (I bought volumes 1-3 of the Timpani series on release; still don't have 4 and 5). The one warning I have to give with the Timpani set is that Spyros Sakkas' voice had deteriorated badly by the time of the recording of Ais on Timpani; this collection on col legno (a disc which someone who shall remain nameless borrowed from me and then lost :P) showcases him in his prime, with very interesting couplings;

[asin]B00009VGD1[/asin]

Hoooow many recordings of Ais do we have now?? ??? I agree that the ColLegno 'singing' is much better,... how about that initial 'scream'?,... that's shows you everything right there. The piece was never one of my favorites, but this ColLegno version showcases a very 'ancient' sounding work, very dark, and slightly in Xenakis's 'Greek' style. It is also very pictorial, with the 'horse' neighing and galloping percussion. The very low 'hell' voice does actually sound like a voice speaking from the UnderWorld.

The Erato LP that this Ais was originally on contained also the massive Choral/Orchestral Work Nekuia, which has YET to be transferred to cd. This is certainly the one unheard Xenakis piece that I'm chomping at the bit to hear. Would soooomeone get the tapes from Warners?

listener

not my thing, but I'm not against it... so fyi:
a Xenakis celebration in Vancouver, BC Oct. 20-22
http://www.bccreativehub.com/?p=908
   film, dance, and performances, includes Phlegra, Anaktoria, Persephassa, ST-4/1.080262, Psappha, Mists, Herma, Tetora and Ergma
"Keep your hand on the throttle and your eye on the rail as you walk through life's pathway."

snyprrr

Complete Works for Cello (+1)


Here is a Xenakis sighting, on the Aeon label, but have I seen it on Amazon yet? This one I initially rolled my eyes at, but, it does have crucial second recordings of some of the later pieces.

Nomos Alpha
Charisma
Kottos
Epicycles (chamber concerto)
Paille in the Wind*
Roscobeck*
Inumen-Idhuey(?)*
Dphpli Zyia(?)*


That's actually a pretty nice recital, no? The last three duos have needed new recordings. And, when you think about it, the 'Complete Violin Music' wouldn't make sense, so, this IS the album that would materialize like this. We have 'Complete Piano', and 'Complete Percussion'. I still think Mode will do a 'String Solos, Duos, & Trio' cd.


Then, I saw a very strange 'Xenakis' cd, I think on Amazon.uk, that I don't really think is a Xenakis album at all. I'll look for it again.

Still, no earth shattering 'New Release' news. :'(


snyprrr

Quote from: jhns on September 26, 2011, 09:02:45 PM
I've listened to a lot of Xenakis and I only like his Akrata (16 winds). It is a very refined work, more minimalist, but much of his other music if you can call it that, is just noise. He was a good composer but like a lot of modern composers did a lot of music that is just ugly and unrefined and a waste of his good talents.

Yea, people who don't like IX would like that piece. It's actually quite pacific. Didn't like Kekrops? With me, I think I must have broken through some wall, because now all this stuff is just second nature to me.


I was listening to Dox-Orkh, my least favorite IX piece,... most people would haaave to agree, no?,... and even it begins to grow on me a little.

snyprrr

Quote from: jhns on September 27, 2011, 11:46:46 PM
Pleased to meet you, snyprrr. I think that though I really like Akrata, I also like other things by Xenakis, but not as much. His solo piano music is good, but more dark and noisy with high pitches sometimes. Akrata makes me think of being in a desert. It is beautiful but without life. It can be lonely. I dont like his orchestral music that much. Metastasis is not too bad, but it is too detailed. I think because Akrata he uses only winds it is simpler to get the emotions. I like simple music with more emotions.

His piece Epei, for wind quintet plus string bass, is 100 times more static than Akrata, as if Akrata had flown into a bowl of jello!. Also, the choral piece a'Helene is written in normal 'plainchant' style, not a note out of place.

L'Isle de Goree and Ata are two very straightforward works that lay bare many of X's concerns for the lay ear.

And, of course, the percussion music is in its own class.


However, X has plenty of stuff no one WANTS to hear, haha,... I NEED to, but sometimes don't want to. Take the radio-play Pour la Paix.

ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on September 28, 2011, 06:11:17 AM
However, X has plenty of stuff no one WANTS to hear, haha,... I NEED to, but sometimes don't want to. Take the radio-play Pour la Paix.
Are you saying you haven't heard this one? Have you heard every Xenakis piece recorded yet?

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on September 28, 2011, 10:51:01 AM
Are you saying you haven't heard this one? Have you heard every Xenakis piece recorded yet?

I think it's on YouTube.

I'm still slavering to hear the same pieces everyone else in this musical serfdom wants to hear. ;) Of the older works, Nekuia stands out (it's on an Erato LP,... with the same Ais as on the new ColLegno cd). It's a huge work, and I can only imagine.

Many of the later works still remain unheard by The Us. There hasn't been a Mode cd in over a year now. I'm not worrying. ???

ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on September 28, 2011, 07:54:08 PM
Many of the later works still remain unheard by The Us. There hasn't been a Mode cd in over a year now. I'm not worrying. ???
I'm not optimistic about them coming out any time soon...

snyprrr

GOOD NEWS FINALLY!!


Nekuia, X's 'funeral rites' for chorus and orchestra is finally on YouTube! I am saving for a Romantic Moment, but, I am giddy with excitement. There are still major work that haven't been bequeathed to us, but this is very good news indeed. Will return...

snyprrr

Quote from: snyprrr on November 06, 2011, 06:36:44 PM
GOOD NEWS FINALLY!!


Nekuia, X's 'funeral rites' for chorus and orchestra is finally on YouTube! I am saving for a Romantic Moment, but, I am giddy with excitement. There are still major work that haven't been bequeathed to us, but this is very good news indeed. Will return...

NEKUIA (26:54) for SATB chorus & orchestra


This piece starts out for all the world to hear as gloomy Romantic Penderecki. I'm shocked, and wondering... ah, no, now I hear the pelog theme that opens Jonchaies.

Now the choir chimes in in typical Xenakis phoneme fashion, along with some nice sustained notes, very dramatic and epic sounding. This piece already has a much different ambience than either one of the other two chorus & orchestra pieces, Cendrees, and Anemoessa (which I gloried over earlier).


After a while, there is a break, and then... is that a cor anglais solo? This translates into a wind soliloquy, until the choir returns in a very melodious counterpoint to the winds. Here I'm hearing snippets of other Xenakis compositions.

Now the brass take over, in what sounds more like the millipede repetitions of the late Kyania. Here too, the choir joins after a while. After more sonic maelstrom, there is another pause.


Now we enter a very ominous and hectic movement for percussion and the orchestra, which contains some very concerning Xenakis music. Here, the choir interrupts very effectively. As this section continues, the choir ends, and there is a sense of descending.

Now we enter a section reminiscent of the typical Xenakis toccata of Kottos, Rebonds, Ikhoor, and Ata (sounds most like Ata). This section continues to an abrupt end,... and... then continues in the strings... with longer note values tearing at the rhythm. A sonic maelstrom ensues, though, honestly, this is quite a melodious work so far!

I'm hearing bits of Horos, of a great complexity unfolding, all at a very slow tempo. This grinds to a more halting pattern until the initial toccata rhythm and the halting rhythm battle?,... huh?,...(I can't see how far along we are)...

If these are indeed 'funeral rites', then, the high, ghostly sopranos seem to sound like sirens in the wind. This is so far the most evocative section of the work.

All of the elements since the toccata section began are all furiously mixed up in a cyclonic whirlpool which do sound as if one were rocketing through the tunnel to the afterlife, things and sounds whizzing by you as you careen towards...what?


We seem to be entering a new section with the introduction of a percussion hit. This section hightens the creepiness of the earlier, percussion dominated, section. Here we have string work reminiscent of the opening of the string trio Ikhoor.

Now we have what sounds like the Golden Section leading up to a climax. The lady singers here do some cool stuff, then being augmented. This sounds a bit like Anemoessa.

Wow, there's just so much going on here. Forget what I said about a climax, haha, this section just keeps jelling more and more, and getting thicker and thicker. Finally I hear some tympani bongs. Now... it gets thicker and thicker... and... and... ok, now it just ends.






Wow, that was something. This sounded like the most sonically molten score by Xenakis I think I've heard. If it is like a 'Hades' Symphony with chorus, it surely delivers an eerie and edge-of-your-chair ride across the river Styx. I'm really impressed, but I can tell I got a bit of huuuh? in there. There was literally so much going on. whew... great... I've finally heard the long lost piece...

The recording, which I presume is the Erato LP, is serviceable, with the choir not so up front (which is fine for here). Certainly sooomeone should release this with Cendrees.

Anyhow, I welcome any discussion. 8)


ibanezmonster

I can't find it on youtube- do you have a link?

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on November 07, 2011, 12:01:56 PM
I can't find it on youtube- do you have a link?

Yes, very strange. From the Yahoo HP, I punch in 'Xenakis Nekuia', and it's the first thing, but, on YT, nothing. Strange. Try from Yahoo.