Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

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

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snyprrr

btw- tomorrow that new 'Complete Cello Music' comes out!

ibanezmonster


snyprrr

Quote from: snyprrr on November 07, 2011, 01:33:34 PM
btw- tomorrow that new 'Complete Cello Music' comes out!

Ordered 12:01 am!

snyprrr


ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on November 08, 2011, 05:45:02 AM
Great! Can't wait to hear your verdict.
I listened to both that and Serment-Orkos last night.

Nekuia is very much un-Xenakis-like in terms of overall mood throughout. It's more Penderecki-ish, but has some recognizable Xenakis characteristics, if you're familiar enough with the music.
Serment-Orkos- I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, being a Xenakis choral work. Simply well done.

snyprrr

The Last Works of Xenakis: Zythos & O-Mega


Zythos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wqu7YXFZoE

O-Mega:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwmQTKGJhxw



Well, I finally heard Zythos, the mysteriously never recorded work written for Christian Lindberg and Les Percussions de Strassborg. It is 8mins, scored for trombone and...six! :o marimbas... and I heard that this was going to be a brutal piece, with hammering marimba notes.

Well, I have to say that Zythos may be the suckiest Xenakis piece I've ever heard. And by sucky, I mean, well, listen for yourself. Frankly, I am shocked by its kindergarden way. One note at a time? What did one need six marimbas for? Basically, X's writing for solo trombone is very strange to begin with (Keren, Troorkh), and the trombone writing here is no different. It sounds simplistic, but, I am assured that it is as difficult to play as it gets.

The marimba parts are really the head scratcher here. I thought the piece would have been a fury of marimba tremolos, but, in true Late Xenakis fashion, this only occurs briefly before the ending. Otherwise, the marimbas hammer out one note at a time, in the most annoying IX tradition. I'll admit that the piece, by the end, does exhibit a certain cosmic ennui (though the recording doesn't take advantage), a sad commentary, perhaps, by X on the state of the world?

So, I shaved my legs for this? Well, the recording is serviceable, but it sure would be nice to see what Lindberg and the LPDS sound like (uh, BIS??). I await your shock.



O-Mega, X's very last work, also has a tired cosmic view. The piece starts out with a rat-a-tat-tat on the tom toms, and the drums continue on in this fashion for the pieces 4min duration. The ensemble continues on in the herky jerky, four square fashion of later pieces such as Waarg and Epicycles. Though there is a sense of 'orbits' going on, interest in this piece is just as limited as the previous piece. Xenakis seems to have completely lost all sense of his old self. I was overwhelmingly disappointed when I first heard this piece.

Still, the ending is poignant. The same 'machine breaking down' sound that ends the rhythmic part of Rebonds ends O-Mega. Especially in the Auzet recording, this ending comes across beatufully, as if the 'molecules' are falling through the 'cracks', going down... down... down.



Other late pieces by X are of differing yet similar values. The string pieces are incredibly dissonant, totally different from the essentially pacific character of these two pieces. But, these two pieces are to me like the strangest and saddest ending to an amazing career, I just don't WANT to get it (I think I do). What do you think?

ibanezmonster

Yeah, Zythos is teh suck. Omega is okay.
I may have to work on getting all of his stuff. It says I have 115 of his works, but that includes duplicates, so I'm guessing I have between 70-90?... either way, youtube is awesome right now, and it seems like I should be able to get most of the missing ones from there. I just recently got pretty much everything Prokofiev has to offer, so I guess a new goal would be a good thing...

ibanezmonster

Okay, 37 works left to collect, but I probably should be able to get it down to around 20 by the end of the night.

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on November 12, 2011, 01:22:02 PM
Yeah, Zythos is teh suck. Omega is okay.
I may have to work on getting all of his stuff. It says I have 115 of his works, but that includes duplicates, so I'm guessing I have between 70-90?... either way, youtube is awesome right now, and it seems like I should be able to get most of the missing ones from there. I just recently got pretty much everything Prokofiev has to offer, so I guess a new goal would be a good thing...

The last choral work, Sea Nymphs, is also up! This piece has more of the classic Xenakis hallmarks, and is a lot more fun than other late works. Yes, YT has picked up the slack, but I won't let you rest yet, until we get Alax, Koiranoi, Sea-Change...mm...what else?

I guess I should just be thankful? ???

Getting Nekuia and Zythos definitely answered some questions! I still can't get over how spare Zythos is. (It was named after the beer fest, btw!! :o true- maybe...)

ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on November 12, 2011, 02:11:51 PM
The last choral work, Sea Nymphs, is also up! This piece has more of the classic Xenakis hallmarks, and is a lot more fun than other late works. Yes, YT has picked up the slack, but I won't let you rest yet, until we get Alax, Koiranoi, Sea-Change...mm...what else?
Anemoessa, also. I think that was the one that you said could only be attained by purchasing a $50 box set. That one will be in the handful I'll have to leave alone for quite a while. Sea Nymphs indeed is on there- about to get in a few minutes.

petrarch

Quote from: snyprrr on November 12, 2011, 05:23:10 AM
Well, I have to say that Zythos may be the suckiest Xenakis piece I've ever heard. And by sucky, I mean, well, listen for yourself. Frankly, I am shocked by its kindergarden way. One note at a time? What did one need six marimbas for? Basically, X's writing for solo trombone is very strange to begin with (Keren, Troorkh), and the trombone writing here is no different. It sounds simplistic, but, I am assured that it is as difficult to play as it gets.

The marimba parts are really the head scratcher here. I thought the piece would have been a fury of marimba tremolos, but, in true Late Xenakis fashion, this only occurs briefly before the ending. Otherwise, the marimbas hammer out one note at a time, in the most annoying IX tradition. I'll admit that the piece, by the end, does exhibit a certain cosmic ennui (though the recording doesn't take advantage), a sad commentary, perhaps, by X on the state of the world?

It doesn't suck, to my ears. Yes, the grid-like rhythm, single dynamics and sparse material do not contribute great variety, but I could detect some spatial movement, with notes passing from one instrument to the next. Perhaps that's why he needed six marimbas--to fill the stage left to right with them and then have notes travel from one side to the other. It is not so dreary timbrally, the marimbas providing good contrast with the trombone, with each of the instruments sounding crystal-clear notes and having bare, clear-cut lines.

I don't think Xenakis was commenting on the state of the world. These late pieces were all composed under duress due to his deteriorating health, so their simplicity and short durations, especially of O-Mega, are more likely to be a result of his inability to sustain the effort to compose larger, more complex works.
//p
The music collection.
The hi-fi system: Esoteric X-03SE -> Pathos Logos -> Analysis Audio Amphitryon.
A view of the whole

ibanezmonster

Well, here is the list of works I don't have, after going through youtube.

15 works:
Quote
Anemoessa
Duel
Pour les baleines
Alax
Tuorakemsu
Mosaiques
Koiranoi
Sea-Change
Chant des Soleils
Idmen A/B
Pu wijnuej we fyp
Les Bacchantes
Linaia-Agon
Khall Perr
Kai

Here's someone's blog about Xenakis' works:
http://www.toddtarantino.com/blog/labels/xenakis.html

QuoteXenakis: Pu Wijnuej we fyp
Pu Wijnuej we fyp (1992): children's choir: After several days of data entry, I was able to hear this piece in Finale. Its an unholy noise that coming out of children would probably be quite demonic. I wonder if andhow this was performed - the score lists a premiere. Cluster chords throughout, so that the kids could basically sing any pitch at some point and they would be right. Quite difficult. And full of nonmusicall anagram syllables of a poem of Rimbaud - there is no informaiton about the cypher. Entering the work though was a major learning experience into Xenakis' methods, like cluster gamelan, or cluster kecak.
:D

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on November 12, 2011, 06:34:48 PM
Well, here is the list of works I don't have, after going through youtube.

15 works:
Here's someone's blog about Xenakis' works:
http://www.toddtarantino.com/blog/labels/xenakis.html
:D

Kai is on the 'Xenakis in New York' cd. (terrible recording

Khall Perr is on the Wallace Collection cd 'Hammered Brass'. (great recording)... there is also another cd...



Yes, I remember that blog. Will recheck. And that choral piece sounds brutal, haha.



Quote from: petrarch on November 12, 2011, 05:24:40 PM
It doesn't suck, to my ears. Yes, the grid-like rhythm, single dynamics and sparse material do not contribute great variety, but I could detect some spatial movement, with notes passing from one instrument to the next. Perhaps that's why he needed six marimbas--to fill the stage left to right with them and then have notes travel from one side to the other. It is not so dreary timbrally, the marimbas providing good contrast with the trombone, with each of the instruments sounding crystal-clear notes and having bare, clear-cut lines.

I don't think Xenakis was commenting on the state of the world. These late pieces were all composed under duress due to his deteriorating health, so their simplicity and short durations, especially of O-Mega, are more likely to be a result of his inability to sustain the effort to compose larger, more complex works.

Which performance have you heard? Only the one on YT?

Well, yes, in context with everything else, Zythos certainly is a very very unique piece. Surely there must be that spacial quality (which I can't really hear on the YT recording)... all those single notes being shared. I would still love to hear the Lindberg/LPDS performing.

I suppose it's just sad that X seemed to go out with such a whimper. Perhaps if someone were to do a recital of only late chamber works, contrasting the pacific pieces with the more grinding pieces, X's last years might come into better focus.

pet- have you heard Sea-Change?

snyprrr

btw- I just noticed that Herma, on the IX website, is listed as '10mins.' duration. I'm not sure anyone plays it slower than 7mins. I'm thinking that even I could play it at 10mins. That's something I'd like to hear. One would really be able to pick things apart then, I assume.

snyprrr

Quote from: snyprrr on November 08, 2011, 05:43:56 AM
Ordered 12:01 am!

Hopefully this arrives tomorrow!



I also went ahead... oh, here's a CDCDCD story... you know Vol.5 of the Timpani Cycle, the one with Metastasis (also the one everyone seems to have overlooked)? Well, when it came out in the spring of '09, I was like, no way, it just has duplicates, so, I did forego buying it at $12. Sooooooooooooooooooo,... now I spent $35 to get it from Germany (via sister in UK!!,... shipping is murder!!!!!). So, hopefully my sis WILL send it, haha.

I'm really looking forward to this issue, which has all the early stuff. I've been listening to all the other recordings (of early stuff) to get prepped for the big Xenakis Festival at the house!!... which I'll be taking in 'phases'.


ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on November 13, 2011, 05:53:40 AM
I've been listening to all the other recordings (of early stuff) to get prepped for the big Xenakis Festival at the house!!...
Sounds like it'll be the smallest festival in the world.



Quote from: snyprrr on November 13, 2011, 05:43:30 AM
Kai is on the 'Xenakis in New York' cd. (terrible recording

Khall Perr is on the Wallace Collection cd 'Hammered Brass'. (great recording)... there is also another cd...

Yes, I remember that blog. Will recheck. And that choral piece sounds brutal, haha.
Cool, thanks for the info!  :)
So, I'm assuming all of the other ones on my list are also ones that haven't been recorded and you haven't heard yet?

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on November 13, 2011, 12:58:34 PM
Sounds like it'll be the smallest festival in the world.


Cool, thanks for the info!  :)
So, I'm assuming all of the other ones on my list are also ones that haven't been recorded and you haven't heard yet?

"Nobody likes Xenakis", haha!! ;)

I forgot: Idmen A/B is on that Erato Pleiades disc, which you should be able to get from Amazon.uk (maybe here too?). Idmen is a wonderful piece (very peaceful actually) for chorus and many percussions, classic Xenakis.


Yes, every other Composer from 'The' Generation has pretty much garnered a Complete Edition, whether by hook or by crook. Frankly, I'll just be gaga until I hear Koiranoi and Sea-Change and Alax and... well, pretty much what's on the list, though these are the pieces I fear for the most. Hopefully a festival will appear on ColLegno, though, frankly, Wergo could stand another Xenakis release. But who's gonna record these Orchestral Works? Aeon looks like a good bet maybe. Kairos?

If you check the big Xenakis site, it shows a couple of interesting recordings that I've certainly never heard of (maybe Greek things?). There actually was a recording of Sea-Change on some Greek label compilation (with Psathis(?) and Lapidakis and...) which you can find a trail of, but is certainly lost somewhere in a warehouse or dump.

Yes, Xenakis's posterity here in these last ten years has had its ups and downs, no doubt.

snyprrr

Complete Cello Works (Aeon)
Arne Deforce/ Ensemble MusikFabrik

Nomos Alpha
Charisma
Kottos
Epicycles
Paille in the Wind
Hunem-Iduhey
Roscobeck
Dhipli Zyia



Well here it is! And a very interesting release all around I would say, suitable for those who might not ordinarily attempt this repertoire. The playing is spot on, but it is the recording which really makes this a must have issue: for the first time that I've heard, one really hears all the things going on, from almost in between the strings to a good distance away.

The chamber concerto Epicycles is included (listened twice), and this performance is almost two minutes longer than the reference recording on Bvhaast, with Rohan (yes! he may go by one name!!). The music allows for such taffy pulling, and with the heightened recording, this new version is quite compelling in its own right. I do prefer the Bvhaast performance, being as it appears to be being played at a slightly quicker pace which seems to suit the music just perfectly. This new version, though, does capture a certain cosmic quality, and should be considered an essential alternative to the Bvhaast. Both are to be preferred to the horrendous recording on Vandenburg ('Xenakis in New York'), which sounds as if played in a very small airtight studio bathroom.

Deforce acquits himself wonderfully in the solo pieces, but again, it is the sheer sounds of the instrument, through this transparent recording, that compels. I mean, Deforce really leans into these pieces, and all the microscopic richness of the instrument really goes straight into your ears.

Charisma really sounds awesome here, the first time I've ever been attracted to this piece. Perhaps there was a lot I wasn't hearing in all previous recordings.

The two late duos, Hunem-Iduhey and Roscobeck, also make this an essential release, being only the second recording for both these pieces. The former is a vast improved upon the previous performance by Edna Mitchell, and I have yet to get to the latter (though, admittedly, the other recording by Dan Styffe is fine). Still, having both pieces next to each other with a consistent performer is what's needed.

Ah, dinner's ready, gotta go...

Buy It Now!


Lethevich

Has he written much for violin solo or violin-piano? And are there any recordings of these to be recommended? (I can accept viola too.)
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

ibanezmonster

Embellie, Mikka, Mikka-S, and Dikhthas are a few that I can think of.
These are all only the Chamber Music album:




http://www.amazon.com/Chamber-Music-1955-1990-Xenakis/dp/B00004WKJM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1322666272&sr=1-1