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The Music Room => Composer Discussion => Topic started by: snyprrr on January 12, 2009, 11:56:09 PM

Title: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 12, 2009, 11:56:09 PM

a lot of people seem to have a problem with the direction xenakis began charting in the late eighties until his last composition. i think offended and derisive in cases. i know i certainly didn't like it, but yes, i'm feeling so much better now.

the hallmarks of xenakis' late style become almost stereotypical: cyclopean masses move in an ever slow "walking" tempo in a very regular meter. gone are the glissandi, the echo chamber rhythms, ALL the really cool stuff that everybody liked! i especially remembered hating the arditti violin concerto "DOX-ORKH". i was like heeeyyyyy, what?

but of course, now that i HAVE  a lot of it, ha, i better like it, so....

for me, the 80s contain most of my favorite works: SHAAR/TETRAS, LICHENS, THALLEIN,all the HARPSICORD works, KEQUROPS, JALONS, TRACEES(1987). all the mature characteristics from JONCHAIES on are present. including the classics from the 70s, these are all my very favorite modern music.

but something very strange happened on the way to the pompideau (sic) center, argh

1986

saw the trombone piece KEREN, the orch. work HOROS, and the piano quintet AKEA.

HOROS showed the blueprints of the new style. the simplicity of KEREN an apparent distillation and portent of the extreme "simplicity" to come. AKEA shares a few of the new characteristics, but i find this work stands alone, and it also his last chamber work in the recognizable style.

1987

saw XAS for sax qrt, and ATA for orch. the regular pulse is now solidly in the forefront. both works share many similarities, and ATA builds on HOROS, TRACEES is the last orch work in the classic killer xenakis style. best five minutes of xenakis, period. anyone?

harmonically now xenakis has streamlined the melodies and made the cluster totally vertical and fan-like. to me ATA sounds like stravinsky and messaein (?). xenakis is beginning to sound like "regular" music, haha...horror of horrors!

1988

THE watershed year for the new style. REBONDS for perc, WAARG, EPICYCLES, and ECHANGE for ensemble (epicycles w/ solo cello, and echange w/ solo bass clarinet)

it almost seems as his late style is derived from his percussion music. rebonds is probably one of the most popular pieces for a percusionist. nuff said.

the three ensemble pieces are something else. one can barely recognize the old xenakis anymore. WAAG seems like an extremely slow greek theater...am i reminded of boulez' ritual? everything is extremely easy to follow. if waarg was the only piece in his ouevre that sounded like this, it might be a ...no i won't say it. i like it, but just doesn't seem like xenakis. the same goes for the cello "concerto", though this piece as played by rohan de saram is to me one of xenakis' most "spacey" pieces. it kind is a precursor to DOX-ORKH. the cello line sounds vaguely stereotypically native american. the ensemble show affinities with XAS.

the bass clarinet "concerto" ECHANGE is verrry slow and menacing, very cosmic, not at all like the other pieces. as far as i know, this is the only piece by xenakis that has this particular sound. the clarinet does all the usual xenakis tricks as the ensemble opens and closes dark vistas. still, an anomaly for me...is it really xenakis?

1989

OOPHAA for harpsicord and perc, and OKHO for 3 perc. OOPHAA is one of xenakis' mellowest works, very regularly metered, and OKHO of course, is the premier piece in all the universe for three djembes. when i saw this on an arditti string quartet cd i freaked (and not in a good way).

suffice to say that the new xenakis rhythm is here to stay 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4

1990-91

a slew of new orchestral works: TUOAKEMSU, KYANIA, DOX-ORKH, ROAI, KRINOIDI, and TOORKH (W/ TROMBONE SOLO).

i haven't heard TOORKH yet, though there are already 2 recordings (both w/ lindberg). i imagine it sounds like DOX-ORKH, which pits the new xenakis orchestral walking monolith against an old fashioned MIKKA violin solo. this piece made a very bad impression on me.

KYANIA, ROAI, and KRINOIDI represent the essence of a singular darkness in xenakis' music. these are slow, dark anguished worlds. the "walking" orchestra sound started with HOROS is grinding to a halt in late xenakis. the pieces keep getting slower and slower, the dissoneces building into columns turning in on themselves. the notes in the timpani cds will have to suffice...

but at this point apparently, xenakis was using whole sections from one piece to the next, and if you asked me, i wouldn't be able to tell the three pieces apart in a blind taste test. in the nest year was MOSAIQUES which was literally sections of the previous pieces since HOROS.

at the same time came the 3rd string quartet TETORA, which when i first heard on the arditti cd, it was just totally different than anything on there. there is not a note out of place in this slow granite moving block. is there one pizz? the same rhythmic and harmonic concerns of the "walking" orchestra are present here too.

THE LAST PHASE

4 more orchestra works: DAMMERSCHEIN (94), KOIRANOI (95), IOOLKOS (96), and SEA-CHANGE (87).

i don't think KOIRANOI has been recorded, and SEA-CHANGE is only available on a greek cd.
the other two pieces continue further on from the previous works, with IOOLKOS the most constipated collection of bristle dissonences i ever heard.  the tempo has slowed to an utter crawl. SEA-CHANGE is apparently only four minutes, and IOOLKOS is eight, so IOOLKOS is pretty much what we get for a final statement from xenakis, and it's not very pretty. i like to listen to it when i reallly need to clear my head.

the quartet ERGMA is M.I.A., but VOILE (20 STR) and ITTIDRA (6 STR) sound a lot like IOOLKOS, just giant walls of slow moving clusters.
the string duos HUNEM-IDUHEY and ROSCOBECK utilize the "walking" rhythms, and the non-vibrato piercing dissonences of the other pieces.
also, for his final statements for strings, these pieces seem to raise the question, huh? from tetras to...here??? xenakis seems to have the most ignoble end phase of any composer i can think of, but hey, i like this stuff.
also, the cello/piano PAILLE IN THE WIND i have not heard....very strange combo for xenakis.

the sextet PLEKTO (fl, cl, piano, perc, vln, vnc) sounds like messeain (?- i just can't spell) pure and simple. the only recording i've heard on mode, well i don't like the recorded sound, and i think they take a 12 min. piece only 8 min. you can definitely hear how they should have stretched out the tempo. the piece does sound a bit like WAARG

the brass piece in memory of LUTOSLAWSKI continues the lackys-daisy slow moving dissonent counterpoint, ay, from KHALL-PERR to this?

the two "chilly" sounding ensemble pieces KAI and KUILENN sound like drifting ice packs. the available recording is one of the worst technical recordings i have ever heard, but i would really like to hear these pieces done again (though i won't hold my breath). though sounding somewhat like everything else in this period, these pieces do get points for the "chiliness".

that leaves ZYTHOS for trombone and 6 perc., and O-MEGA for ensemble and perc.

O-MEGA is available of bvhaast, but i have heard neither piece. i can imagine that O-MEGA fits the WAARG/EPICYLES mode, but i DO wonder about ZYTHOS. why hasn't lindberg recorded it?

it seems as though xenakis' style became solidified, like his own musical tombstone. one really has to trudge through this stuff, and there is a dark light glowing in the midst of a few of these pieces, but there is a LOT here that a lot of people could quibble with, too: the recycling, the apparent abandonment of earlier achievements, the forebidding demeanor of much of this music. the incomprehensible- why would he go there?

some of these pieces may take time for good recordings.
NOW I KNOW i left out xenakis' most exciting work during this period, the electronic works VOYAGE ABSOLUTO DES  ONAN VER ANDROMEDA (1989) and S.709 (1994)...WILD, WILD STUFF!!!
...and the vocal works...there is THE BACCHANTES
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 12, 2009, 11:57:45 PM
WHOOPS...DIDN'T FINISH.

well, if anyone made it this far...the floor is yours.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: Archaic Torso of Apollo on January 13, 2009, 12:45:29 AM
This is a useful post, charting the evolution of the X Man's vast oeuvre  8)

For now, just a minor nitpick:

Quote from: snyprrr on January 12, 2009, 11:56:09 PM

i haven't heard TOORKH yet, though there are already 2 recordings (both w/ lindberg).

The recording I have is with Mike Svoboda (on col legno). I didn't even know Lindberg had recorded it. Are you sure about that?  ???

Anyway - on reflection, Troorkh displays some of the characteristics you've mentioned. I was surprised that it sounded relatively stable and consonant in relation to other Xenakis works I'd heard (though I'd stress that "relatively"). There are also some amazingly high-register declamatory statements from the trombone.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 13, 2009, 01:32:40 AM
lindberg is on BIS with berio and turnage.

thanks for the descrption..i would like to hear lindberg do it.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: not edward on January 13, 2009, 08:16:45 AM
I'm another who doesn't tend to like late Xenakis too much. As you say, the rhythms can seem pedestrian and the music often comes close to nothing more than a lengthy monolothic sequence of chords (with, in the concertante works, an often modally-tinged melodic line overlaid on it).

Of the works from this period, I do like Troorkh, Ata and Tetora, but listening much beyond that they can sound very samey. The last few works are often very short and perhaps this indicates a lack of ability to retain focus due to his ill health at the time.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 13, 2009, 02:51:42 PM
Quote from: edward on January 13, 2009, 08:16:45 AM
I'm another who doesn't tend to like late Xenakis too much. As you say, the rhythms can seem pedestrian and the music often comes close to nothing more than a lengthy monolothic sequence of chords (with, in the concertante works, an often modally-tinged melodic line overlaid on it).

pedestrian...lengthy monolithic sequ. of chords....modal melody....that's it. did we mention the LENGTH of some of these pieces?

i did want to point out ECHANGE.  it is one of the only works here that takes a bit of a different tack, more solidly in xenakis" "cosmic" way-very slow opening and closing of vistas. i think a couple of these late works, perhaps KYANIA, ROAI, KRINOIDI...bring this dark evil glowing out.  there does seem to be a disturbing undercurrent of cosmic darkness here and there that remind me of a malevolent universal revelation,,,in a verrry "non human" way...like xenakis is channelling those aliens from "the twilight Zone" that have the book "to serve man" which turns out to be a cookbook! i think xenakis' secular/atheist/humanist "faith" showed him the endgame...utter annihilation.

i don't really know the full story about his health, but seeing as he was such a "brain". did he suffer from any brain ailment? it just seems like his music became so calcified, such bald contours, that it seems as though we can actually HEAR in his music his mind taking leave of him. but i don't know.

i welcome all struggling fans to chime in.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 13, 2009, 02:56:35 PM
this thread is starting to depress me....oh xenakis, we hardly knew ya
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: not edward on January 13, 2009, 06:16:50 PM
My understanding was that Xenakis suffered from Alzheimer's, and that this was the reason why he didn't write any more after O-Mega.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 13, 2009, 06:43:39 PM
A Xenakis thread not started by me!  :o 0:)

I'll try to get back with this thread in a bit, but a few thoughts:
-Xenakis' late style seems to be very dry, but at the same time it could be thought of as a sort of dissonant plainchant, with its regular rhythms and simple line (when looked at from the perspective of an individual performer).
-It can be challenging to the listener not because of its complexity, but because the concentration involved- I'm thinking of a specific piece that I haven't listened to much- possibly Ioolkos is what I'm thinking of.
-Some of his works from the late 80s are some of my favorite works of all time- Ata, (written during my birth year) Keqrops and Jonchaies.

Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 13, 2009, 06:46:26 PM
Xas is a funny sounding piece, your description of Ioolkos is perfect  ;D and O-Mega was a piece written for Evelyn Glennie, and I've always wanted to listen to it...
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 13, 2009, 11:29:08 PM
that's the most understanding assessment i've heard.....the dissonent plainchaint reminds me of messiaen. kind of like universal humanism.

alzheimers? wow, it IS as though you can hear it in the music.....yes, dry, sandblasted.


yea, the more i think about this thread, the more i've been taking each work separately, and as i said, taken individually there ARE little masterpieces.

i ask you...is KEREN old school or new school xenakis? it DOES represent the absolute simplification...it IS very regularly metered...yet it appears out of nowhere and has established itself as standard rep for tboners. perhaps his vocal melodies are the only thing i can point to...AKANTHOS' long notes...the real greek influence, perhaps.

HOROS and KEKROPS are both from 1986, and here we have a clear pair. KEKROPS retains all the classic xenakis traits, whereas HOROS, seems like a real evolution...all of the different strands represented in say...LICHENS (1984)...have now come out the other end of the worm hole as a solidified mass (as best represented by IOOLKOS)...the various strands of the universe have become self aware and transformed into a unified, dense, tumbling entity devouring itself. some of this music reminds me of a monstrous larvae undulating under its thick skin.

and i DO like REBONDS, even though it is mostly just skins...yet another rep standard now (as with PSAPPHA). i just don't care for OKHO, which is becoming the most oft recorded work. KASSANDRA for sakkas and perc. falls here too.
and then we have one of his mellowes, nicestt works, OOPHAA for harpsicord and perc.  A LOT OF SOLO PERC MUSIC!

endless recordings of these pieces!  zzzzz....

which brings up the problem of intelligent programming of the current crop of recordings, which seem to duplicate to the point of $$$$$.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 14, 2009, 11:29:10 AM
I was surprised at the Alzheimers' thing, too. Where'd you find that out, Edward?

He certainly doesn't look like he knows where he is in this pic:(http://www.hellenica.de/Griechenland/Musik/CCXenakisDJSpooky.jpg)
"Uhhh... where am I? France or Jamaica? Whos is this guy again? Wait, why is there a dent on my face? Ahhhh!!!!!!!"
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 14, 2009, 11:57:26 AM
His percussion works do seem to be recorded a bit much, but I have no problem with it personally. Any extra recording there is of this guy is an extra Xenakis recording on the market, period. I don't think I've ever heard Keren, and I have Okho on my computer waiting to be burned to CD.


Quote
HOROS and KEKROPS are both from 1986, and here we have a clear pair. KEKROPS retains all the classic xenakis traits, whereas HOROS, seems like a real evolution...all of the different strands represented in say...LICHENS (1984)...have now come out the other end of the worm hole as a solidified mass (as best represented by IOOLKOS)...the various strands of the universe have become self aware and transformed into a unified, dense, tumbling entity devouring itself. some of this music reminds me of a monstrous larvae undulating under its thick skin.
I love this description. I don't know if it's the drugs, but you have a knack for it.  ;D

But yeah, Keqrops has both the old and "new" of Xenakis seamlessly, and I've never thought about it until now, with the point you made. The square rhythms- "plainchant" seem to be making more of a showing, especially in the piano playing, although the piano technique retains the style of works such as Evryali, which almost remind me of some type of wild free jazz playing in the higher registers.  There's also the glissandos of old.

I think it's a pretty natural evolution. I suppose he falls into the category of composers that simplify their music in their later years- just think Prokofiev. Instead, though, he only simplifies rhythm. This is possibly one of the things that earned him the reputation as one of the the most uncompromising composers. Even Boulez's music sounds less harsh than his early years. Compare Repons, with all of its pretty effects to the Piano Sonatas, or Structures. Not to mention Penderecki or Gorecki...

If I had to guess the explanation for why he chose to write using simpler rhythms through his later years, I say it had to have started off in 1977 when he wrote La Legende d'Eer. The whole middle section is a manipulation of a basic pulse, into an amazing, techno-like trance thing which people addicted to ecstasy would enjoy very much.  >:D From there, he wrote Jonchaies in the same year. Now, I can't think of a piece which has rhythms as regular as Jonchaies before that point in time. So, I think it became more natural for him, and he started acquiring a taste for, regular rhythms. Glissandos appear less, too, because, well, when you're basing music on glissandos for a long time, it might get old after awhile. Just strip one thing down after another and it beocomes his new style (having messiaen as a teacher didn't hurt at all, either).  ;)
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: not edward on January 14, 2009, 12:14:31 PM
Quote from: G$ on January 14, 2009, 11:29:10 AM
I was surprised at the Alzheimers' thing, too. Where'd you find that out, Edward?
I think I originally read it in an obituary, though there's a review quoted here from before X's death that mentions the illness: http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/080xenakis.html

I'm pretty sure it was also mentioned in a talk regarding Xenakis' music during the inaugural soundAxis festival in Toronto (which had a lot of performances of Xenakis' music, many of them very fine).
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 14, 2009, 12:29:59 PM
ah, I see. I know what it's like to know someone with Alzheimer's. If he tried to write something, he'd forget what he was even writing or where he was at after 15 minutes.  :P
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 14, 2009, 02:47:42 PM
Just saw this one posted. One of my favorite Xenakis works of all time.

Hibiki Hana Ma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJRrM4TpXSQ&feature=channel_page

but be warned if you have no sense of imagination  0:)

Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 14, 2009, 04:07:37 PM
TRACEES is also a nice pendant to KEKROPS.

yes, definitely find KEREN....utube?

today i was listening to the last ensemble pieces and looking through his works list.
after the big run of orchestra works ending in TROORKH (1991).  things get disjointed.


but the listening....first, thank timpani records for their great series that opened up a lot of the late works. right now, KOIRINOI (1995) is the only work of note that still has no recording. but for the chamber pieces, which come from two sources, the ST-X Ensemble and Ensemble Recherche.

now if you have the cds by ST-X, you'll know that the recording quality flucuates widely. the cd "XENAKIS LIVE IN NEW YORK" Is possibly the worst recording of anything i have, and it includes the two last ensemble pieces KAI for a mixed ensemble of winds brass and strings, and KULLIENN for 9 winds. the recording is distant and claustrophobic. the playing seems ok, but KAI is taken a bit quick. it's supposed to be an 8min pieces, but comes out at 6min. this piece really needs a better recording and performance. KULLIENN has a glacial flow and timber that DOES sound like slowly moving icebergs. definitely a better recording.

this cd was on vandenberg which then release "iannissimo!" (much better recorded, but the playing is somewhat staid), and then the label defunct. the ensemble was picked up by mode records, for whom the've had three releases. the first two are a mish mash of old and new ensemble/solo pieces, and the third is KRAANERG.

the main feature is xenakis' last piece with piano, PLEKTO, whose small ensemble also features the now ubiquitous perc. solo. this piece is supposed to be 14min, but they dispatch it in 8min, and you can tell that the piece could use a slight slackening. and the recorded piano sound is hideous. just like some Hindemith, these pieces need ABSOLUTE commitment and heart to show them in the best light,  the memorial to lutoslawski for brass lasts 3min. this might as well be the definitive recording and performance, cause we'll probably never get another.

(their recording of WAARG and THALLIEN are about 3 min. longer than any of the competition, and though the "sleekest" performances, they do miss the playfulness and zest)
O-MEGA i need to hear. only 4min? (BVHAAST CD)
and ZYTHOS for tbone and 6!!! percussionists has no recording (come on lindberg) and most certainly has an intriguing instrumentation. what must this piece sound like? the instrumentation of some of these late pieces seems so random, but i guess it all depends on who was commissioning. it occured to me that EVERY xenakis piece up to a certain point was a classic. i can't think of a xenakis dud until we hit this period. is TROORKH  this period's "classic". or is it in one of these tiny piece that are so easy to overlook? maybe because ATA incorporates so smoothly, and musically!, all the "late" concerns (to me, it's the one xenakis orch piece that actually sounds like "normal" music! (messiaen+stravinsky?)) perhaps it's one of the 3 electronic works.


Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 14, 2009, 04:09:46 PM
btw- i think the guy in the photo is dj spooky
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 16, 2009, 12:01:19 PM
yeah, that's dj spooky.

couldn't find Keren on youtube.  :P

Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 16, 2009, 04:31:00 PM
i'm wondering if this topic is grinding to a halt, being subsumed into the very fabric of the music being discussed.

i've spent about a week in such a bleak musical landscape that i'm exhausted. how can i continue until someone has the good sense to make these pieces available to the 5 or so people who would buy the cds?

but i have learned a lot from my fellow threadsters, and thank you. i also found some webstite "matt" something, where he listed his opinions about many works that we haven't heard yet (like PAILLE IN THE WIND). if anyone has more good news, please keep this topic in mind.


one point we haven't mentioned is xenakis' obsessive use of the pacific "pelog" scale, most notable in the beginning of JONCHAINES, but seems to make a ubiquitous appearance in mannny of the late works.


my final listening session seemed to center on WAARG (1989), which i believe i had previously mislabled. i remembered it as an instantly attractive piece in one continuously unfolding movement, the 13 instrumentalists seeming to act as "characters" in one of xenakis' greek fantasy operas where the instuments take on the personalities of the gods (like PHLEGRA). but when i just listened to in again (out of the three recordings-asko, st-x, contempoensemble-there is 3min difference, and i preferred the contemoensemble's sprightlier quick reading).......the piece seems like a "concerto for chamber ensemble), and i find very little of the ponderousness of some of the other pieces. there is a LOT of energy and fun in this piece, and it utilizes most all the techniques old and new.

only the very ending of EPICYCLES returns to this manic activity, and then small interjections in TETORA (1990),  but other than those two examples, i struggle to find where the energy went.
the "livliest" late piece, the final string/wind ensemble piece KAI, in spite of acceleration, never reaches "fast", being too wrapped in its own knottiness to escape.

til i hear O-MEGA, ZYTHOS, ERGMA, ALAX, PAILLE IN THE WIND, KOIRANOI, and SEA-CHANGE,....what more can i do?
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 16, 2009, 04:39:17 PM
DREAM DISCS

Timpani Xenakis series Vol.6:

CENDREES
ANEMOESSA
NEKUIA




"Lindberg on Xenakis" BIS CD:

KEREN
ZYTHOS
IN MEMORIAM LUTOSLAWSKI
LINIA-AGON
TROORKH
KHALL-PERR

naw...too many choices....


"Arditti Quartet: Xenakis Vol.2":


TETORA
ERGMA
ITTIDRA
ROSCOBECK
HUNEM-IDUHEY
PAILLE IN THE WIND
THERAPS
MORISMA-AMORISMA
KAI ?
PLEKTO?
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 16, 2009, 06:31:41 PM
i listened to Palimpsest today in the car. I was pretty much blown away!  :o
it's like a wild ride of free jazz, except intelligently constructed- only way i know how to describe after first listen. I'll get to Epei and Dmaathen tomorrow.

Quote from: snyprrr on January 16, 2009, 04:39:17 PM
DREAM DISCS

Timpani Xenakis series Vol.6:

CENDREES
ANEMOESSA
NEKUIA




"Lindberg on Xenakis" BIS CD:

KEREN
ZYTHOS
IN MEMORIAM LUTOSLAWSKI
LINIA-AGON
TROORKH
KHALL-PERR

naw...too many choices....


"Arditti Quartet: Xenakis Vol.2":


TETORA
ERGMA
ITTIDRA
ROSCOBECK
HUNEM-IDUHEY
PAILLE IN THE WIND
THERAPS
MORISMA-AMORISMA
KAI ?
PLEKTO?
I like these lists a lot. There was a time, a couple of years ago, when I thought repeatedly about how much of his stuff I have, and how much I have left, but even now, there's so much left that it's still a long way to go. He wrote, what, 140 or so works (can never remember the number), so it's understandable.


Quote from: snyprrr on January 16, 2009, 04:31:00 PM

one point we haven't mentioned is xenakis' obsessive use of the pacific "pelog" scale, most notable in the beginning of JONCHAINES, but seems to make a ubiquitous appearance in mannny of the late works.



til i hear O-MEGA, ZYTHOS, ERGMA, ALAX, PAILLE IN THE WIND, KOIRANOI, and SEA-CHANGE,....what more can i do?
keep on listening, again and again.  ;D

as for the pelog scale, that's something I've noticed, too. I just never took the time to figure out which scale it was- although I've improvised with that scale (i think it has several modes that go along with it, too), I haven't gotten it in my head enough to instantly recognize it- so it's nice to know what scale that is he's using.
You do hear it quite a bit in the middle/late-middle period- I'm thinking of Keqrops, too- it makes the piece sound so exotic while being so dissonant at the same time, which is pretty unusual. I think it's mainly part of his pitch sieve technique, though- at least, I know the opening to Jonchaies is sieve-based.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 16, 2009, 06:35:13 PM
ever visit this site?

http://www.uoguelph.ca/~digimus/xenakis/pages/figurelist.html

one of my favorite examples is from Shaar:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~digimus/xenakis/pages/fig148.html

i heard something like that in Palimpsest- amazing rhythmic technique- like strands that slowly split apart.



Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: Diletante on January 16, 2009, 07:24:24 PM
I have listened to only a few pieces by Xenakis, but I love Akanthos. The vocal part gives me chills (in a good way) every time I listen to it. Nice!
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 17, 2009, 10:32:00 AM
WOW g$!!!!

that link was great!i heard just enough to fill in the gaps...thank you!!!

i heard i suppose one half of PAILLE IN THE WIND and wow!- i guess i can figure the rest (if there's no surprises). it seems like a real "nocturne", very much a CHARISMA part 2 perhaps, and A'r. it is verrry slow, beginning with granite descending block chords, fortissimo, then fading,...then the cello grinds out what appears to be a very profound version of his new dissonent model alien melody

i heard the beginning and ending of ERGMA (which i guess runs about 7-9min) and it comes across as the most concentrated of his late "steles". kinda like ITTIDRA minus TETORA, or something like that. slow moving bitingly dissonent block chords alien chorale. a little like the LUTOSLAWSKI MEMORIAN of the same year, but without the counterpoint and not as "tender". so now i really don't understand why this wasn't on the "music for strings"/mode cd.. arrgh, i was actually hoping this piece would suck, but now i really need someone to record it!

i heard a brief snippet of O-MEGA, and wow!- how annoying!!!!! the ensemble appears to move in a less dark, less intense "cosmic vista" style of ECHANGE, (or a xenakis version of the UNANSWERED QUESTION?), AND THEN!!! the percusiion interjects with loud, RUDE, super fast and steady rolls and quick fills, like some shocking stereotype of an "i am god" drum solo. i think the piece is only 4min, so wow!- this is really the last statement, like against the backdrop of his universal mathematical mystery, the banality of "man" sticks out like a sore thumb, or perhaps the drum represents time ticking so fast (because we are on the cusp of annihilation) like it's beating us over the head saying- "hello?...wake up!"?? and i guess, then, poof, it's over quickly? the most disturbing discover so far.

i saw a slice of music from ZYTHOS which suggested that the perc. sextet play in the mellow tone-centered manner of some of PLIEDES (sic), and i suppose the trombone plays the modal stuff on top, maybe? really made me want to hear this piece.

finally i heard three snippets from ALAX for 3 orchestral groups, from 1985, the year before HOROS/KEKROPS, and it appears to take the culminating techniques of JONCHAIES-SHAAR-LICHENS and begin to take them apart. maybe hear he started thinking about new ways of putting things together, perhaps? sounds like a must for the timpani cd series.

wow- i'm going to have to absorb a lot from just these glimpses, but this definitely made my time on this thread worth it. thanks again!
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 17, 2009, 07:13:02 PM
glad you found that link to be a discovery!  :)

wow, i just checked my Xenakis scores folder, and found that I had Persephassa and Palimpsest, among others, that I completely forgot I had! Well, if anyone wants to look at the score to Charisma, here it is:

just something i thought i'd throw on randomly since it's under 500kb

Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 17, 2009, 10:45:58 PM
i thought i once saw in a picture in a book of the score to MIKKA for violin, and it was like graphic calligraphy? like the waw-waw notes were written as smears? going up or down depending on the note? did i see this?
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 18, 2009, 04:28:50 PM
it appears so:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gfxc.smpgfx.com/Look-Inside/small/4178017_01.gif&imgrefurl=http://wwws.sheetmusicplus.com/sheetmusic/detail/HL.50420720.html&usg=__1IBvMoll1_knjKlmUJeV-JuaE_Q=&h=80&w=60&sz=3&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=_1ezg8XVW2rTaM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=56&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dxenakis%2Bmikka%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN


interesting! I don't think I've seen the flow of the notes alongside the actual notes like this before.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on January 18, 2009, 07:39:58 PM
i take that back as I'm looking at Stockhausen's Klavierstuck VI...
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on January 18, 2009, 11:42:32 PM
that's quite an address.
i think this might have been a biography. the only place i can think of that i might have seen it was in the peabody consv. library.  still, the first page "looks" cool. it amazes me how black dots on a page can sound like so many different things!.

thanks again.

maybe tomorrow i'll write up a 'XENAKIS "CLASSIC" ERA WORKS (1969-89)".  see how it goes.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on April 25, 2009, 03:48:05 PM
CD COLLECTOR SWOONS LIKE SCHOOLGIRL AFTER SEEING XENAKIS' COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS ON MODE!!!

"Finally I can wear this wedding dress without shame..." he was overheard telling friends and family as police whisked him away to the CD Rehabilitation Clinic.

"Ergma...oh Ergma"
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on April 25, 2009, 04:01:50 PM
 ;D
It looks like it's not released yet, and Jack Black is in the group.... well, at least they tried.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: petrarch on April 25, 2009, 06:47:03 PM
Quote from: snyprrr on January 12, 2009, 11:56:09 PM
O-MEGA is available of bvhaast, but i have heard neither piece. i can imagine that O-MEGA fits the WAARG/EPICYLES mode, but i DO wonder about ZYTHOS. why hasn't lindberg recorded it?

it seems as though xenakis' style became solidified, like his own musical tombstone. one really has to trudge through this stuff, and there is a dark light glowing in the midst of a few of these pieces, but there is a LOT here that a lot of people could quibble with, too: the recycling, the apparent abandonment of earlier achievements, the forebidding demeanor of much of this music. the incomprehensible- why would he go there?

Just a brief note to say that if you want a thorough and systematic description with some analysis of all of Xenakis' works, one by one all the way to O-Mega, do check out the book Xenakis: His Life in Music by James Harley. It's expensive, but it is the most thorough book I have about him and his music.

Oh and I was at the premiere of Dammerschein and I got him to sign the programme notes ;).
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on April 25, 2009, 06:54:12 PM
Are you the same Peter with the old penguin avatar?
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: petrarch on April 26, 2009, 04:27:30 AM
Quote from: Bahamut on April 25, 2009, 06:54:12 PM
Are you the same Peter with the old penguin avatar?

If that was a question for me, no I am not. My name is not Peter either.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: CRCulver on April 26, 2009, 06:38:54 AM
I've been corresponding with Steven Schick, and he says that he intends to record O-Mega soon. A pity it was left off of the Mode set of Xenakis' complete percussion works.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: c#minor on April 26, 2009, 08:27:40 AM
Quote from: Bahamut on January 14, 2009, 02:47:42 PM
Just saw this one posted. One of my favorite Xenakis works of all time.

Hibiki Hana Ma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJRrM4TpXSQ&feature=channel_page

but be warned if you have no sense of imagination  0:)



Thanks for the post, i have had my interest by some recent posts about Xenakis but never got into it. I don't quite know what to think about it yet aside from the fact that it's very very interesting.

Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on April 26, 2009, 10:34:58 AM
Quote from: petrArch on April 26, 2009, 04:27:30 AM
If that was a question for me, no I am not. My name is not Peter either.
Oh, okay.

Quote from: CRCulver on April 26, 2009, 06:38:54 AM
I've been corresponding with Steven Schick, and he says that he intends to record O-Mega soon. A pity it was left off of the Mode set of Xenakis' complete percussion works.
Cool!  8)


Quote from: c#minor on April 26, 2009, 08:27:40 AM
Thanks for the post, i have had my interest by some recent posts about Xenakis but never got into it. I don't quite know what to think about it yet aside from the fact that it's very very interesting.


It'll grow on you if you really open up your imagination... really, playing a science fiction-type video game like Beyond Good and Evil, or Half-Life might help- well, at least, stuff like that enhances the experience for me. Also, listening to more Xenakis could help- or just listening again and again.  ;D
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on May 30, 2009, 01:29:35 AM
Quote from: CRCulver on April 26, 2009, 06:38:54 AM
I've been corresponding with Steven Schick, and he says that he intends to record O-Mega soon. A pity it was left off of the Mode set of Xenakis' complete percussion works.

That's not my main gripe about that 2cd set. Why couldn't they have recorded Zythos for trombone and six perc., or Khall Perr, or even a re-recording of Plekto? Why did they bother to record an incomplete "complete" perc. set? There could have been so many other ways to package it. Just set Persephassa and Pleiades aside for a later release.

I just wish Mode, in their whole series, would concentrate on pieces LACKING recordings, instead of making us wonder if they're going to do a "Complete Xenakis" (which I doubt). I just can't TAKE another recording of Rebonds (much less Okho!) At least "Complete SQs" has righted one wrong.

I predict their next release will be called "Solos, Duos, and Trios". Perhaps, at least, that will shore up the string music.

Timpani and Mode: WE WANT IT YESTERDAY ALREADY!!!
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on September 02, 2009, 06:25:57 PM
I just got the JACK Quartet playing the Complete String Quartets of Xenakis (on Mode; also available on DVD!!!).

I have waited a long time to hear Xenakis' last SQ, Ergma. I heard a great intro/outro clip on one of the great links provided earlier in this thread, which revealed Ergma to be, obviously, in the same league as other late Xenakis string work: Hunem-Iduhey (vln/vnc), Roscobeck (vnc/bs), Voile (20 strings), Ittidra (sextet), and the earlier SQ, Tetora.

On this cd, Ergma's opening salvo is delivered with more polish, sheen, and lustre than the clip I heard. Yea, I know, you're saying, Polish??? Sheen??? Yes, this JACK Quartet plays Xenakis beautifully. All this music is so radical, yet the group has it down so tight that all they seem to be worried about is how beautiful to play it all!

All of Xenakis' late string music sounds to me like lasers eating through diamonds at a funereal pace, and this SQ is no exception. All players play 2notes throughout, grating 2nds and 7ths, grinding out slow, tiered chords in an "ancient" sounding "mode", with the occasional peculiarity (a 4th!). Again, the players, vibrato-less, sear this music with a tonal beauty that belies the "ugliness" of the actual notes.

In a way, one of the only differences between the pieces is the amount of darkness or light afforded to these laser drills by virtue of the instrumentation. Obviously, the cello/bass duo, Roscobeck, will be the darkest (purely in a tonal sense, not emotional), whilst the violin/cello duo is my favorite because here the piercing highs of the violin are brought out more so than in the SQ or the sextet, the sense of laser drilling more etched and severe. In this regard, the SQ almost has a comforting mellowness (but again, that could be the beautiful playing). The sextet will obviously be the most bristling.

I am grateful to finally get the bigger picture in this later string music. The sheer BALDNESS of this music I find so enigmatically inviting, like, there is nothing after it... the final word, so to speak.

Xenakis' masterpiece, Tetras, also receives its most beautiful recording. In comparing to the two competing Arditti versions, the JACK do pretty much come out on top... and, of course, I'm not slighting the Arditti one bit (of course I'm keeping theirs). The JACK take about a couple of minutes longer (though it's hard to tell while the SQ is playing), and this allows their tonal beauty to come through, especially in the difficult unison glissandi passages. The bass response, and the recording itself, are space age awesome!

This cd reminds me of the Arditti's Complete SQs of Berio. Having all the Xenakis on one cd really throws his acheivement into bold relief. ST-4 (1962), when compared to Berio's Sincronie (1964), comes across as more integral than Berio's scattershot, kitchen-sink approach, though listen to both shows the "man vs. computer" to great effect. The JACK really play this SQ's pointallistic galaxies and shooting star glissandi with...


argh...gotta get off the computer...
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: greg on September 02, 2009, 07:25:15 PM
Good to see new stuff coming out...
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 02, 2009, 10:51:27 PM
Quote from: snyprrr on September 02, 2009, 06:25:57 PM
I just got the JACK Quartet playing the Complete String Quartets of Xenakis (on Mode; also available on DVD!!!).

Thanks for the review. I've never even heard of this quartet (yes, I don't know JACK).
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: bhodges on September 03, 2009, 06:30:23 AM
Last October I heard the Jack Quartet in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge, in all four Xenakis quartets, and thought they were marvelous.  I'd only heard Tetras (on CD) and none of the quartets live, so it was a real treat.  ST/4 – 1080262 was thrilling--man, what a piece!  I wasn't quite as bowled over by Tetora and Ergma (which seemed more similar to each other than to the other two), but never mind.  

Anyway, glad to hear the new recording already has fans.  I'll be eager to hear it.

--Bruce
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: petrarch on September 04, 2009, 06:52:01 AM
Quote from: James on September 04, 2009, 06:35:14 AM
Cool I might consider the DVD, 'seeing' the JACK group perform this stuff.

(http://cover7.cduniverse.com/CDUCoverArt/video/Large/7868038.jpg)

It's definitely worth it.

I did see JACK perform ST/4 along with Rihm's Im Innersten and Lachenmann's Gran Torso at The Tank last year and even though I prefer the Arditti performances of all of these three quartets it is refreshing to have a different take on these works.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on March 10, 2013, 07:40:53 AM
All this Boulez Box Bashing (BBB) reminded me that, as far as I know, only ONE of the Composers of High Modernism does not have a Complete Edition of some sorts. Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Messi-ann,.. uh, uh... well, you know.

This is probably only the second Xenakis Post in a year, and it's the same lament as last time. It looks as though Xenakis has dies at the box-office and I guess we should assume that the last works that remain unrecorded will remain so. :'(

That no formal recording exists of Zythos (for Christian Lindberg and the Kroumata,... I mean, come ON BIS!!), which shouldn't even be a problem, IS a problem!! >:D It's not even that much of a piece, but come on people, let us put this baby to rest.

But I fear it has already been laid to rest.

I DID appreciate the last Poster in the other Thread who turned us on to the (I almost guess) World Premiere Recording of the brass trio Linea Agon (did I spell it right that time?), but, all the other Xenakis sighting have been of the same basic two standards: either one of the two solo percussion pieces (Psappha, Rebonds) or Evryali.

I suppose we are at that exact place in history where Xenakis's music is diametrically opposed to the interests of the current market (meaning, he's not PC,... apparently the powers dat b don't like him politically?). And, I mean, I don't necessarily care for the man and his ideas, but, I just want what I want and I want it NOW!!! :o

AAAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!! :(
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on March 11, 2013, 08:17:26 AM
Quote from: James on March 10, 2013, 08:45:18 AM
Mode and Timpani have did a good job of putting a lot of his work out there. I'm sure Mode will probably at some point record whatever odds and ends are missing. Send Mode an email listing what's left and ask if they have any other plans.

I did that last year, when they kind of promised SOMETHING, but nothing has come from them in 2 1/2 years. :'( I'll try again.


I did listen to the Late Orchestral Work Kyania (1992), a 20min. kaleidoscope of chugging, brilliant movement, like a giant quilt made of gold and brass. Xenakis definitely has some Messiean in him.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on November 22, 2013, 08:21:30 AM
Quote from: edward on January 13, 2009, 08:16:45 AM
I'm another who doesn't tend to like late Xenakis too much. As you say, the rhythms can seem pedestrian and the music often comes close to nothing more than a lengthy monolothic sequence of chords (with, in the concertante works, an often modally-tinged melodic line overlaid on it).

Of the works from this period, I do like Troorkh, Ata and Tetora, but listening much beyond that they can sound very samey. The last few works are often very short and perhaps this indicates a lack of ability to retain focus due to his ill health at the time.

Aye, this Thread is a mess ???, but, Edward (and whomever), one thing that can be said for Late Xenakis is this- and it's only evident on hearing differing interpretations of the Late Works- that 'timing' is quite important, because, Xenakis's 'melodies' are such that, depending on exactly how fast, or slow, a piece is going, they tend to transform and open up 'new' melodies- I relate this to perhaps someone like Sibelius, who can sound very different depending on the tempo one chooses. You get what I mean? I'm saying there is a HIDDEN genius in Late Xenakis.


A few seconds after writing the above I thought it sounded like bs ::). I'm pretty sure Xenakis chose his tempos according to what he himself was expecting- and I DON'T expect Xenakian Conductors to act like Lenny and pull IX's music all out of shape.

My main example would be the two recordings of Plekto (1993?), 8:10 on Mode, 12:27 on Bvhaast (the piece is listed as being 14mins.). This is the kind of piece that will somewhat change character depending on the tempo (yes, Gurn, I'm still talkin' that 'Haydn tempo thing', haha!!), though, there are balancing/spatial issues that can alter its character. The rhythmic interplay is what's effected, and, pedestrian or not, rhythms in Late Xenakis are ripe for manipulation.

There is usually ALWAYS in Xenakis, no matter the complexity, when he tightens up the rhythm to steady, understandable beats- many times there are several sections that appear in some certain steady beating tempo- BUUUT- how to choose which one is the 'sweet spot'? This is interesting in the Auzet 'O-Mega' at 4:10 and the Bvhaast at 3:30- certain contours of the ensemble melodies from the slower are somewhat lost in the quicker.

And, I mean, certain performers, who have perhaps taken a chance, and played a Xenakis piece a little slower, or faster, than usual,... haven't they many times found hidden relationships between the 'beats'?- as I think Edward or someone mentioned in the other Thread.

In 'Plekto', there are several conflicting 'steady times' that come out differently in the two opposing recordings, hence, actual interest IN multiple recordings (how many Modern Composers's multiple recordings all sound similar?).




Anyhow, I'm just rambling on about Xenakis this morning... I've been comparing 'Thallein'- it's THE Xenakis work, I think- in terms of meeting the Orchestral-Chamber Divide, and delivering on all counts. The new Mode version is in a class by itself, and technically outclasses the old Boulez/Erato, but the latter has an urgent vibrancy in the playing and recording that are really just slightly less molten than the Mode (the Erato sounds as if every instrument has a mic, the Mode a bit more organic).

enough
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on November 04, 2016, 02:49:38 PM
3 Pages? :laugh:

Anyhow, IX's 'Late Period' begins 1987-88, and yes, 'Rebonds' is his "Top40 Hit". Along with that, 'XA5' for saxophone quartet seems to me a perfect transition piece, with equal parts wildness and repose, looking forward to the slow tempos of 'Tetora' and 'Oophaa', that became de rigor after 1991.

The three works, 'Waarg' (literally, "work"), 'Echange', and 'Epicycles', also seem to form a trilogy of a new style, with 'Waarg' the clearest example of how monolithic he was to become. 'Echange', however, does seem to hold a special place in all of Xenakis, as there is not much quite like this cosmic gem of dark hues and vast spaces, seamlessly wrought.

What confounds me are the block of Orchestral Works between 1990-92, that do, all, inhabit such an oddly rigid world of "no" (no glissandi, no shocking juxapositions, just monolithic slabs of slowly moving magma). I especially couldn't stand the violin concerto 'DOX-ORKH' (1990), with it's almost comedic orchestral backdrop,... dare I say, "programmatic"? (David vs Goliath)

Of course, it's still a long road from 1990 to his last works of 1995-97, where there are grindings not quite imagined by the Xenakis of 1983.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on November 05, 2016, 07:03:04 AM
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on November 04, 2016, 03:46:24 PM
So many things to reply to!!  ;D

Snyprrr, from the OP we both seem to cherish his 80s music the most (which is awesome!).
One of my personal favourites from his orchestral works has to be Lichens, I think it utilities everything he's known for with his orchestral music at full force, and with percussion solos!!

There is a lot I have to say and I'm not a fast typewriter so I won't be able to bring up all my points at once.

I do think his late works are beautiful and show him ending in a more humble manner (compared to a lot of composers). Yes, the alzeimers did play a big role in his cognitive abilities, sadly.

I don't think his late works are any less valuable than his early and middle period works but I do think they rely on subtly far more.

Despite this, Sea-Change is very crushing to me.

Will talk more!  :D

I agree with 'Lichens'- well, actually, I think 'Nekuia' impressed me a little more... and I do love 'Cendrees' too... oh, and 'Kekrops'- that may be his Big Hollywood Moment? And I have a soft spot for 'L I'lle de Goree'...


I was very surprised by 'Sea-Change'. It starts with gliss, one should be overjoyed... "crushed"???


Yea, I'm not in much of a writey mood :(



Just so you know, I hold up Marcus Leoson (Caprice) as the Greatest 'Rebonds', without a doubt. Lately, it seems the plan is to drag 'Rebonds' and 'Psappha' out so that even Millenialls can play them... (I know, I'm sorry, no offence to the youngers- still funny)
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: milk on November 10, 2016, 04:32:38 AM
What a sin to have unrecorded works. ...A shame.
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on November 10, 2016, 12:51:18 PM
Quote from: Thatfabulousalien on November 05, 2016, 02:26:59 PM
Mosaiques and Waarg? They're too I haven't seen any recordings of (though I may have missed it, if it's in french etc.)

Cheers!

Alien  8)

There's no commercial recording of 'Mosaiques'; however, there are THREE recordings of 'Waarg':

1) the Vandenburg recording 'Iannissimo!'

2) original rec. on Attacca "ASKO Ensemble Live 1"

3)Stradivarius label "Festival Milano Musica Live Vol2" STR33871 (this is my choice)



Yes, I hear the "crushing" in 'Sea-Change'- quite sad machine death... 'O-MEGA' also has a cosmic sadness


Quote from: milk on November 10, 2016, 04:32:38 AM
What a sin to have unrecorded works. ...A shame.

2008 recession crushed expensive Xenakis orchestral recordings :( is what I heard


Whoever owns the Erato recordings for 'Cendrees' 'Nekuia' and 'Ais' could certainly put them out for cheap, no? 'Koiroanoi' is the one that I'm craving- I heard a snippet and was massively impressed.

And, Mode's IX Series has absolutely stagnated with no info going forward. Feel free to contact Brian Brandt at Mode- he's pretty good about communicating- however, every time I mention anything to him, he always responds that it is the money that is the issue. Should someone "donate" some cashola to the cause, well, maybe we'll get a new recording.....





Listened to 'Zythos' just now- I just have to LOL, it's suuuch a barren piece, it reminds me of "Silent Night' and a snow
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: John Copeland on November 10, 2016, 01:01:39 PM
This composer is new to me, having trashed him some years back as something I could not understand.  Well, turns out there are many composers I don't understand, like Lutoslawski, but I listen to his work regularly because it lights up and messes up the neurons in my so-called brain.  So recently I have taken to listening to this fellow.  Damned interesting so far, but I dunno yet... ::) :-\
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS
Post by: snyprrr on November 10, 2016, 02:51:24 PM
Quote from: Scots John on November 10, 2016, 01:01:39 PM
This composer is new to me, having trashed him some years back as something I could not understand.  Well, turns out there are many composers I don't understand, like Lutoslawski, but I listen to his work regularly because it lights up and messes up the neurons in my so-called brain.  So recently I have taken to listening to this fellow.  Damned interesting so far, but I dunno yet... ::) :-\

How may we direct you IX listening?

Anything can be auditioned on YouTube. I would recommend:

1) 'Kekrops'- a mighty and fully mature Piano Concerto No.3 that sounds like UltraModern Stravinsky to me, perhaps.
                    Elemental, yet with melody, almost "prehistoric" or "kraken" images

2) 'Pleiades'- easy to like six man percussion, 40mins.

3) 'Jonchaies'- sonic juggernaut, utilizing Indonesian Pelog scale

4) 'Ata'- I think his most easy to understand piece, very very Stravinskyian, funnish

5) 'Tracees'- all of Xenakis encapsulated in 5 minutes

6) 'Emprientes' and 'Echange'- the former is the most truly cosmic sounding Xenakis, quite peaceful, the latter more dark space

7) 'Akea'- Piano Quintet, my choice for a chamber representaion

8) 'L'Isle de Goree'- Harpsichord Concerto, very special piece based on the African slave island


I limited to his High Maturity, the pieces I think are most communicative?.........mmm...
Title: Re: The Late Works of XENAKIS TIMPANI BOX
Post by: snyprrr on November 10, 2016, 02:54:28 PM
Bout ready to whip out the TimpaniBox.

Roai
Kyania
Krinoidi