Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May
1922
Events
January
* January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes.
* January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...
– 4 February
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...
) was a Romanian-born Greek-French
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
composer,
music theorist
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation ( ...
, architect, performance director and engineer.
After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalised
citizen of France eighteen years later. Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concern ...
,
stochastic process
In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that ap ...
es and
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
and was also an important influence on the development of
electronic and
computer music
Computer music is the application of computing technology in music composition, to help human composers create new music or to have computers independently create music, such as with algorithmic composition programs. It includes the theory and ...
. He integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances.
Among his most important works are ''
Metastaseis'' (1953–54) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as ''
Psappha'' (1975) and ''
Pléïades ''Pléïades'' is a composition for six percussionists composed in 1978 by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis, originally commissioned by the percussion ensemble Les Percussions de Strasbourg. It is notable for its use of the sixxen, an instrument Xenak ...
'' (1979); compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as ''Terretektorh'' (1966); electronic works created using Xenakis's
UPIC system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called ''polytopes'', that were a summa of his interests and skills.
Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book ''
Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (French edition 1963, English translation 1971) is regarded as one of his most important. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
: the priory of
Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, on which the two collaborated, and the
Philips Pavilion at
Expo 58
Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
, which Xenakis designed by himself.
Life
1922–47: Early years
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis was born in
Brăila
Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila.
According to the 2011 Romanian ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
—the site of a large Greek community, as the eldest son of Greek parents; Klearchos Xenakis, a businessman from
Euboea
Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poi ...
who was managing director of an English export-import agency and one of the richest men in the city, and Fotini Pavlou from
Lemnos, a pianist who also spoke German and French. His two younger brothers were Jason, who became a philosophy professor in the United States and Greece and
Kosmas
Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek name ( grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς), from Ancient Greek Κοσμᾶς (Kosmâs), associated with the noun κόσμος (kósmos), meaning " universe", and the verb κοσμέω (to order, govern, adorn) linked to propr ...
, an architect, urban planner and artist.
His parents were both interested in music, and it was Pavlou who encouraged the young child to learn more about it: the young Giannis was given a flute by his mother, and the family visited the
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
several times, due to his father's interest in opera. Her early death in 1927, when Xenakis was five years old, was a traumatic experience that, in his own words, "deeply scarred" the future composer. She had previously been infected from
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
and died after giving birth to a stillborn daughter.
He was subsequently educated by a series of English, French, and German
governess
A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, ...
es, and then, in 1932, sent to Greece to study at the Anargyrio-Korgialenio
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...
on the Aegean island of
Spetses
Spetses ( el, Σπέτσες, grc, Πιτυούσσα "Pityussa", Arvanitika: Πετσε̱) is an upscale affluent island in Attica, Greece. It is included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis ...
. He sang in the school's boys' choir, where the repertoire included works by
Palestrina, and
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's ''
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'', which Xenakis memorized in its entirety.
[ Varga, p. 14.]
It was also at the Spetses school that Xenakis studied
notation and
solfège, being introduced to the music of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
and
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
and became enamoured of Greek traditional and church music.
At the same time, he discovered the writer
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
and had a habit of visiting museums.
In 1938, after graduating from the school, Xenakis moved to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
to prepare for entrance exams at its
National Technical University, also studying
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...
. He was encouraged by his friends and family to do so due to his interests in physics and mathematics. Although he intended to study architecture and engineering, he also took lessons in
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...
and
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tra ...
with
Aristotelis Koundouroff. In 1940, he successfully passed the exams, but his studies were cut short by the
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...
, which began with the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. Although Greece eventually won the war, it was not long before the German army joined the Italians in the
Battle of Greece
The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...
, in April 1941.
This led to the
Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, which lasted until late 1944, when the Allies began their drive across Europe, forcing the Axis forces to withdraw. Xenakis joined the
National Liberation Front early during the war, participating in mass protests and demonstrations, and later becoming part of armed resistance — this last step was a painful experience Xenakis refused to discuss until much later in life.
After the Axis forces left, Churchill ordered that British forces step in to help restore the Greek monarchy; they were opposed by the
Democratic Army of Greece, and the country plunged into a
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
. In December 1944, during the period of
Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
's
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Martia ...
,
Xenakis (who was by then a member of the communist students' company of the left-wing ''Lord Byron'' faction of
ELAS
The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
) became involved in street fighting against British tanks. He was wounded and facially disfigured when shrapnel from a tank blast hit his cheek and left eye, which was blinded;
the fact that Xenakis survived the injury has been described as a miracle.
The Technical University operated intermittently during these years. Despite this, and Xenakis's other activities, he was able to graduate in 1947, with a degree in civil engineering.
Xenakis was then conscripted into the national armed forces. Around 1947 the Greek government began arresting former resistance members that were left-wing oriented and sending them to prison. Xenakis, fearing for his life, went into hiding. With the help of his father and others, he fled Greece through
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
by using a fake
passport
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...
. On 11 November 1947 he arrived in Paris. In a late interview, Xenakis admitted to feeling tremendous guilt at leaving his country, and that guilt was one of the sources of his later devotion to music:
For years I was tormented by guilt at having left the country for which I'd fought. I left my friends—some were in prison, others were dead, some managed to escape. I felt I was in debt to them and that I had to repay that debt. And I felt I had a mission. I had to do something important to regain the right to live. It wasn't just a question of music—it was something much more significant.
In the meantime, in Greece he was sentenced
in absentia to death by the right-wing administration. The sentence was commuted to ten years' imprisonment in 1951, and only lifted some 23 years later, after the fall of the
Greek junta
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
in 1974. He later returned the same year.
1947–59: Architecture and music
Although he was an illegal immigrant in Paris, Xenakis was able to get a job at
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
's architectural studio. He worked as an engineering assistant at first, but quickly rose to performing more important tasks, and eventually to collaborating with Le Corbusier on major projects. These included a kindergarten on the roof of an apartment block in
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
(
Rezé
Rezé (; br, Reudied, Gallo: ''Rezae'') is a commune (municipality) and former bishopric in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It is a southern suburb of Nantes.
It was also called ''Ratiate'' in ...
), the
Unité d'Habitation of Nantes-Rezé, parts of government buildings in
Chandigarh
Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...
, India, the "undulatory glass surfaces" of
Sainte Marie de La Tourette
Sainte Marie de La Tourette is a Dominican Order priory, located on a hillside near Lyon, France, designed by the architect Le Corbusier, the architect’s final building. The design of the building began in May 1953 and completed in 1961. The comm ...
, a
Dominican priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
in a valley near
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
, and the
Philips Pavilion at
Expo 58
Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...
—the latter project was completed by Xenakis alone from a basic sketch by Le Corbusier.
[ Hoffmann] The experience Xenakis gained played a major role in his music: important early compositions such as ''
Metastaseis'' (1953–54) were based directly on architectural concepts. At the same time, he dropped the "G" from his professional name to get the name he is most commonly known by, "Iannis".
At the same time, while working for Le Corbusier, Xenakis was studying harmony and counterpoint, and composing. He worked long and hard, frequently far into the night, and sought guidance from a number of teachers, most of whom, however, ultimately rejected him. Such was the case with
Nadia Boulanger
Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist.
From a ...
, who was the first person Xenakis approached about lessons. He then tried studying with
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...
, whose reaction to Xenakis's music was unenthusiastic. As Xenakis recounted in a 1987 interview, Honegger dismissed a piece which included
parallel fifths and octaves as "not music". Xenakis, who was by that time well acquainted with music of
Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...
,
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hu ...
, and
Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
, all of whom used such devices and much more experimental ones, was furious and left to study with
Darius Milhaud, but these lessons also proved fruitless. Annette Dieudonné, a close friend of Boulanger's, then recommended that Xenakis try studying with
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...
. Xenakis approached Messiaen for advice on whether he once again start studying harmony and counterpoint. Messiaen later recalled:
I understood straight away that he was not someone like the others. ..He is of superior intelligence. ..I did something horrible which I should do with no other student, for I think one should study harmony and counterpoint. But this was a man so much out of the ordinary that I said... No, you are almost thirty, you have the good fortune of being Greek, of being an architect and having studied special mathematics. Take advantage of these things. Do them in your music.
Francisco Estévez has described this work as "mathematical formulas translated . . . into beautiful, exciting, and above all, convincing music."
Xenakis regularly attended Messiaen's classes from 1951 until 1953. Messiaen and his students studied music from a wide range of genres and styles, with particular attention to rhythm. Xenakis's compositions from 1949 until 1952 were mostly inspired by Greek folk melodies, as well as Bartók,
Ravel, and others; after studying with Messiaen, he discovered
serialism
In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were al ...
and gained a deep understanding of contemporary music (Messiaen's other pupils at the time included
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groundb ...
and
Jean Barraqué, among others). Messiaen's
modal serialism was an influence on Xenakis's first large-scale work, ''Anastenaria'' (1953–54): a triptych for choir and orchestra based on an ancient
Dionysian
The Apollonian and the Dionysian are philosophical and literary concepts represented by a duality between the figures of Apollo and Dionysus from Greek mythology. Its popularization is widely attributed to the work ''The Birth of Tragedy'' by ...
ritual. The third part of the triptych, ''Metastaseis'', is generally regarded as the composer's first mature piece; it was detached from the triptych to mark the beginning of the "official" Xenakis oeuvre.
He was considered to be part of the
Darmstadt School, but later broke with the group of composers, who he believed focused too heavily on serialism and controlling all aspects of composition. In an article titled “The Crisis of Serial Music” he specifically accused Boulez and Stockhausen of steering music into dead-end.
On 3 December 1953, Xenakis married the journalist and writer
Françoise Gargouïl, who he met in 1950. Their daughter Mâkhi, who later became a painter and sculptor, was born in 1956 in Paris. In late 1954, with Messiaen's support, Xenakis was accepted into the
Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète; an organization established by
Pierre Schaeffer and
Pierre Henry
Henry at his home (January 2008)
Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer and pioneer of musique concrète.
Biography
Henry was born in Paris, France, and began experimenting at the age of ...
, dedicated to studying and producing electronic music of the
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, wit ...
variety. Shortly after that Xenakis met conductor
Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor.
Life
Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...
, who was immediately impressed by the score of ''Metastaseis'' and offered his support. Although Scherchen did not premiere that particular work, he did give performances of later pieces by Xenakis, and the relationship between the conductor and the composer was of vital importance for the latter.
By the late 1950s Xenakis slowly started gaining recognition in artistic circles. In 1957, he received his first composition award, from the
European Cultural Foundation, and in 1958 the first official commission came through, from Service de Recherche of
Radio France
Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
* France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...
. In the same year, he produced a musique concrète piece, ''
Concret PH Concret PH (1958) is a musique concrète piece by Iannis Xenakis, originally created for the Philips Pavilion (designed by Xenakis as Le Corbusier's assistant) at the Expo 58 and heard as audiences entered and exited the building (PH = '' paraboloï ...
'', for the Philips Pavilion. In 1960, Xenakis was well known enough to receive a commission from
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
for a soundtrack for a documentary film by Enrico Fulchignoni.
Later life
After leaving Le Corbusier's studio in 1959, Xenakis supported himself by composition and teaching, and quickly became recognized as one of the most important European composers of his time. In 1965, he became a French citizen. He became especially known for his musical research in the field of computer-assisted composition, for which he founded the Equipe de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (EMAMu) in 1966 (known as CEMAMu: Centre d’Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales, since 1972). He taught at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
from 1967 until 1972 (and established a studio similar to EMAMu there), and worked as visiting professor at the
Sorbonne from 1973 until 1989.
Xenakis frequently lectured (for instance, from 1975 to 1978 he was Professor of Music at
Gresham College, London, giving free public lectures), and teaching composition. His works were performed at numerous festivals worldwide, including the
Shiraz Arts Festival
The Shiraz Festival of Arts (Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in the city of Shiraz ...
in Iran. His notable students include
Pascal Dusapin
Pascal Georges Dusapin (born 29 May 1955) is a French composer. His music is marked by its microtonality, tension, and energy.
A pupil of Iannis Xenakis and Franco Donatoni and an admirer of Varèse, Dusapin studied at the University of Pari ...
,
Henning Lohner,
Miguel Ángel Coria,
Susan Frykberg,
Norma Tyer,
Robert Carl
Robert Carl (born July 12, 1954 in Bethesda, Maryland) is an American composer who currently resides in Hartford, Connecticut, where he is chair of the composition program at the Hartt School, University of Hartford.
Music
Carl studied with Jona ...
, and
Julio Estrada. In 1983, he was elected as a member of the
Académie Française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
.
In addition to composing and teaching, Xenakis also wrote a number of articles and essays on music. Of these,
Formalized Music (1963) became particularly known and was later expanded into a full book. A collection of texts on applications of
stochastic process
In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables. Stochastic processes are widely used as mathematical models of systems and phenomena that ap ...
es, game theory and computer programming in music, it was later revised, expanded and translated into English as ''Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (1971) during Xenakis's tenure at Indiana University.
Xenakis was an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. Polish musicologist Zbigniew Skowron, describing ''Aïs'', wrote "In accordance with his atheist views, Xenakis emphasizes the finality of death as the ultimate event of human life, and this is probably why wild shrieks and moans punctuate his score". Xenakis himself wrote, "Man is one, indivisible, and total. He thinks with his belly and feels with his mind. I would like to propose what, to my mind, covers the term "music": ... 7. It is a mystical (but atheistic) asceticism ...".
Xenakis completed his last work, ''O-mega'' for percussion soloist and chamber orchestra, in 1997. His health had been getting progressively worse over the years, and by 1997 he was no longer able to work. In 1999, Xenakis was awarded the
Polar Music Prize "for a long succession of forceful works, charged with sensitivity, commitment and passion, through which he has come to rank among the most central composers of our century in the realm of art music, exercising within its various fields an influence which cannot be readily overstated".
After several years of serious illness, on 1 February 2001 the composer lapsed into a coma. He died in his Paris home four days later, on 4 February, aged 78; and was shortly after cremated, with his ashes being given to his family. He was outlived by his wife, who died on 12 February 2018 in
Courbevoie
Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Pa ...
, and his daughter.
Works
Specific examples of mathematics, statistics, and physics applied to music composition are the use of the
statistical mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic b ...
of gases in ''
Pithoprakta'',
statistical distribution of points on a plane in ''
Diamorphoses'', minimal
constraints in ''Achorripsis'', the
normal distribution
In statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of its probability density function is
:
f(x) = \frac e^
The parameter \mu ...
in ''ST/10'' and ''Atrées'',
Markov chain
A Markov chain or Markov process is a stochastic model describing a sequence of possible events in which the probability of each event depends only on the state attained in the previous event. Informally, this may be thought of as, "What happen ...
s in ''Analogique'',
game theory
Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...
in ''Duel'', ''Stratégie'', and ''Linaia-agon'',
group theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as groups.
The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as rings, fields, and vector spaces, can all be seen ...
in ''
Nomos Alpha'' (for
Siegfried Palm),
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concern ...
in ''Herma'' and ''
Eonta'', and
Brownian motion
Brownian motion, or pedesis (from grc, πήδησις "leaping"), is the random motion of particles suspended in a medium (a liquid or a gas).
This pattern of motion typically consists of random fluctuations in a particle's position insi ...
in ''N'Shima''. ''Persephassa'', commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival, was performed by
Les Percussions de Strasbourg
Les Percussions de Strasbourg is a contemporary classical music percussion ensemble made up of six percussionists. Founded in 1962, the ensemble is still performing and commissioning music. The current lineup has played together for 15 years. Their ...
, receiving its world premiere in Persepolis in 1969. Subsequently, he was once again commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival and composed ''Persepolis'' for the occasion, a "polytope" composed specific to the historic site.
Although electroacoustic compositions represent only a small fraction of Xenakis's output, they are highly relevant to musical thinking in the late 20th century. Important works in this medium include ''Concret PH'' (1958), ''Analogique B'' (1958–59), ''Bohor'' (1962), ''La légende d'Eer'' (1977), ''Mycenae-Alpha'' (1978), ''Voyage absolu des Unari vers Andromède'' (1989), ''Gendy301'' (1991), and ''S709'' (1994).
By 1979, he had devised a computer system called
UPIC, which could translate graphical images into musical results. "Xenakis had originally trained as an architect, so some of his drawings, which he called 'arborescences', resembled both organic forms and architectural structures." These drawings' various curves and lines that could be interpreted by UPIC as real time instructions for the sound synthesis process. The drawing is, thus, rendered into a composition. ''Mycenae-Alpha'' was the first of these pieces he created using UPIC as it was being perfected.
Xenakis also developed a stochastic synthesizer algorithm (used in GENDY), called ''dynamic stochastic synthesis'', where a polygonal waveform's sectional borders' amplitudes and distance between borders may be generated using a form of
random walk
In mathematics, a random walk is a random process that describes a path that consists of a succession of random steps on some mathematical space.
An elementary example of a random walk is the random walk on the integer number line \mathbb Z ...
to create both aleatoric timbres and musical forms.
[ Serra, 241.] Further material may be generated by then refeeding the original waveform back into the function or wave forms may be superimposed. Elastic barriers or mirrors are used to keep the randomly generated values within a given finite interval, so as to not exceed limits such as the audible pitch range, avoid complete chaos (white noise), and to create a balance between stability and instability (unity and variety).
Despite Xenakis's reputation as a "mathematical" composer, his works are known for their power and physicality.
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wit ...
wrote that Xenakis "produced some of the rawest, wildest music in history—sounds that explode around the ears. Rarefied methods were employed to release primordial energies."
Ben Watson expressed admiration for the "terrifying emotional impact of
enakis'sonic objectivity", describing his music as possessing "truly majestic otherness. It is an alien shard, glimmering in the heart of the West."
Tom Service praised Xenakis' music for its "shattering visceral power" and "sheer, scintillating physicality", noting its "deep, primal rootedness in richer and older phenomena even than musical history: the physics and patterning of the natural world, of the stars, of gas molecules, and the proliferating possibilities of mathematical principles."
Service described Xenakis as a composer "whose craggily, joyously elemental music turned collections of pitches and rhythms and instruments into a force of nature, releasing a power that previous composers had only suggested metaphorically but which he would realise with arguably greater clarity, ferocity, intensity than any musician, before or since," and suggested that his music is "expressive: not in a conventionally emotional way, perhaps, but it has an ecstatic, cathartic power. Xenakis's music – and its preternaturally brilliant performers – allows its listeners to witness seismic events close at hand, to be at the middle of a musical happening of cosmic intensity."
Service concluded: "it took Xenakis for music to become nature. On holiday in Corsica, Xenakis would pilot his canoe into the teeth of the biggest storm he and his paddle could manage. When you're listening to his music, you also go out there into the eye of a musical storm that will invigorate, inspire, and awe. See you out there..."
Writings
* Xenakis, Iannis. 2001. ''
Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (Harmonologia Series No. 6). Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press.
References
Cited sources
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Further reading
* Amagali, Rosemary Tristano. (1975). "Texture as an Organizational Factor in Selected Works of Iannis Xenakis". M.M. Thesis, Indiana University.
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* Bardot, Jean-Marc. (1999). "Cendrées de Xenakis ou l'émergence de la vocalité dans la pensée xenakienne." Undergraduate thesis (equivalent). Saint-Etienne: Université Jean Monnet.
* Biasi, Salvatore di. (1994). ''Musica e matematica negli anni 50–60: Iannis Xenakis''. Bologna. Università degli Studi di Bologna.
* Boivin, Jean. 1995. ''La Classe de Messiaen''. Paris: Christian Bourgois.
* Clark, Philip. (2009). "Xenakis", in ''The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music'', 191–198. London and New York: Verso. .
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Kitsikis, Dimitri. (2014). Περί Ηρώων: Οι ήρωες και η σημασία τους για τον σύγχρονο ελληνισμό (On Heroes.: Heroes and Their Importance for Contemporary Hellenism). Athens: Herodotos. (Chapter "Iannis Xenakis: Souvenirs from Paris, by D. Kitsikis, Xenakis's Intimate Friend").
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* Paland, Ralph, and
Christoph von Blumröder (eds.). (2009). ''Iannis Xenakis: Das elektroakustische Werk. Internationales Symposion. Tagungsbericht 2006''. Signale aus Köln. Beiträge zur Musik der Zeit 14. Vienna. Der Apfel. .
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Obituaries
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External links
xenakis.musicportal.grfrom the Institute for Research on Music and Acoustics, Athens (Greece) – in Greek and English with many score and audio examples
Iannis-Xenakis.orgby the Friends of Xenakis
Luque, Sergio. 2009. "The Stochastic Synthesis of Iannis Xenakis." Leonardo Music Journal (19): 77–84Works catalogue70-page PDF from Xenakis's publisher
Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig
Iannis Xenakis @ Boosey & Hawkes Publisherby Markos Zografos
compiled by James Harley for
Leonardo/ISAST
* Two articles by Grant Chu Covell (2006) documenting then-recent Xenakis recordings and books about Xenakis
Part 1an
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25 March 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xenakis, Iannis
1922 births
2001 deaths
People from Brăila
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National Technical University of Athens alumni
Greek expatriates in Romania
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Greek architects
Greek atheists
Greek people with disabilities
20th-century classical composers
Greek classical composers
French classical composers
French male classical composers
French people with disabilities
Experimental composers
Kyoto laureates in Arts and Philosophy
Microtonal composers
Nonesuch Records artists
Electroacoustic music composers
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Professors of Gresham College
Jacobs School of Music faculty
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20th-century French male musicians