''Phlegra'' () is a composition for ensemble by composer

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...

. It was composed in 1975.

Background

The composition was commissioned by the

Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

for the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber music, chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert ...

, to whom it was also dedicated. It finished in 1975 and was premiered at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...

in January 1976 by the London Sinfonietta with long-time collaborator and conductor

Michel Tabachnik Michel Tabachnik (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on musi ...

. The title, ''Phlegra'', is meant to refer to " the battlefield where the Gigantes and the new gods of Olympus clashed". It was subsequently published by Éditions Salabert in 1976.

Structure

''Phlegra'' is a one-movement, thirteen-minute composition scored for an ensemble of eleven instrumentalists: a flute (with a piccolo), an oboe, a B-flat clarinet (with a bass clarinet), a bassoon, a French horn in F, a trumpet, a trombone, a violin, a viola, a cello, and a double bass. The tempo is an unchanging '' ≅ 48 M. M. (~ 16')''. At a regular , as in most of Xenakis's compositions, time signatures serve as references points for musicians, but they are not expected to play accents or mark downbeats. It has a total of 152 bars. In terms of scoring and composition techniques used, ''Phlegra'' is generally associated with '' Empreintes'': both compositions use the same type of instruments, but ''Phlegra'' only uses one of each instrument. As in ''Empreintes'', he also uses avant-garde techniques, such as melodic arborescences in the woodwinds and brass, brownian movements in the strings, and rhythmic patterns played by repeating specific notes. The composition is also notable for its use of consecutive glissandi: each note in the main melodies is meant to be played without any real separation, as they are merely points of reference in a continuous glissando, both up and down. The original score is written in C, while the double bass is written an octave higher and the piccolo is written an octave lower. Musicians are required to play with no

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

. On stage, the musicians are expected to be seated in a straight line facing the public, with a conductor in front of them.

Reception

Dominic Gill, music critic for

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

, wrote that ''Phlegra'' is an "unusual, haunting piece" and that "the first impression of the music is less that of a battlefield than of a metropolis of songs and flowers - powerful, solid forms woven with lyrical colour, embroidered with all manner of formal texture".

Recordings

Partly because of its difficulty and the unusual nature of its scoring, ''Phlegra'' has not been very commonly performed. The only recording available worldwide is the authoritative recording made by Michel Tabachnik with the Ensemble InterContemporain. Flutist Emmanuelle Ophèle, oboist László Hadady, clarinetists Alain Damiens and Guy Arnaud, bassoonist Pascal Gallois, hornist Jacques Deleplancque, trumpetist

Antoine Curé Antoine Curé (born 11 April 1951) is a French classical trumpeter. He is a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. Life Curé started learning the trumpet at the music school in Bayeux. He furthered his studies at the conservatories of Caen an ...

, trombonists Jérôme Naulais and Benny Sluchin, violinist Jeanne-Marie Conquer, violist Jean Sulem, cellist Pierre Strauch, and double bassists Frédéric Stochl and Alex Bouchaud recorded the piece in July 1990. The recording was released by

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; ) is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully sugge ...

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

in 1992 and re-released by Erato in 2000 and

Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records and Teldec Records labels. Based in France, Warner Cla ...

in 2007.

References

{{Iannis Xenakis 1975 compositions Compositions by Iannis Xenakis