Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis (1922 to 2001) came to music from mathematics and architecture. Wounded in the Greek resistance and sentenced to death, he fled to Paris in 1947 and worked for twelve years with Le Corbusier, designing the Philips Pavilion for the 1958 Brussels fair, where his tape piece Concret PH played inside Varèse's Poème électronique. Metastaseis (1954), with its glissandi drawn as straight lines on graph paper, announced a music of masses and probabilities; he called it stochastic and used game theory, group theory and, from 1961, the computer to compose.
Iannis Xenakis (1922 to 2001) came to music from mathematics and architecture. Wounded in the Greek resistance and sentenced to death, he fled to Paris in 1947 and worked for twelve years with Le Corbusier, designing the Philips Pavilion for the 1958 Brussels fair, where his tape piece Concret PH played inside Varèse's Poème électronique. Metastaseis (1954), with its glissandi drawn as straight lines on graph paper, announced a music of masses and probabilities; he called it stochastic and used game theory, group theory and, from 1961, the computer to compose.
Le depassement de soi
DVD centred on Iannis Xenakis's Linaia-Agon for trombone, French horn and tuba, in two performances with Benny Sluchin, plus Zythos for trombone and six marimbas, a 78-minute film by Sluchin and an interactive interface.
Ensemble Works 3
Xenakis Edition volume 13: works for soloist and ensemble by Iannis Xenakis, played by members of the International Contemporary Ensemble under Steven Schick, with the first recording of Zythos for trombone and six marimbas.
Inventionen VII: 30 jahre inventionen 1982 - 2012
* Five hours of electroacoustical compositions, recorded during the first thirty years of the Berlin festival “Inventionen”. Box set with two audio CDs and a multichannel (surroundsound) DVD * Mindblowing two re-releases of Edition RZ LPs that are no…
Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series Vol. 4
"Wergo's reissues of the legendary Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series have been a big hit with fans of contemporary music around the world. Each set is a treasure-trove of works by a wide range of composers, performed by some of the finest musicia…
Works With Piano - Eonta
Second volume of Iannis Xenakis's works for piano with instruments, played by Aki Takahashi with Rohan de Saram, the JACK Quartet and the Callithumpian Consort, including a new recording of Eonta for piano, trumpets and trombones.
Atrees / Nomos Alpha
The works on these two discs were all written in the 1950s & 60s, at a time when Xenakis was at his most productive. It has to be said that, to the casual listener, this is not easy listening. However, to the more adventurous collector and to thos…
Charisma X
Charisma X, a 2008 documentary film by Efi Xirou on the life and work of Iannis Xenakis, from childhood to his last work Omega, with archive footage, interviews and performances of his music by Sylvio Gualda, Benny Sluchin and others.
Music For Keyboard Instruments
This is the first recording of Xenakis‘ music for keyboard instruments realised by computer – unplayable by human hands! Realized by computer. 'Herma' for piano (1961); 'Mists' for piano (1981); 'Khoaï' for harpsichord (1976); 'Evryali' for piano (…
Pléiades
Featured works: "Pléiades" and Psappha." Performed by Kroumata Percussion Ensemble; Gert Mortensen, percussion. "Xenakis has been very interested in percussion music -- ever since his orchestral piece 'Terretektorh (1966) in which the instrumental…
Kraanerg
Apart from a large orchestra, Kraanerg, composed in 1968/69, requires audio feeds of recorded parts played by the orchestra and of the results of the manipulation of electro-acoustical phenomena. “I do not work with basic building blocks. I start afr…
Orchestral works and chamber music
ESSENTIAL RELEASE: The impulsive and electrifying Ata (1987) was referred to as "a kind of shifting of the senses" by the composer. The task of sketching N’Shima (1975) was actually assigned to a computer, whereas Metastaseis (1953-54) is devoted to …
Musica Viva 06
"Musica Viva 06" is another excellent release from the German Col Legno label, which specializes in the avant-garde. This disc includes three live performances -- the original 1981 recording of "Ais," featuring the incredible baritone voice of Spy…
Psappha; Rebonds A & B; Okho pour trois djembés
This amazing CD contains some of the great works for solo percussion by the authorities in the field of contemporary music. The performances and recording quality are both superb! Clearly all care and effort went into the recording and text however…
Orchestral Works
Beautiful boxet with 5 CDs "It would be an understatement to say that Iannis Xenakis, who passed away nearly ten years ago, marked the whole second half of the 20th century. Whether or not assisted by computer, he built vast musical architectures, wh…
Berio / Xenakis / Dashow
Recital disc by violinist Tsjuji Mifune, featuring a trio of Iannis Xenakis pieces, plus an early 80s electro-acoustic piece by James Dashow, plus Luciano Berio’s “corale”.
Dmaathen - Eonta - Epei - Herma - Palimpsest - Evryali
A collection of early period works, recorded in the presence of the composer Iannis Xenakis; in Rotterdam, 1977 & Amsterdam 1986. Works featured are: DMAATHEN (1976, for oboe, percussion); EONTA (1963, for piano, trumpet, trombone, with Peter Eötvös,…
Electronic Works 2
Iannis Xenakis Edition volume 2 of electronic works: Polytope de Cluny and Hibiki hana ma, remixed to stereo by Gerard Pape, and the ensemble score for the 1957 film Fer Chaud, remastered from its soundtrack.
Pléïades
Cheap mid-line pricing on these classic avant garde titles out of the Harmonia Mundi catalog. Pleiades is a percussion piece performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg (vibraphones, marimbas, xylophones, etc.); richly defined, timeless music that wil…
Phlegra, Jalons, Keren, Nomos Alpha, Thallein, Naama, A l\'lle d
This Apex reissue includes two discs at a low price -- the Ensemble Intercontemporain (EI) performing three 1980s Xenakis works along with two solo works, and on the second disc, four pieces that X wrote for harpschordist Elisabeth Chojnacka. In gene…
Persephassa
Persephassa is a piece for six percussionists composed by Iannis Xenakis in 1969. The piece was commissioned for the first-ever Shiraz Festival (organized by the Empress of Iran), held at the historic desert site of Persepolis. The title refers to th…