Browse by Artist: XENAKIS, IANNIS

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Kraanerg
Label:	ASPHODEL
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	ASPH 0975CD

"In honor of Greek composer Iannis Xenakis' 75th birthday, Asphodel is releasing a new recording of the rarely performed 'Kraanerg', one of Xenakis' longest electroacoustic compositions. Inspired by the world's population explosion and the increasing acceleration of the advances in technology during the 50s, 'Kraanerg' is a swirling, overwhelming epic of turmoil, force and a myriad of different sounds, a piece both musically and conceptually relevant today. An electroacoustic work, meaning the acoustic sounds of an orchestra with electronics, Xenakis went far beyond that simple definition. Kraanerg sets a small orchestra to playing their instruments in unexpected ways, clusters and combinations. Strings are bent, beaten, and plucked, rather than bowed, horns growl and breathe as much as blast. A thundering quadraphonic tape looms over and laps under the orchestra, but the tape itself, recorded 30 years ago, is made of another orchestra's similar motions, then changed and manipulated electronically. It sends the echo of time bounding into the now, bridging a 30 year gap with sounds alone, yet acquiring no typical patina of age in the process. An almost cynical recording, Kraanerg resembles nothing so much as the science fiction works of J.G. Ballard turned into notes. This recording is from a live performance at Cooper Union on 11/19/96, of the ST-X Ensemble under the direction of Charles Zachary Bornstein, with DJ Spooky as the electronic technician."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Persepolis Plus Remixes Vol. 1
Label:	ASPHODEL
Format:	2CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	ASPH 2005CD

"In 1971, former Iranian dictator Muhammad Reza Shah hosted a lavish and highly choreographed event amidst the ruins of the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis in order to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of Iran's founding by Cyrus The Great. This commemoration of modern lran's beginnings was part of the Shah's own struggle with the country's increasingly politicized Shi'ite Muslim Clerics, led by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, to secularize Iran. Declaring himself to be heir to Cyrus' legacy, the Shah presided over a cast of 6,200 vintage Persian costume-wearing vassals in an outlandish ceremony affirming the Shah's own interpretation of Iranian history, one which paid little deference to Islam. The third annual Shiraz arts festIval was held that same year at Persepolis. In keeping with the 2500th national anniversary celebrations, the Shah commissioned Greek composer and computer music pioneer lannis Xenakis (1922-2001) to write a piece of music exalting ancient Persia's aristocratic pre-Islamic religious culture. Selecting Xenakis to author such a work could not have been more symbolically appropriate. A central figure in the development of computer composition, this half-blind former architect, WWII resistance fighter and associate of Le Corbusier evolved a new approach to music, most notably one that employed mathematical probability functions as a compositional methodology. Titled Persepolis, in honor of the location in which it was to be performed, Xenakis composed a fifty-six minute, eight-track tape piece of musique concrete for the occasion. A noisy, apocalyptIc-sounding work distinguished by rising waves of intensity, Persepolis' debut must have been quite an experience for those lucky enough to be in attendance. Persepolis takes on an even greater significance when listened to as a musical work whose purpose was to serve a failed secularist ideology overtaken less than a decade later by a fundamentalist Islamic revolution. In light of the events that have consumed the world since September 11th 2001, the notion that a radical composer would align himself with a political figure like the Shah shows how very few places such a brilliant artist could go to receive support for their work. Creative modernism is left with choosing between authoritarianism and religion. Hence the inclusion of a second disc of remixes in this edition of Persepolis. Disc 2 of this recording contains nine remixes of Persepolis by an international cast of avant-garde musicians, transforming Xenakis' original work in entirely distinct contexts, imbuing it with compellingly new meanings. Otomo Yoshihide, Merzbow, Ryoji Ikeda, and Construction Kit contribute Japanese readings, while Spanish artist Francisco Lopez, Polish musician Zbignlew Karkowski and German Ulf Langheinrich bring the so-called noise from Europe. Americans Antimatter and Laminar round the global aspect of this collection out by providing their own compelling takes on the original. Despite their distinctiveness, what unites all of these remixes is a shared sense that all great works of art can transcend the contexts in which they were first conceived in order to explore, and perhaps fulfill their greater purpose."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Dmaathen - Eonta - Epei - Herma - Palimpsest - Evryali
Label:	BVHAAST (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	BVHAAST 0706

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, conductor); EPEÏ (1976, for oboe, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, double bass); HERMA (1960-61, for piano); PALIMPSEST (1979, for oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass, piano, percussion, w/ Huub Kerstens - conductor); EVRYALI (1973, for piano).

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Ensemble Live
Label:	BVHAAST (NETHERLANDS)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	BVHAAST 9219

"'Rebonds' (I. Xenakis), 'Akea' (I. Xenakis), 'Epicycles' (I. Xenakis), 'Mania' (C. Tsoupaki), 'Concerto For Oboe And Chamber Ensemble' (D. del Puerto) Machiko Takahasi (fl.), Ernest Rombout (ob.), Mark Dijcks, Ria Kleinjan (cl.), Jonathan Reeder, Stefanie Liedtke (bsn.), Fokke van Heel, Guillermo Zarzo (h.), Peter van Dinther (tp.), Willie Verdievel (tb.), Jan van der Sanden (tu.), Mifune Tsuji, Izumi Okubo, Paul Hendriks (vl), Susan Bierre (vla), Tadashi Tanaka (cel.), Thom de Ligt (b.) Johan Faber, Stephan Meier (perc.), Geoffrey Douglas Madge, Gerard Bouwhuis (p.), Rohan de Saram (cel.), Diego Masson (cond.) Recorded live at the Festival Nieuwe Muziek Middelburg 1990/1991/1992."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Pleiades
Label:	HARMONIA MUNDI (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$8.00
Catalog #:	HMA 1905185

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 will sound good for the rest of your life. "The whole source of this polyrhythmic composition is the idea of periodicity, repetition, duplication, faithful, pseudo-faithful, unfaithful copy... still greater variations of an even greater complexity, due to the hazards of a particular stochastic distribution, lead to total rhythm, to a massy awareness of the event, to notions of clouds, nebulas, galaxies of the fragmented dust of beats organized by the rhythm."--Xenakis.

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Ensemble Music 1
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 053CD

Five ensemble works, performed by the ST-X Ensemble: "Plekto" (first recording of a recent ens. work), "Eonta (for piano solo, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones -- "like no music before or since: cascading notes like falling stars together with waves of sound from the brass"), "Akanthos" (for soprano and ensemble), "Rebons" (for percussion), "N'Shima" (for 2 amplified peasant voices, 2 amplified horns, 2 trombones, and amplified cello -- "a ritual of chanting voices, singing Hebrew syllables, against a backdrop of roaring brass and solo cello").

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Ensemble Music 2
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 056CD

Follow up to Mode 54, recordings by the ST-X Ensemble, with the participation of the composer. Features: first recording of "A La Memoire de Witold Lutoslawski" ("It is a literal monument of sound, comprised of massive blocks of brass arranged as a dirge like fanfare."); "Akrata" (for 8 winds & 8 brass, "classic and seminal Xenakis. The work's skittering, repeated notes and extreme changes of dynamic yield a sense of vast, isolated space"); "Echange" ("a terrifying and mysterious 'concerto' for bass clarinet and ensemble"); "Xas" (for saxophone quartet) & "Okho" (for 3 djembes & bass drum).

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Complete Works for Piano Solo
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 080CD

2006 repress. 24 bit remaster. "Xenakis' piano music is among the most powerful and virtuosic of the latter part of the 20th century. Full of dynamic energy and color, the works can evoke the sonic equivalent of an exploding cosmos or a mysterious, foggy world of mists through which glimpses of form and light can be perceived. At the hands of Aki Takahasi, they come alive with a special vitality. Of Aki's playing of 'Herma', Xenakis wrote in 1973: 'It was a difficult work and according to my French musician friends, unplayable. They thought it would need at least 1 year of work and advised me to rewrite it for at least two or three players and two pianos. Indeed, it introduced an expansion of the hands all over the keyboard simultaneously. When I first heard Aki play it in Paris last Fall at her Musée d'Art Moderne recital I was, in spite of my skepticism, conquered by her play. There was no problem with the huge technical difficulties. A tender and warm musicality irradiated through the piece in a bright, sparkling and powerful performance.' the breathtaking performances in audiophile quality sound make this one of the great Xenakis -- and new music -- recordings of all time." This Reissue now contains an added piece: the first recording of Xenakis's 12 minute '6 Chansons,' charming early miniatures written while Xenakis was studying in Paris with Messiaen and Milhaud. They provide a glimpse at Xenakis's early musical interests, influences and roots, documenting a distinct kinship with the piano music of Debussy and Bartók. 24-bit audiophile remastering.

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Electronic Music 1: La Legende d'Eer
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 148CD

Crucial reissue of the most important, sonically devastating Xenakis electronic work (previously issued by the now defunct Montaigne label). "New stereo mix from the original master tape. La légende d'Eer is a powerful 7-channel electroacoustic composition which Xenakis created in 1977-78 to be played in 'Le Diatope,' a curvaceous architectural construction designed by the composer, together with a visual component including laser lights. This 'multi-media' work was composed for the opening of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, where it was performed for three months and seen by thousands of people. The sound materials of a La légende d'Eer stem from three sources: instrumental sounds, noises, and electronically generated sounds. The work suggests an initial departure, a journey, and a final return. Xenakis surrounds the work with a compilation of five texts, reflecting or reacting upon each other across the distances in time, space, and culture which separate them. This new stereo mix was created by Gerard Pape -- director of Xenakis' CCMIX studio in Paris -- from the original analog master tape. The analog master was transferred at high-resolution 96khz/24-bit sound for the optimum quality, revealing details not heard in the previous stereo CD release." Richard Scott's review in The Wire hardly exaggerates: "It is difficult to think of another contemporary composition which carries the sheer force of 'The Legend of Eer.' It is a gigantic, awesome, staggering piece; certainly I haven't heard anything to touch it with electronic music's short, if dense, history."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	La Legende d'Eer
Label:	MODE
Format:	DVD
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	MODE 148DVD

Special DVD Features: This new mix was created by Xenakis' associate Gerard Pape from the original analog master tape, transferred at high-resolution 96khz/24-bit sound for the optimum quality. Use of the original master tape restored almost 2 minutes and 30 seconds to the piece, released here for the first time. The performance of La Légende d'Eer is shown with a film by Bruno Rastoin, comprised of 350 stills made during the original performance of the work at the 'Diatope.' This is the ONLY visual documentation made of the historic event. 60-minute interview of Iannis Xenakis by musicologist Harry Halbreich. 5.1 Surround Sound in Dolby Digital and additional DTS. Dedicated stereo mix presented in 96-khz/24-bit PCM. Subtitles: French, German, Spanish. Playable on ALL NTSC capable DVD decks and computers."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Music for Strings
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 152CD

"Syrmos" (1959, for 18 strings); "Aroura" (1971, for 12 strings); "Analogique A+B" (1958, for 9 strings & tape); "Voile" (1995, for 20 strings); "Ittidra" (1996, for string sextet); "Theraps" (1975-76, for solo contrabass). Performed by Ensemble Resonanz with Johannes Kalitzke (conductor). "This CD brings together all of Xenakis' chamber music for strings for the first time (with the exception of the string quartets). The music spans almost 30 years. Many first recordings. These visceral, sonically bold works explore the many possibilities of writing for strings, including dramatic glissandi and extended techniques."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Percussion Works
Label:	MODE
Format:	3CD
Price:	$48.00
Catalog #:	MODE 171/73CD

Performed by the percussion ensemble red fish blue fish, directed by Steven Schick. "The first complete set of Xenakis' percussion ensemble, percussion duos, and solo percussion works. As Steven Schick states in his comprehensive essay accompanying this set, Xenakis was the 'progenitor of modern percussion music.' Of course, Iannis Xenakis did not create percussion music, his first major contribution to the percussion repertory came more than three decades after the American percussion revolution of Edgard Varèse, John Cage and Henry Cowell. But as Jorge Luis Borges said of Kafka, he was so important that he influenced even those who came before him. Indeed, our early 21st century ear for percussion music has been so tuned by the music of Xenakis that we cannot fail to understand the first cacophonous noise constructions of Varèse's 'Ionisation' (1931) and Cage's 'First Construction' (1939) through the retro-lens of the raw and terrifying noises in Xenakis' percussion works. 24-bit audiophile recordings. Available as a 3CD set or specially priced single DVD-A release (forthcoming)."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Orchestral Works Vol. 5
Label:	TIMPANI (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	TIMPANI 1113CD

Performed by Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, conducted by Arturo Tamayo. Recorded in Luxembourg, 2006. "Metastaseis"; "Pithoprakta"; "ST/48"; "Achorripsis"; "Syrmos"; "Hiketides." "Finally! Long awaited by numerous music lovers, here comes Volume 5 of a true monument of contemporary music: Xenakis' works for the orchestra. In this case, the selected pieces represent Xenakis' 'works from his youth,' those written from 1954 to 1964. Fierce works that already herald this creator's future who stands resolutely 'left' of the way music was presented at the time. Closer to Varèse than the serialists who then ruled the roost."

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