Browse by Artist: XENAKIS, IANNIS

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Pléiades
Label:	BIS (SWEDEN)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	BIS 482CD

1991 release. 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 forces are spread throughout the hall, by way of 'Psappha' (1975) for a lone percussion virtuoso all the way to 'Pléiades' (1979) for six percussionists -- perhaps the largest composition in the entire percussion repertoire, and the most daring challenge. The title is intentionally ambiguous: the word itself means 'many' and alludes both to the six performers and to the four movements. The title also refers to a myth of antiquity, as so often from this educated Greek... The greatest part of the inspiration behind the piece probably comes from astronomy. The steady rhythmic pulse is varied by means of small alterations, injections of life, and is subsequently built up into such complicated patterns that one could speak of 'galaxies of sound.' In this dizzying experience there is still the joy of recognition, however, and at the end one comes back after an upheaving excursion."

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:	Electronic Music
Label:	ELECTRONIC MUSIC FOUNDATION
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	EMF 003CD

2009 repress, originally released in 1997. Superlative and long desired reissue of Xenakis's early electronic works, including the in-demand pieces from his pioneering Nonesuch album Electro-Acoustic Music. Issued in collaboration with France's INA-GRM, the studio where the first 3 of these compositions were realized. Although it only makes up a tiny portion of his total composed work to date, Xenakis's tape works are as legendary and significant as those of Schaeffer, Henry or Stockhausen. Powerful, mind expanding listening -- this release certainly will rate as one of 1997's most important experimental musical documents. Includes the following works: "Diamorphoses" (1957): "a study of white noise and its graduations through the process of densification." "Concret PH" (1958): "This very short work is a sound continuum without a single break. Xenakis pre-recorded crackling embers from which he extracted very brief (one-second) sound elements. Then he assembled them in huge quantities, varying their density each time. This work can be compared to his instrumental preoccupations concerning 'clouds of sound'." "Orient-Occident" (1960): "one of the major masterpieces for tape...conceived as a music for a film by Enrico Rulchignoni." "Bohor" (1962): "dedicated to Pierre Schaeffer...an extraordinary and deafening sound continuum where the listener is invited, in a figurative sense, to hear bells chime while standing inside them!" "Hibiki-Hana-Ma" (1970: ""Xenakis recorded and reworked sequences played by an orchestra, a biwa, and a snare drum but never rendered them unrecognizable. Distributed over 12 tracks, the work's sonorities were elaborated in function of a highly pronounced spatialization. The title of this piece means 'reverberation -- flower -- interval." "S.709" (1992) recorded with the GENDYN program: "Both the sounds produced in the piece as well as the global evolution of the composition are literally unheard of: despite the abstract nature of the processes involved and their mechanical nature, the Xenakis sound world is immediately recognizable."

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-AUDIO
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:	Kraanerg
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 196CD

"Kraanerg is one of Xenakis' most popular -- and infamous -- works. A visceral and highly charged score for woodwinds, brass, and strings along with quadrophonic tape. The title, 'Kraanerg,' is a composite of two Greek words: 'kraan,' meaning to perfect, to accomplish; and 'erg,' signifying energy. Commissioned for the gala opening of the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, Canada in 1968, 'Kraanerg' originally was the score to a ballet choreographed by Roland Petit with 'op-art' sets by Victor Vasarely. According to Xenakis' program notes, the title also referred to the 'current youth movements' -- 1968 was a significant year in modern social history -- and to his utopian vision of the upcoming 'biological struggle between generations unfurling all over the planet, destroying existing political, social, urban, scientific, artistic and ideological frameworks on a scale never before attempted by humanity.' This powerful statement can be felt in the music. The dramatic 4-channel tape is derived from a recording of the orchestra, transformed and distorted. Its sonic textures kaleidoscopically expand the range of expression while at the same time remaining connected to the instrumental material. The 4-channel tape has been restored for this release from high-resolution transfers of the analog masters by German electronic composer Daniel Teige -- revealing greater details in the texture and a wider dynamic range than previously heard on any 'Kraanerg' recording. 96khz/24-bit high resolution recording. Liner notes by composer James Harley. Also available as surround-sound video DVD (MOD-DV-D196)."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Kraanerg
Label:	MODE
Format:	DVD-AUDIO
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	MODE 196DVD

DVD-audio version. "Special DVD feature: full 77-minute performance video including specially created visuals for the tape interludes by director Tim Chu. 35-minute interview on Kraanerg with Xenakis experts Gerard Pape and James Harley, writer Francoise Xenakis (the composer's widow), and dancer Veronica Tenant (who danced in the 1968 premiere). Additional Interview with Daniel Teige on the restoration of the analog tape." Region 0, NTSC format. Run Time: 131 Minutes. 5.0 Surround, Dolby Digital and DTS.

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Electronic Works 2
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 203CD

"Featured pieces" "Polytope de Cluny" (1972, for 8-channel tape); "Hibiki hana ma" (1969-70, for 16-channel tape); "Fer Chaud" (1957, original film soundtrack). "Mode continues its Xenakis Edition with the second volume dedicated to his electronic works, again restored from the best quality source materials. New high-resolution transfers were made of 'Polytope de Cluny' from the original analog master tapes. 'Hibiki hana ma' has been restored from the existing digital masters. 'Hibiki hana ma' was created for the Expo 1970 World's Fair in Osaka, Japan, where it was experienced by thousands. It was designed to be played on a tape loop in a hall which boasted state-of-the-art acoustic equipment, with some 700 speakers scattered under the floor plus 128 surface and suspended speakers symmetrically distributed throughout the pavilion's amphitheater. Both works have been remixed to stereo by Gerard Pape, who worked closely with the composer as the former director of Xenakis' CCMIX studio in Paris. The experimental film Fer Chaud (1957), directed by Jacques Brissot and Nicolas Schoeffer, focused on the work of Op-Art artist Victor Vasarely. It featured a musical score for ensemble by Xenakis. This score is unique to the film and has never been published elsewhere. It has been carefully remastered from the film soundtrack and presented here." Also to be released on DVD-audio format.

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Electronic Music 2
Label:	MODE
Format:	DVD-AUDIO
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	MODE 203DVD

"Mode continues its Xenakis Edition with the second volume dedicated to his electronic works, again restored from the best quality source materials. Both works are commercially released in Surround Sound for the first time. New high-resolution transfers were made of 'Polytope de Cluny' (1972-74) from the original analog master tapes. 'Hibiki Hana Ma' has been restored from the existing digital masters. 'Hibiki Hana Ma' was created for the Expo 1970 World's Fair in Osaka, Japan, where it was experienced by thousands. It was designed to be played on a tape loop in a hall which boasted state-of-the-art acoustic equipment, with some 700 speakers scattered under the floor, plus 128 surface and suspended speakers symmetrically distributed throughout the pavilion's amphitheater. Both works have been remixed for Surround DVD by Gerard Pape who worked closely with the composer as the former director of Xenakis' CCMIX studio in Paris. Dedicated stereo 96khz/24-bit high resolution mix included. Also available on CD (MODE 203CD). Special DVD features: The first commercial release of the experimental film Vasarely, directed by Jacques Brissot and Nicolas Schoeffer, from 1957. The music to this film, focusing on the work of Op-Art artist Victor Vasarely, was scored by Xenakis. This score for ensemble by Xenakis is unique to the film and has never been published elsewhere. The film has been restored and the audio remastered from a 16mm film print for this release. Run time: 51 minutes. Region 0, NTSC. 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital, and DTS. Aspect ration: 4:3, color and b&w. Essays by Sharon Kanach and Makis Solomos."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Complete String Quartets: ST/4; Tetras; Tetora; Ergma
Label:	MODE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	MODE 209CD

Performed by the JACK Quartet. "Featuring: The first complete recording of Xenakis' string quartets; the first new recording of Xenakis' first three quartets since 1994; the only available recording of Xenakis' last quartet, 'Ergma,' from 1994. The first commercial release by the JACK Quartet, a young New York/Boston based group that has been garnering high praise for their performances of complex and challenging new music. The members of the quartet met while attending the Eastman School of Music, New York. The quartet has since studied closely with the Arditti Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Muir String Quartet, and members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain." 'The Jack Quartet, an ensemble of young string players devoted to contemporary music, played the Le Poisson Rouge in October. I would never have expected to see a crowd at a downtown nightclub erupting with whoops after performances of four hypercomplex, cutting-edge string quartets by Iannis Xenakis. But in this setting these dense and kinetic works came across to this open-minded audience as just more hip, wild, out-there contemporary music.' -- Anthony Tommasini, New York Times. High resolution 24-bit recording. Liner notes by James Harley."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Complete String Quartets: ST/4; Tetras; Tetora; Ergma
Label:	MODE
Format:	DVD
Price:	$27.00
Catalog #:	MODE 209DVD

"This release marks the first complete recording of Xenakis' four string quartets. The studio recording process was artfully and dynamically captured by a multiple camera shoot. Each quartet is given its own visual treatment. This body of work represents one of the most important contributions to music for strings of the post-World War II era. Xenakis went beyond the influence of Bartók (and others) to create a completely new sound for strings -- in effect, turning them into new instruments. Each work is extremely challenging to perform, as each calls for new modes of playing, both individually and as an ensemble. Filmed in high definition video, widescreen format. Liner notes by James Harley. 48 kHz/24-bit high resolution 5.1 surround sound recording." Region 0, NTSC; aspect ratio: 16:9; duration approximately 60 minutes.

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Music For Keyboard Instruments
Label:	NEOS (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$21.00
Catalog #:	NEOS 10707CD

Realized by computer. 'Herma' for piano (1961); 'Mists' for piano (1981); 'Khoaï' for harpsichord (1976); 'Evryali' for piano (1973); 'Naama' for harpsichord (1984). Daniel Grossmann, MIDI programming. "This is the first recording of Xenakis' music for keyboard instruments realized by computer -- unplayable by human hands! The desire to hear a composition exactly as Xenakis had in all probability imagined it -- the notation is precise enough -- remains legitimate nevertheless. The conductor Daniel Grossmann presents possibly the first attempt at a reconstruction of the aural imaginings of the composer. The recordings come across as spontaneous, but are in reality the result of intensive work at the computer. And it was precisely in the field of loudness relationships that a plethora of single notes had to be finely gradated. Rhythmic successions of many other single pitches -- ones that produce the aleatoric sound clouds and which Xenakis deliberately notated imprecisely -- had to be pondered about too, in 'Mists,' (3:15-6:30) for example. Achieving a balanced sound within exactly structured textures and articulating optimum relationships of loudness between superimposed but discretely structured layers remain at the center of Grossmann's approach. He also availed himself of the chary use of panorama effects, that is to say, the acoustic distribution of various notes and note groups between the left and right loudspeaker channels, thus making evident the individuality and autonomy of distinct planes of sound. The strict basic pulse and tempo given by the computer have been rendered slightly more 'human,' and are no less the worse off for this. One important aim of his work was, in the end, to garner a convincing dramaturgy within a single work, and thus bring about the optimum rendition of the relationship between the loud and the soft sections as well the best possible lengths of the crescendi and decrescendi. Paradoxically enough, it is just such a computer-aided recording that wholly evinces through its very rationality the enormous liveliness and freshness immanent in the music of Xenakis. A CD recording is not -- well not primarily, at least -- designed for the reproduction of music within a public concert, and is inapplicable to the problem pertaining to the reception of electroacoustic music. The present recordings should be judged on the basis of any normal recording, namely as a documentation of a single act of interpretation with its own artistic claim. This CD must nevertheless be understood not as a substitute for a 'real' recording already in existence or one to be made in the future. The intention is to enhance the reception of the composer's music -- from the audience and performer perspective alike."

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."

Artist:	XENAKIS, IANNIS
Title:	Orchestral Works Vol. 1
Label:	TIMPANI (FRANCE)
Format:	CD
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	TIMPANI 1164CD

Featured works: "Aïs," "Tracées," "Empreintes," "Noomena," and "Roaï." Performed by Spyros Sakkas (baritone); Béatrice Daudin (percussion solo); Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Arturo Tamayo. "When we listen to Xenakis today we have the impression that the music was only just composed. It has a quality of freshness and universality which overrides all styles and periods. It appears to us with force of nature rather than of a man-made artifact... What is the reason for this timeless universality of Xenakis? Is it that he succeeded in creating a new language which people accepted with difficulty at first or was he pointing the new way? Xenakis is one who created out of sheet necessity. The necessity of preserving himself intact."

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