Electronic Music

Iannis Xenakis (Artist, Composer, Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Iannis Xenakis
• Composer: Iannis Xenakis
• Audio CD (May 2, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMF Media
• ASIN: B00005Y7YP
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,147 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #46 in Music > Classical > Instruments > Electronic > Computer

Track Listings

1. Diamorphoses (1957)

2. Concret PH (1958)

3. Orient-Occident (1960)

4. Bohor (1962)

5. Hibiki-Hana-Ma (1970)

6. S.709 (1992)

Editorial Reviews

Iannis Xenakis is without a doubt one of the major figures in the development of music in the 20th century. In 1957, he joined Pierre Schaeffer and others at the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) in Paris, and it was there that Xenakis composed his early works for electronic tape.

Xenakis' distinct sound is already apparent in 'Diamorphoses' (1957) which incorporates sounds of distant earthquakes, car crashes, jet engines, and other 'noise-like' sounds, and 'Concret PH' (1958), based on the sounds of burning charcoal, which was played along with Varese' 'Poème Electronique' in 1958 in the Philips Pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair (which Xenakis, also an architect, mathematician and engineer, designed). 'Orient-Occident' (1960), commissioned by UNESCO as music for a film by Enrico Fulchignoni, uses the sounds of bowed boxes, bells and metal rods, sounds from the ionosphere, and a speed-altered excerpt from Xenakis' orchestral work 'Pitoprakta' are combined to create a work suggestive of the themes of the film, which tracks the development of civilization. 'Bohor' (1962), was composed mostly with the sounds of Middle Eastern bracelets.

'Hibiki-Hana-Ma' (1970, 'Reverberation-Flower-Interval'), composed for the Osaka World's Fair, was composed with the UPIC system, a graphical input device that Xenakis invented, using recordings of an orchestra, a biwa, and a snare drum. And 'S.709' (1992) is the first of two compositions created with the GENDY-N program at CEMAMu (Centre d'Etudes de Mathematiques et Automatiques Musicales / Center for Studies in Mathematics and Automated Music), Xenakis' research center near Paris.

This music is extraordinary! And the CD is an essential part of history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed sound quality, December 28, 2005

By 

James M. Brody (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electronic Music (Audio CD)

Each of these works is an essential work by Xenakis. Many of the earlier pieces appeared on LP. The problem with this recording is that everything subject to a limiter in the recording process. Rather than their being a balance between loud and soft, everything is loud and louder, and hence the incredible qualities of these groundbreaking works is lost in the horrible recorded sound. When I studied with the Xenakis at Indiana University, he was insistent on high quality sound and it is hard to believe that he could have approved the recordings on this release. Because of the importance of these works, I would love to see a remastering of this release.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a great collection with four top-notch works, August 24, 2005

By 

R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electronic Music (Audio CD)

On the basis of the service provided by compiling these electronic works by Xenakis, the Electronic Music Foundation certainly deserves 5 stars. However in the interest of conveying the quality of the music, I give it only 4 stars because two of the six pieces are not up the quality of the other four.

The earliest four works were composed in the GRM studio (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), which was originally run by Pierre Schaeffer, electronic music pioneer and creator of the term "musique concrete." "Diomorphoses" (1957 -- 6'53") is a "a study of white noise and its graduations through the process of densification." "Concret PH" (1958 -- 2'42") was composed for the famous Philips Pavilion at the World Fair in Brussels, which Xenakis designed while working for Le Corbusier. "Concret PH" was played between two performances of Varese's "Poeme Electronique." It was created from a recording of crackling, burning embers, assembled in huge quantities and then varied in density. "Orient-Occident" (1960 -- 10'56") was composed as the soundtrack to a film commissioned by UNESCO about the development of humanity from prehistoric times to Alexander the Great. The piece contains more variety and dynamics than most of Xenakis's electronic works, to fascinating, compelling effect. Finally, "Bohor" (1962 -- 21'36") builds on the sound of chiming bells, and goes on far too long.

"Hibiki-Hana-Ma" (1970 -- 17'39") is the music for one of Xenakis's polytopes, a multi-media installation that was created for the Osaka World Fair. The title is Japanese for "reverberation-flower-interval"! One of Xenakis's finest electronic works, the piece uses instrumental source material exclusively, and the sound of an orchestra can be detected at intervals, variously altered. The last work included does not impress me in the slightest -- "S.709" (1992 -- 7'03"). It was composed using a new computer program Xenakis had created (GENDYN), but to my ears it is more crude and primitive sounding then the early works from GRM.

Look for the new remix of LA LEGENDE D'EER on Mode, Xenakis's 47' electronic work from 1978 (see my review). Mode is calling that release XENAKIS: ELECTRONIC WORKS 1, so we can look forward to more of this hard-to-find music...

15 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential music of the 20th century., December 10, 2002

By 

gone daddy gone - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electronic Music (Audio CD)

The late great Iannis Xenakis, if you don't know his work, was an absolute genius, mathematically, musically, he was even a great architect (studied under le Corbusier) and sadly a political refugee. The Electronic Music Foundation have performed a noble service by releasing this music (also for their Pierre Schaeffer box), although the title is somewhat misleading, this is actually ELECTRO ACOUSTIC MUSIC as opposed to electronic music, and though at this point in history (the earliest pieces are from the fifties) Electronic and electroacoustic music sounded very similar, this is rarely the case today. Beautiful, often ferocious, Atonal tape music. The closest thing to melody here is something that sounds like a metal plate amplified whist covered in thumbtacks being beaten by chains with a thousand glasses shattering and being filtered for ten minutes. Not for the weak minded, but essential for anyone who would understand experimental music.