Xenakis: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 [IMPORT]

It forms volume one of a Xenakis orchestral cycle, and it augurs well. Those new to Xenakis's orchestral work should still begin with the recent Col Legno release which contains the first [1955] and best (according to Xenakis) performance of the seminal "Metastasis". That disc is an essential part of anyone's Xenakis discography anyway and this, I think, will become one too.

Arturo Tamayo is an experienced conductor of new music (he studied under Boulez) and is also responible for the recording of Richard Barrett's outstanding orchestral work "Vanity" on the NMC label (anyone interested in Xenakis should also investigate this Barrett disc). Likewise the Luxembourg Philharmonic acquit themselves well, seeming relatively at ease with this difficult music, but never lacking passion or precision.

The first piece, "Ais", is a dramatic work for Baritone (singing a lot of falsetto), percussion, and orchestra. The texts (given in the booklet) are from the Iliad, Odyssey, and from a fragment of Sappho's poetry. It is disturbing and uncomfortable, but exhilirating nonetheless. The baritone Spyros Sakkas, a long time collaborator with Xenakis, is secure and definitive in this difficult music.

The other four works, all for largish orchestras, explore and interrogate the sound-world in Xenakian fashion. There is no real way or need for me to explain the works - they speak for themselves. The finest work here, though, is "Empreintes", which creates a truly awe-inspriring sonoric landscape filled with dense, microtonal string textures and brass interjections.

With more of Xenakis's orchestral work becoming available on CD we are able to get a clearer and more rounded picture of his music and development. Listen, for example, to the conclusion of "Empreintes" and the end of "Phlegra" (both written in 1975) to hear how Xenakis explores similar ideas in different ways and in different mediums.

The only let down is Nouritza Matossian's (English) liner notes. Like Paul Griffiths, she writes an excellent book, but vague, pointless and unhelpful liner notes. The French or German notes are by separate authors, and the French notes look good (though I am not at all fluent in French).

A Timpani catalogue on the back page informs us that Vol 2 (to be released in September 2001) will include "Synaphai", "Jonchaies", "Lichens" and "Shaar". So look out for that too. Hopefully there will be more volumes to come.

Xenakis's reputation as embodying the worst kind of arrogant, avant-garde extremism often strikes me as ridiculous, and I think often puts people off from hearing his music. To me he was and is an original, powerful and sincere voice of the late twentieth century, and we have yet to meet him on his own terms. This series from Timpani can help us achieve that.

For me, the most impressive piece is Ais, for baritone, percussion and orchestra. This work is terrifying in it's intensity. The vocal line is almost incantory. Much is in falsetto or in a deep grunt. What amazes me most on this is the balance. On of the biggest complaints that has been raised legitimately against Xenakis is that he really doesn't know how to balance instrumental forces. Tamayo handles this extremely well, with the help of some brilliant engineering. The baritone falsetto is always audible, no matter how loud and agressive the percussion or brass interjections.

The rest of the disc is equally well played. Each work is fascinating. Xenakis had a genius for interesting texture and color in the orchestra, even if some of his basic balances are off. With music this original, you forgive some technical lapses, and in the hands of sensative musicians, the point becomes moot.

The second volume looks equally interesting. I am looking forward to picking it up soon.

This disc begins with the dramatic scena Aïs, for baritone (who also sings falsetto), solo percussion and orchestra. Based on ancient Greek texts, this is a phenomenally intense work, with the soloist alternating between the deepest notes of his range and an unearthly wailing falsetto (this work and others of the composer's were written specifically for the phenomenal voice of Spyros Sakkas, the singer on this recording). Perhaps most impressive are the passages in the work where the tension suddenly releasees, and unexpected delicate modal melodies accompany surprisingly tender singing.

Traceés, the work that follows, is one of the best works of Xenakis' late period, a five-minute coiled spring of energy that never lets up for one moment--in contrast, Empreintes is often comparatively calm, opening on constant reiterations of one note, then contrasting it with massed string glissandi, repeated chords and trills, and closing with a mass of eerie repeated notes as if a vast range of interstellar signals were all going off at the same time.

The other two works on the disc impress me rather less. Noomena is impressive in its massed glissandi, but the musical argument seems to me to be less focused than in Empreintes, while Roáï is a rather routine essay in clashing slowly treading chords against a very different--though only apparently unrelated--melodic line.

Xenakis' music is certainly not for everyone, but his language is amongst the most immediately appealing of the post-war avant-garde. This series of discs should certainly bring new friends to the composer's music, even if (as this and other discs in the series have shown) Xenakis' oeuvre is sometimes a little inconsistent. All credit to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, who manage impassioned and energetic performances under the experienced hand of Arturo Tamayo.