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Xenakis
- 2. Bert Groover Fall 2012
- 9. Couvent de la Tourette
- 11. Early teachers
- 12. Pithoprakta
- 13. ST/48 1-240162
- 14. ST/10 2-080262
- 15. Stratégie
- 16. Eonta
- 17. Terretektorh
- 18. Persephassa
- 19. Psappha
- 20. • Groups A, B, and C Wood or Skin?
- 21. Groups D, E, and F: Metals
- 23. Sylvio Gualda
- 24. Steven Schick
- 25. My setup
- 27. How do you learn it?
- 30. Densities- Section C1, C2, C3
- 31. Densities- Section D1, D2
- 33. Bibliography Clark, Philip: “The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music" Xenakis, pages 191-198; Verso, 2009; ISBN 978 1 84467 427 5 DeLio, T. (2001). Xenakis. Perspectives of New Music,39(1), 231-243. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/833540 Harley, James. 2004. Xenakis: his life in music. London: Taylor & Francis Books. ISBN 0-415-97145-4 Hill, P. (1975). Xenakis and the performer. Tempo, (112), 17-22. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/943471 Hoffmann, Peter. "Iannis Xenakis", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 23 December 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access). Matossian, N. (1986). Xenakis. New York, New York: Taplinger Publishing Co. Rosen, M. (1989). An interview with sylvio gualda concerning psappha. Percussive Notes, 27(4), 32-36. Sallak, B. (2002). Informed indeterminacy: Guidelines for instrument choice in iannis xenakis's "psappha". Percussive Notes, 40(2), 55-59. Schick, S. (2006). The percussionist's art: Same bed, different dreams. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. Varga, Bálint András. 1996. Conversations with Iannis Xenakis. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-17959-2 Xenakis, Iannis; Roberta Brown, and John Rahn (1987). "Xenakis on Xenakis". Perspectives of New Music 25 (1/2): 16– 63. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/833091 Xenakis, I. (1971). Formalized music: Thought and mathematics in composition. Ontario, Canada: Indiana University Press. Yoken, D. (1990). Interview with Iannis Xenakis. Percussive Notes, 28(3), 53-57. Zaplitney, M. (1975). Conversation with Iannis Xenakis. Perspectives of New Music, 14(1), 86-103. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/832544
- 34. • http://prehysteries.blogspot.com/2008/06/iannis-xenakis.html • http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaizdas:Braila_in_Romania.svg • http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/greece/flag/ • http://greeceholidays.biz/travelguide/all-destinations/saronic-islands.html • http://www.asisbiz.com/Greece/Academy-of-Athens/pages/Athens-University- Panepistimio-Patriarchou-Grigoriou-Pemptou-Athens-Greece- 05.htmlhttp://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?103467-The-Greek-Civil-War • http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?103467-The-Greek-Civil-War • http://www.hotelpulitzer.com/blog/?tag=viajes-tiquets-paris-barcelona-france • http://archiecl.canalblog.com/archives/2009/02/25/12702640.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Expo58_building_Philips.jpg • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Boulanger • http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Honegger-Arthur-2.htm • http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/milhaud.php • http://www.oliviermessiaen.org/messiaen2index.htm • http://www.furious.com/perfect/xenakis.html • http://www.vvork.com/?p=21071 • http://www.iannis-xenakis.org/fxe/catalog/catalogue.html • http://www.deconcrete.org/2010/09/14/deconstruction-of-classics/ • http://blog.calarts.edu/2011/01/28/the-work-of-iannis-xenakis-takes-center-stage-this-weekend/ • http://www.fipa.tm.fr/fr/programmes/2002/sylvio-gualda-la-percussion-dans-la-musique-d- aujourd-hui-2115.htm • http://www.cdandlp.com/artist/0-0-0/1/1/sylvio-gualda.html • http://www.sfcmp.org/press/ad_feb11-2011/index.php • http://wn.com/steven_schick_psappha • http://www.lebong.de/notizen/notizen51.htm • http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/perspective-xenakis-48-hours-in-a-surreal-soundscape/ • http://www.novars.manchester.ac.uk/mantis/08spatial/index.html
Editor's Notes
- IannisXenakis was born in Braila, Romania to a Greek businessman and musician. His family emigrated to Romania during the 1800’s for business opportunities.At the age of 5 his mother passed away so it became his father, his brothers and himself.His mother was an early musical influence and gave him a flute just before she died.Because she died so soon after giving him the flute, he never learned to play it and it remained somewhat mystical to him.She also played piano while they were at the house.Growing up in Romania, he also heard gypsy music in the community.This would have a profound affect on him later in life such that he wanted to avoid those cultural connections and write “new Greek music.”
- At the age of ten he was sent to the Greek island Spetses to study in a boarding school named Anarghyrios.The school was founded by a Greek man and an Englishman.While there he primarily studied science and math, he had few friends so turned to books as a source of comfort.There was little music opportunity offered, so he participated in choir and learned the piano on his own.He was also exposed to ancient Byzantine church music during the weekly services that he was required to attend.
- After finishing his studies in secondary school on Spetses, he moved to Athens to begin studies at the Athens Polytechnic University.His intentions were to study mathematics and physics.At this same time, his father left Romania with his brother and moved to Athens to be near Iannis.The day that results were posted, the Italians invaded Athens and the University was shut down for the duration of the war.
- During World War II, he joined the Greek Liberation Front (EAM) which supported the Communist party, in an effort to free Greece from the Italians and Germans.As a member, he participated in several rallies, bombings, and raids.During one of these, he was hit by a shell from a Sherman tank and lost an eye.This participation would later have an effect on his composition as he would remember the sound masses changing from chants to screams as troops opened fire on the crowds.After the war, all members of the communist party, including Xenakis, were sentenced to death in concentration camps.As a result, he fled the country to Paris via Italy.
- Upon arrival in Paris, he sought work throughout the city and eventually found employment with the architect Le Corbusier.His initial job there was to compute sizes of concrete elements.Eventually he was promoted to a position of helping to realize a project.This gave him access to change designs and also to start creating his own designs.
- Working his way up through the company, he eventually was allowed to design his first building, which was the Couvent de la Tourette.His success with this design earned him the responsibility of designing the Philips pavilion for the World’s Fair in BrusselsThe Philips pavilion was his first time experimenting with writing compositions that are also a part of the architecture.
- The Philips pavilion was the first time he tried to incorporate an original composition into his architecture and he composed Metastasis (1953-4) for this occasion.This idea would become a trademark of his style, incorporating architecture and original composition together.Memories of his childhood in Romania and his days with the Greek resistance would sometimes exert their influence on his writing.In the mid-late 50’s he would start to become more interested in applying mathematical formulas and equations to composition.He felt that this would help him to remove emotion from the music and gain a purer composition.
- During this early period, he tried to begin studies with several teachers.Arthur Honneger rejected him for “breaking the rules” and composing parallel fifths and octaves.Honneger went so far as to say of one of his compositions that “this is no music.”After Honneger, he tried studying with Darius Milhaud who also could not tolerate his blatant disregard for the rules.Nadia Boulanger rejected him saying that he was too immature, but recommended him to Annette Dieudonné.After meeting Mme. Dieudonné, she suggested Olivier Messiaen as someone who was willing to allow students to break the rules.This shifting of teachers would help him to create his own compositional style that was based on his interest in mathematics and architecture.Working with Le Corbusier would only solidify this influence as he began to look at the macro-structure of each composition as part of the compositional process.
- Immediately after Metastasis he composed Pithoprakta in 1955-6 and used the idea of Boltzmann’s Kinetic Gas Theory for aspects of composition.The Boltzmann theory states that the temperature of air can be meant as the velocity of the composite molecules.The picture shows this by the empty space in the middle, which separates the densities.
- First early experiments with stochastic theory in compositionTitle means:Stochastic music, 48 musicians, first composition, completed 24 Jan. 62Used idea of sieves to create compositionSieve theory, on a very basic level, is using the idea of clusters that sometimes disintegrate and reform. E.g.- swarm of bees that separates as a result of some force and then reforms. This can also be seen as a filter through which only specific only elements are allowed to pass.
- His second work using stochastic theory.Written for ten musicians on February 8,1962.The main calculations were performed on an IBM 7090.The idea was to use the computer to compose, thus avoiding any human interference and emotion.
- Strategie was one of his first compositions to use games theory.In Strategie, there are two orchestras that face each other and play a “game” with the conductors as coaches.The conductors choose various musical examples to play and try to “outscore” the other orchestra based on their musical decisions.Other examples would be Duel and Linaia-Agon.
- Eonta was one of his early experiments in the aural experience shifting locations.Players are instructed to move around the stage while they play.He also used the idea of sympathetic resonance in this piece by having the wind players play into the strings on the piano.The difficulty of the piece is such that at the premiere, there had to be three sets of musicians in order to spell each other.
- InTerretektorh, Xenakis experimented with the idea of audience and performer placement for the first time.The performers are spread throughout the hall in groups of 8, each group is even in terms of instrumentation.Each performer also has extra percussion instruments such as woodblocks, maracas, etc. to create a surrounding percussion experience.The audience is invited to sit anywhere they would like, including on the stage.His thought was that the audience would gain a different individual perspective of the overall aural experience.Some people will not hear some of the quieter moments because of their placement close to a loud instrument such as brass or percussion.
- In Persephassa, he experimented with the idea of audience placement again.The audience sits in the center of the stage and is surrounded by the performers throughout the work.As a result of this separation, there are frequently timing issues, which Xenakis knew about and expected as a part of the performance.Another concept new to Persephassa is the idea of different timbres within the percussion realm. He experimented with using various textures of wood, skin, and metal sounds.This would transfer to instrumentation options within Psappha, which would be written six years later.
- Psappha was written in 1975 for SylvioGualda, who was one of the premier percussionists of the time.The composition was funded by the Gulbenkian foundation in Lisbon, Portugal for the English Bach Festival in London.The instrumentation is determined by the performer within specific guidelines.There are 6 groups with 3 instruments in each group.Group E is the exception with only one instrument.Xenakis gave instructions that Groups A-C be either wood or skin, and Groups D-F be metal.Rhythms are written in graph notation so as to avoid any accents other than what is written.Rhythms are also influenced by the poetry of Sappho, who was one of the first to introduce the idea of metabolae, or shifting accents.All rhythms are either on the line or in between with the exception of one grouping of 5 across barlines in mm.70-73.
- There are many choices to make regarding instrumentationFor groups A-C, is wood better? Or skin?If choosing wood, what kind of wood? Hard such as oak or maple? Soft such as pine?Or more traditional such as woodblocks, log drums, etc.?If choosing skins, dry sounds such as bongos? Or resonant sounds such as drum set toms?Or do you combine the two options within each group?
- For groups D-F, what kind of metal objects should be considered?Resonant such as brake drums?Dry such as metal plates?Things that have a fairly clear pitch, and if so should specific pitches be chosen?Should there be a combination of resonant and non-resonant sounds within each group?
- Xenakis wanted the performer to avoid common percussion instruments as much as possible to avoid any ethnic or genre connotation.His instructions are to choose instruments based on their quality of sound.In an interview with David Yoken, Xenakis states that “During the time that I was composing Psappha, Gualda (SylvioGualda for whom Psappha was written and dedicated) and I went searching for alternative instruments on the construction site of the Pompidou Center. We found some pieces of very hard steel piping. This piping was square, and its plating was thin. It sounded quite different from the usual metallic plates and piping. These (pointing to the Taiwanese gongs in the instrumental setup photos), although they are kind of exotic, they project too much their own identity.”Because of this interview, it has become understood that the use of too many “traditional” instruments is not acceptable. It is preferred that the metal objects be “found” at construction sites, auto shops, etc.Also, the wood sounds should not be three woodblocks that could give specific melodic intentions.
- SylvioGualda premiered the work and set the standard for all future instrumentation selections.Gualda was principal timpanist with the Paris opera at the time.Sylvio’s set up consisted of all drums for voices A-C and various found metal objects for voices D-FHe learned the piece in a month for the premiere, but would later go back and relearn it over a longer time span in order to more fully understand it.
- Steven Schick has become one of the contemporary authoritative performers in percussion music. He currently teaches percussion at the University of California in San Diego.He has devoted much thought to instrumentation for Psappha and has developed a philosophy behind his choices.He believes that there are three basic approaches to instrumentation:Atomized: every instrument is chosen on an individual basis and does not have a relation to the others. There are sixteen completely separate sounds.Unified: Two distinct groups are present. There are either nine skin sounds and seven metal sounds or there are nine wood sounds and seven metal sounds.Modular: (his personal choice and mine) There are six groups of instruments. Group A is a unique wood or skin sound that is separate from Group B, which is also separate from Group C.Schick’s instrumentation is as follows:Group A: two woodblocks and a simantra (plank of hard wood)Group B: two bongos and a medium double headed tomGroup C: two mini congas and an un-muffled kick drumGroup D: three small steel pipesGroup E: frying pan (cast iron)Group F: three brake drums or sixxenbarsHis decision for this instrumentation allows for different sonic qualities within each group.Each group is thus unified within itself but remains separate from the others.
- I have chosen to follow in Steven Schick’s choices with my own variations.My choices are as follows:Group A: three lengths of 2x4.Group B: two bongos and a conga (dry skin sound)Group C: two floor toms and onekick drum (resonant skin sounds)Group D: three brake discs. Resonant and unique in sound quality.Group E: a found metal object from a junk yard, I’m not even sure what it is.Group F: three oxygen tanks with the bottoms cut off for more resonance and pitch discrepancy. I got these for another percussion piece and found that they were my perfect choice for the ending of Psappha.
- Various set-ups to demonstrate how people approach the choices differently.There is a somewhat standard choice of instruments but everyone has their own variations.Most people now use wood for Group A, some combination of bongos and toms for Group B, another combination of toms and concert bass drums for Group C, and all variety of objects for Groups D-F.
- For me, I started with marking large sections which ended up being where all of the tempo changes happen.Within those large sections, I then broke it down into phrases that made sense to me.Sometimes they were a series of 4 blocks and sometimes they were 12 or even 21 blocks long.I also broke them down into instrumentation groupings such as group A or B, which determined which hand or sticking I was using.The “easy” part was learning phrases that were within one instrument group.The “hard” part came in learning the phrases that cross instrumentation groups. The first such example of a cross-group phrase happens in mm. 47-60.My idea is to try to create a “melody” within the accents that are being passed around between the wood and skin sounds.The hardest section for me to learn has been the C2 section that involves groups A-E all together, which requires looking at 11 lines all at once.I decided to color code the score to help in learning and facilitation of reading the score. Because of the color coding, I am now able to only look at three or six lines at a time.