Iannis Xenakis Profile

(1922-2001)

Discography

Mode Records - A Record Label Devoted to New Music

Iannis Xenakis

Composer, architect, civil engineer; Iannis Xenakis was born 29 May 1922, in Braïla (Romania). Son of Clearchos Xenakis and Fotini Pavlou; married Françoise Gargouil 1953; one daughter, Mâkhi. Fought in Greek Resistance, World War II, was condemned to death; became a political refugee in France from 1947, and a French national in 1965. Education: Athens Polytechnic Institute, music composition studies at Gravesano with Hermann Scherchen, and at the Paris Conservatoire under Olivier Messiaen. Collaborated as engineer and architect with Le Corbusier 1947-60. Innovator of mass concept of music, stochastic and symbolic music through introduction of probability calculus and set theory into instrumental, electro-acoustic and computerized musical composition; inventor of several compositional techniques constituting the "lingua franca" of the avant-garde. Architect of the Philips Pavilion, Brussels World Fair 1958 and of other architectural projects such as the Couvent de la Tourette (1955).

Sonic, sculptural and light compositions: Polytope for the French Pavilion, Expo 1967, Montreal; music and light spectacle Persepolis set among the ruins and the mountains at Persepolis, Iran (1971); Polytope de Cluny, Paris (1972); Polytope de Mycènes, set in the ruins of Mycenae, Greece (1978); Diatope for the Inauguration of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (1978).

Founder (1965) and Director (1965-) of the Center for Studies of Mathematical and Automated Music (CEMAMu), Paris; Associate Music Professor, Indiana University, Bloomington (1967-1972) and founder of the Center for Mathematical and Automated Music (CMAM), Indiana University, Bloomington (1967-1972); research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris (1970); Gresham Professor of Music, City University London (1975); Professor at the University of Paris I-Sorbonne (1972-1989).

Died 4 February 2001 in Paris.

Iannis Xenakis Discography

Xenakis on Mode by Disc:
Edition 1: Ensemble Music 1 (mode 53)
Edition 2: Ensemble Music 2 (mode 56)
Edition 3: Xenakis & Varese (mode 58)
Edition 4: Complete Works for Piano Solo (mode 80)
Xenakis, UPIC, Continuum: Electroacoustic &
Instrumental works from CCMIX Paris (mode 98/99)
Edition 5: La Légende d'Eer (mode 148)
Edition 6: Music for Strings (mode 152)
Edition 7: Xenakis Percussion Works (mode 171-173)
Edition 8: Kraanerg (mode 196)

Mode Xenakis Catalog by Piece:

A la Mémoire de Witold Lutoslawski
(1994) for 2 trumpets & 2 horns
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 56)

A.r.
(1987) for piano solo
Aki Takahashi, piano
(mode 80)

Akanthos
(1977) for soprano and ensemble
Susan May, soprano
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 53)

Akrata
(1964-65) for 8 winds & 8 brass
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 56)

Analogique A+B
(1959) for 9 strings & tape
Ensemble Resonanz
Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
(mode 152)

Aroura
(1971) for 12 strings
Ensemble Resonanz
Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
(mode 152)

Dämmerschein
(1994) for large orchestra
Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic/Juan Pablo Izquierdo
(mode 58)

Dikthas
(1979) for violin and piano
Jane Peters, violin, Aki Takahashi, piano
(mode 80)

Dmaathen
(1977) Percussion Duo
Jacqueline Leclair, oboe
Steven Schick, percussion
(mode 171-173)

Échange
(1989) for bass-clarinet & ensemble
Michael Lowenstern, bass-clarinet
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 56)

Eonta
(1962-64) for piano solo, 2 trumpets & 3 trombones
Justin Rubin, piano
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 53)

Evryali
(1973) for piano solo
Aki Takahashi, piano
(mode 80)

Herma
(1960-61) for piano solo
Aki Takahashi, piano
(mode 80)

Ittidra
(1996) for string sextet
Ensemble Resonanz
(first recording)
(mode 152)

Kassandra
(1987) Percussion Duo
Philip Larson, voice
Steven Schick, percussion
(mode 171-173)

Komboï
(1981) Percussion Duo
Aiyun Huang, percussion
Shannon Wettstein, harpsichord
(mode 171-173)

Kraanerg
(1968) for 23 instruments and 4-channel tape
Callithumpian Consort
Stephen Drury, conductor
(mode 196)

La Déesse Athéna
(1992) for baritone, percussion solo & chamber ensemble
Philip Larson, baritone, Timothy Adams, percussion solo
Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic/Juan Pablo Izquierdo
(mode 58)

La Légende d'Eer
(1977-78) Electroacoustic Work for 7-channel tape
New stereo mix from the original master tape
master tapes by Gerard Pape
(mode 148)

Mists
(1980) for piano solo
Aki Takahashi, piano
(mode 80)

Mycnae Alpha
(1978) for UPIC
on the compilation CCMIX: New Electroacoustic Music from Paris.
(Mode 98/99)

N'Shima
(1975) for 2 amplified peasant voices, 2 amplified horns, 2 trombones and amplified cello
Catherine Aks & April Lindevold, voices
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 53)

Okho
(1989) for 3 djembes
Pablo Rieppi, Robert McEwan, David Rosenblatt, percussion
(mode 56)

(1989) for three djembes
percussion sextet
Percussion Ensemble red fish blue fish
(mode 171-173)

Omega
(1997) for percussion solo & orchestra
Ensemble FA
Dominique My, conductor
(mode 189-192)

Oophaa
(1989) Percussion Duo
John Mark Harris, harpsichord
Greg Stuart, percussion
(mode 171-173)

Palimpsest
(1979) for piano, six drums, winds and strings
Aki Takahashi, piano
The Society for New Music/Charles Peltz
(mode 80)

Persephassa
(1969) for percussion ensemble
Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic/Juan Pablo Izquierdo
(mode 58)

(1969) percussion sextet
Percussion Ensemble red fish blue fish
(mode 171-173)

Pléïades
(1978) percussion sextet
Percussion Ensemble red fish blue fish
(mode 171-173)

Plektó
(1993) for ensemble
ST-X Ensemble/Charles Zachary Bornstein
(mode 53)

Polytope De Cluny
(1972) for tape (24:45)
on the compilation CCMIX: New Electroacoustic Music from Paris.
(Mode 98/99)

Psappha
(1975) Percussion Solo
Steven Schick, percussion
(mode 171-173)

(1976) for percussion solo
Michael Pugliese, percussion
(mode 25)

(1976) for percussion solo
(mode 189-192 CD)

for percussion solo
Filmed by Jacques Goldstein
(mode 189-192 DVD)

Rebonds
(1987-89) for percussion solo
Robert McEwan, percussion
(mode 53)

(1989) Percussion Solo
Steven Schick, percussion
(mode 171-173)

Rebonds A & B
(1988) for percussion solo
(mode 189-192 CD)

for percussion solo
Filmed by Jacques Goldstein
(mode 189-192 DVD)

Syrmos
(1959) for 18 strings
Ensemble Resonanz
Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
(mode 152)

Theraps
(1975-76) for solo contrabass
John Eckhardt, contrabass
(mode 152)

Voile
(1995) for 20 strings
Ensemble Resonanz
Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
(mode 152)

Xas
(1987) for saxophone quartet
Susan Cook, soprano, John Engebretson, alto,
Shawn Tracy, tenor, Mathew Cashman, baritone
(mode 56)

Related Resources:

CCMIX (formerly Atelier UPIC) web site