Iannis Xenakis — Line of Life

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Elena V. Ferapontova

Abstract

Iannis Xenakis (1922—2001) is a unique figure in contemporary music, not only for the iconoclastic nature of his music but also for the scientific attitude he brought into the process of musical compositions. His training as a civil engineer, his experience as an architect, as well as his immersion in ancient Greek philosophy, have all shaped his approach to developing a new theoretical foundation of music and a style built upon a unique set of compositional techniques. His life was not easy. Xenakis was born in Braila, Romania. In 1932 his family returned to Greece. He was educated at the Athens Polytechnic, where he studied engineering. Xenakis participated in the Greek Resistance during World War II. He received a severe face wound from a shell which resulted in the loss of eyesight in one eye. In 1947 Xenakis fled under a false passport to Paris. In the meantime, in Greece he was sentenced, in absentia, to death as the opponent of the new regime supported by the Great Britain. In Paris he worked with architect Le Corbusier. While his assistant, Xenakis designed the Philips Pavilion in Brussels, 1958. He formulated a theory of stochastic music in the early 1950s, pioneered the use of computers in music compositions and created his own computer — UPIC. In 1963 he published "Musique Formelles," a collection of his articles relating music with architecture and mathematics. In 1972 Xenakis founded CEMAMu (Centre d’Etudes de Mathematique et Automatique Musicales). He has composed more than 150 works: orchestral, instrumental ensembles and solos works, number of vocal compositions, including the music tragedies, "polytopes" — sound and light spectacles.

Keywords: Jannis Xenakis, music of the 20th century, post-avant-garde, precise methods of musical composition

Article Details

How to Cite
Ferapontova, E. V. (2007). Iannis Xenakis — Line of Life. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 1(1), 141–150. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/820
Section
Musical Culture of the Peoples of the World
Author Biography

Elena V. Ferapontova, Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory

Candidate of Arts