Greek-French composer, architect and engineer (1922–2001)
Iannis Xenakis
Xenakis in his Paris studio, c. 1970
Born
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis
(1922-05-29)29 May 1922
Brăila, Romania
Died
4 February 2001(2001-02-04) (aged 78)
Paris, France
Occupation(s)
Composer, architect
Years active
1947–1997
Works
List of compositions
Spouse
Françoise Gargouïl
(m. 1953)
Children
1
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; Greek: Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, pronounced[ˈʝaniskseˈnacis]; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and engineer.[1]
After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalised citizen of France eighteen years later.[2] Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of set theory, stochastic processes and game theory and was also an important influence on the development of electronic and computer music. He integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances.[3]
Among his most important works are Metastaseis (1953–54) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as Psappha (1975) and Pléïades (1979); compositions that introduced spatialization by dispersing musicians among the audience, such as Terretektorh (1966); electronic works created using Xenakis's UPIC system; and the massive multimedia performances Xenakis called polytopes, that were a summa of his interests and skills.[4]
Among the numerous theoretical writings he authored, the book Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition (French edition 1963, English translation 1971) is regarded as one of his most important publications. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the priory of Sainte-Marie de La Tourette, on which the two collaborated, and the Philips Pavilion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed by himself.[citation needed]
^Harley, Dr James (28 September 2015). Iannis Xenakis: Kraanerg. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4094-2331-7.
^Gagné, Nicole V. (2012). Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music, p. 299, Lanham: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-6765-6: "Xenakis settled in Paris, becoming a French citizen in 1965."
^Gérard Pape, Musipoesc: Writings About Music, Paris: Éditions Michel de Maule, 2015, pp. 351-353.
^"Yannis Xenakis' Polytopes: Cosmogonies in Sound and Architecture – SOCKS". Socks. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or IannisXenakis; Greek: Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, pronounced [ˈʝanis...
CCMIX (Center for the Composition of Music IannisXenakis, 2000), formerly Les Ateliers UPIC [UPIC workshops], CEMAMu (Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique...
article presents a complete list of compositions by Greek composer IannisXenakis (1922-2001), organized by instrumentation. Within each category, the...
Houliaras, and Christos Mitsakis, "Set theory in Xenakis' EONTA", in International Symposium IannisXenakis, ed. Anastasia Georgaki and Makis Solomos (Athens:...
Greek composer IannisXenakis is known as the inventor of the granular synthesis technique.[page needed] The composer IannisXenakis (1960) was the first...
planning of Chandigarh, much of the project management was assigned to IannisXenakis, who was also an experimental composer and was influenced in the design...
A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by IannisXenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on music and novels....
is a computerised musical composition tool, devised by the composer IannisXenakis. It was developed at the Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique...
during the late 1970s. The Greek composer IannisXenakis was referred to him in 1951; Messiaen urged Xenakis to take advantage of his background in mathematics...
reception and history of music, generally called musicology. Composer IannisXenakis in "Towards a Metamusic" (chapter 7 of Formalized Music) defined music...
in Composition is a book by Greek composer, architect, and engineer IannisXenakis in which he explains his motivation, philosophy, and technique for composing...
composers and bands that feature noise based materials include works by IannisXenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Helmut Lachenmann, Cornelius Cardew, Theatre...
"The Dialectics of Structure and Materials: IannisXenakis' Nomos Alpha". Cited in DeLio (1985). Xenakis, Iannis (1971). Formalized Music, pp. 219–236. Bloomington...
Edwards, Barry Conyngham and Anne Boyd. A collaboration began with IannisXenakis (1973–96) in France, the UK, Austria, Italy and the United States, during...
of the composer IannisXenakis. Co-founder Ad van 't Veer died in June 2021. Its repertoire includes over 40 compositions by Xenakis, some of which were...
pedagogical Schulwerk. Metallophones with microtonal tunings are used in IannisXenakis' Pléïades and in the music of Harry Partch. Metallophones are a subset...
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