View source for Iannis Xenakis

{{Short description|Greek-French composer, architect and engineer (1922–2001)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox composer
| image=XenakisMDaniel crop.jpg
| caption = Xenakis in his Paris studio, c. 1970
| birth_date = {{birth date|1922|5|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Brăila]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|2|4|1921|2|9|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]]
| years_active = 1947–1997
| list_of_works = [[List of compositions by Iannis Xenakis|List of compositions]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Françoise Xenakis|Françoise Gargouïl]]|1953}}
| children= 1
|birth_name=Giannis Klearchou Xenakis
|native_name_lang=Ιάννης Ξενάκης
|occupations=Composer, architect
}}
'''Giannis Klearchou Xenakis''' (also spelled for professional purposes as '''Yannis''' or '''Iannis Xenakis'''; {{langx|el|Γιάννης "Ιάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης}}, {{IPA|el|ˈʝanis kseˈnacis|pron}}; 29 May 1922{{efn|Xenakis' daughter Mâkhi states also 29 May 1921. She has all his passports and birth certificate and in some the date is 1921, like in the birth certificate in others 1922.<ref name="u919">{{cite book | last=Xenakis | first=Mâkhi | title=Iannis Xenakis | date=27 March 2024 | isbn=978-2-9585283-5-5 | page=| publisher=Uteurp }}</ref>}} – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]]<ref>Kundera wrote in 1980 about Xenakis in "Regards sur Xenakis" published by Paris Editions Stock pages 21-25. Later added commentary in 2008 in ''[[Encounter: Essays|Un Rencontre]]'' published in Paris by Gallimard, pages 92-98. The translation comes from Interpreting Xenakis, published by Pendragon Press in Hillsdale New York in 2010.

"Xenakis has had to go beyond music. His innovation has a quite different character than those of Bach, Debussy and Schoenberg. They never lost the link with the history of music, they could always "go back" (and often did). For Xenakis, the bridges were irrevocably destroyed. Oliver Messiaen said it: Xenakis' music is "not radically new but radically different".  Xenakis does not set himself against a preceding phase of music. He turns his back on all European music, in total rejection of this inheritance. His starting point is somewhere else: not in the artificial sound of a note that has isolated itself from nature in order to express human subjectivity, but in the noise of the world, in a "sound mass" that doesn't gush from the heart, but comes to us from the outside, like the pitter-patter of rain, the din of a factory, or the chanting slogans of a crowd demonstrating."</ref> composer, [[Music theory|music theorist]], architect, performance director and engineer.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Harley |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xeNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Iannis Xenakis: Kraanerg |date=28 September 2015 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-4094-2331-7 |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref>

After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalised [[French citizenship|citizen of France]] eighteen years later.<ref>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."</ref> Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of [[set theory]], [[stochastic process]]es and [[game theory]] and was also an important influence on the development of [[Electronic music|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.<ref>[[Gérard Pape]], ''Musipoesc: Writings About Music'', Paris: Éditions Michel de Maule, 2015, pp. 351-353.</ref>

Among his most important works are ''[[Metastaseis (Xenakis)|Metastaseis]]'' (1953–54) for orchestra, which introduced independent parts for every musician of the orchestra; percussion works such as ''[[Psappha (Xenakis)|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.<ref name="socks">{{cite web|url=http://socks-studio.com/2014/01/08/yannis-xenakis-polytopes-cosmogonies-in-sound-and-architecture/|title=Yannis Xenakis' Polytopes: Cosmogonies in Sound and Architecture – SOCKS|work=Socks|date=8 January 2014|access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref>

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|Sainte-Marie de La Tourette]], on which the two collaborated, and the [[Philips Pavilion]] at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair ([[Expo 58]]), which Xenakis designed by himself.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

== Life ==

=== 1922–47: early years ===
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis was born in [[Brăila]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]—which at the time had a large [[Greeks in Romania|Greek community]], as the eldest son of Greek parents; Klearchos Xenakis, a businessman from [[Euboea]] who was managing director of an English export-import agency and one of the richest men in the city, and Fotini Pavlou from [[Lemnos]], a pianist who also spoke German and French.<ref name=":0" /> His two younger brothers were [[Jason Xenakis|Jason]], who became a philosophy professor in the United States and Greece, and {{ill|Κοσμάς Ξενάκης|el|lt=Kosmas}}, an architect, urban planner and artist.

His parents were both interested in music, and it was Pavlou who encouraged the young child to learn more about it: the young Giannis was given a flute by his mother, and the family visited the [[Bayreuth Festival]] several times, due to his father's interest in opera. Her early death in 1927, when Xenakis was five years old, was a traumatic experience that, in his own words, "deeply scarred" the future composer. She had previously been infected from [[measles]] and died after giving birth to a stillborn daughter.<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], 13.</ref>

He was subsequently educated by a series of English, French, and German [[governess]]es, and then, in 1932, sent to Greece to study at the Anargyrio-Korgialenio [[boarding school]] on the Aegean island of [[Spetses]].<ref name=":0" /> He excelled in both academics and athletics and sang in the school's boys' choir, where the repertoire included works by [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina|Palestrina]], and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]]'', which Xenakis memorized in its entirety.<ref name="Varga, 14">[[#Varga|Varga]], p. 14.</ref>

It was also at the Spetses school that Xenakis studied [[Musical notation|notation]] and [[solfège]], being introduced to the music of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] and [[Johannes Brahms]] and became enamoured of Greek traditional and church music.<ref name="Varga, 14"/> At the same time, he discovered the writer [[Homer]] and had a habit of visiting museums.

In 1938, after graduating from the school, Xenakis moved to [[Athens]] to prepare for entrance exams at its [[National Technical University of Athens|National Technical University]], also studying [[Ancient Greek]]. He was encouraged by his friends and family to do so due to his interests in physics and mathematics. Although he intended to study architecture and engineering, he also took lessons in [[harmony]] and [[counterpoint]] with [[Aristotelis Koundouroff]].<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], 14–17.</ref> In 1940, he successfully passed the exams, but his studies were cut short by the [[Greco-Italian War]], which began with the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. Although Greece eventually won the war, it was not long before the German army joined the Italians in the [[Battle of Greece]], in April 1941.

This led to the [[Axis occupation of Greece during World War II]], which lasted until late 1944, when the Allies began their drive across Europe, forcing the Axis forces to withdraw. Xenakis joined the [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|National Liberation Front]] early during the war, participating in mass protests and demonstrations, and later becoming part of armed resistance — this last step was a painful experience Xenakis refused to discuss until much later in life.<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], pp. 18–27.</ref><ref>[[#Varga|Varga]], pp. 14–19.</ref>

After the Axis forces left, Churchill ordered that British forces step in to help restore the Greek monarchy; they were opposed by the [[Democratic Army of Greece]], and the country plunged into a [[Greek Civil War|civil war]]. In December 1944, during the period of [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]]'s [[martial law]],{{sfn|Gilbert|1966|p=56}} Xenakis (who was by then a member of the communist students' company of the left-wing ''Lord Byron'' faction of [[Greek People's Liberation Army|ELAS]]) became involved in street fighting against British tanks. He was wounded and facially disfigured when shrapnel from a tank blast hit his cheek and left eye, which was blinded;<ref name="service">{{cite news |last=Service |first=Tom |date=23 April 2013 |title=A guide to Iannis Xenakis's music |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2013/apr/23/contemporary-music-guide-xenakis |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref> the fact that Xenakis survived the injury has been described as a miracle.<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA2 2].</ref><ref>Barthel-Calvet, Anne-Sylvie. (2002). "Chronologie". In ''Portrait(s) de Iannis Xenakis'', edited by François-Bernard Mâche, pp. 25–82. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France. {{ISBN|2-7177-2178-9}}.</ref>

The Technical University operated intermittently during these years. Despite this, and Xenakis's other activities, he was able to graduate in 1947, with a degree in civil engineering.<ref>Baltensperger, André. (1995). ''Iannis Xenakis und die Stochastische Musik – Komposition im Spannungsfeld von Architektur und Mathematik''. Zürich. Paul Haupt. p. 72.</ref>

Xenakis was then conscripted into the national armed forces. Around 1947 the Greek government began arresting former resistance members that were left-wing oriented and sending them to prison. Xenakis, fearing for his life, went into hiding. With the help of his father and others, he fled Greece through [[Italy]] by using a fake [[passport]]. On 11 November 1947 he arrived in Paris. In a late interview, Xenakis admitted to feeling tremendous guilt at leaving his country, and that guilt was one of the sources of his later devotion to music:
<blockquote>For years I was tormented by guilt at having left the country for which I'd fought. I left my friends—some were in prison, others were dead, some managed to escape. I felt I was in debt to them and that I had to repay that debt. And I felt I had a mission. I had to do something important to regain the right to live. It wasn't just a question of music—it was something much more significant.<ref>[[#Varga|Varga]], p. 47.</ref></blockquote>
In the meantime, in Greece he was sentenced [[trial in absentia|in absentia]] to death by the right-wing administration. The sentence was commuted to ten years' imprisonment in 1951, and only lifted some 23 years later, after the fall of the [[Greek junta]] in 1974. He later returned the same year.<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], p.[https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA92 92].</ref>

=== 1947–59: architecture and music ===
[[File:Expo58 building Philips.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Philips Pavilion]], designed by Xenakis, during the 1958 Brussels World's Fair ([[Expo 58]])]]

Although he was an illegal immigrant in Paris, Xenakis was able to get a job at [[Le Corbusier]]'s architectural studio. He worked as an engineering assistant at first, but quickly rose to performing more important tasks, and eventually to collaborating with Le Corbusier on major projects. These included a kindergarten on the roof of an apartment block in [[Nantes]] ([[Rezé]]), the [[Unité d'Habitation of Nantes-Rezé]], parts of government buildings in [[Chandigarh]], India, the "undulatory glass surfaces" of [[Sainte Marie de La Tourette]], a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[priory]] in a valley near [[Lyon]], and the [[Philips Pavilion]] at [[Expo 58]]—the latter project was completed by Xenakis alone from a basic sketch by Le Corbusier.<ref name="grove">[[#Hoffmann|Hoffmann]]</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2020}} The experience Xenakis gained played a major role in his music: important early compositions such as ''[[Metastaseis (Xenakis)|Metastaseis]]'' (1953–54) were based directly on architectural concepts. At the same time, he dropped the "G" from his professional name to get the name he is most commonly known by, "Iannis".

At the same time, while working for Le Corbusier, Xenakis was studying harmony and counterpoint, and composing. He worked long and hard, frequently far into the night,<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], 37.</ref> and sought guidance from a number of teachers, most of whom, however, ultimately rejected him. Such was the case with [[Nadia Boulanger]], who was the first person Xenakis approached about lessons. He then tried studying with [[Arthur Honegger]], whose reaction to Xenakis's music was unenthusiastic. As Xenakis recounted in a 1987 interview, Honegger dismissed a piece which included [[Consecutive fifths|parallel fifths and octaves]] as "not music". Xenakis, who was by that time well acquainted with music of [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], [[Béla Bartók]], and [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]], all of whom used such devices and much more experimental ones, was furious and left to study with [[Darius Milhaud]], but these lessons also proved fruitless.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Xenakis, Iannis |author2=Brown, Roberta |author3=Rahn, John |year= 1987|title=Xenakis on Xenakis|journal=Perspectives of New Music|volume= 25|issue=1–2 |pages=16–63 (20)|url=http://rd.slavepianos.org/ut/rttcc-text/Xenakis1987a.pdf|jstor=833091}}</ref> Annette Dieudonné, a close friend of Boulanger's, then recommended that Xenakis try studying with [[Olivier Messiaen]].<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA4 4].</ref> Xenakis approached Messiaen for advice on whether he once again start studying harmony and counterpoint. Messiaen later recalled:
<blockquote>I understood straight away that he was not someone like the others.&nbsp;[...] He is of superior intelligence.&nbsp;[...] I did something horrible which I should do with no other student, for I think one should study harmony and counterpoint. But this was a man so much out of the ordinary that I said... No, you are almost thirty, you have the good fortune of being Greek, of being an architect and having studied special mathematics. Take advantage of these things. Do them in your music.<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], 48.</ref></blockquote>

[[Francisco Estévez]] has described this work as "mathematical formulas translated . . . into beautiful, exciting, and above all, convincing music."<ref>Thatcher, Nathan. 2016. ''Paco''. New York: Mormon Artists Group. {{ISBN|978-1-5238-5909-2}}. p. 116.</ref>

Xenakis regularly attended Messiaen's classes from 1951 until 1953. Messiaen and his students studied music from a wide range of genres and styles, with particular attention to rhythm.<ref>For a study of Messiaen's teaching methods, see Boivin 1995, {{Page needed|date=April 2016}}.</ref> Xenakis's compositions from 1949 until 1952 were mostly inspired by Greek folk melodies, as well as Bartók, [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]], and others; after studying with Messiaen, he discovered [[serialism]] and gained a deep understanding of contemporary music (Messiaen's other pupils at the time included [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] and [[Jean Barraqué]], among others). Messiaen's [[Musical mode|modal]] serialism was an influence on Xenakis's first large-scale work, ''Anastenaria'' (1953–54): a triptych for choir and orchestra based on an ancient [[Dionysus|Dionysian]] ritual. The third part of the triptych, ''Metastaseis'', is generally regarded as the composer's first mature piece; it was detached from the triptych to mark the beginning of the "official" Xenakis oeuvre.<ref name="grove" /> He was considered to be part of the [[Darmstadt School]], but later broke with the group of composers, who he believed focused too heavily on serialism and controlling all aspects of composition. In an article titled “The Crisis of Serial Music” he specifically accused Boulez and Stockhausen of steering music into a dead end.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slabihoudek |first=Jiri |date=22 September 2022 |title=With a Sound Forged in War, Iannis Xenakis Embraced Chaos |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/arts/music/iannis-xenakis-centennial.html |access-date=24 September 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On 3 December 1953, Xenakis married the journalist and writer [[Françoise Xenakis|Françoise Gargouïl]], whom he met in 1950.<ref>[[Françoise Xenakis|Xenakis, Françoise]], and Andreas Waldburg-Wolfegg. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20150611000402/http://iceorg.org/xenakis/mme-xenakis-in-conversation Mme Xenakis in Conversation]", translated by Sarah Green and Maro Elliott. International Contemporary Ensemble website (archive from 11 June 2015, accessed 29 April 2016).</ref> Their daughter Mâkhi, who later became a painter and sculptor, was born in 1956 in Paris. In late 1954, with Messiaen's support, Xenakis was accepted into the [[Musique concrète#Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète|Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète]];<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA12 12].</ref> an organization established by [[Pierre Schaeffer]] and [[Pierre Henry]], dedicated to studying and producing electronic music of the [[musique concrète]] variety. Shortly after that Xenakis met conductor [[Hermann Scherchen]], who was immediately impressed by the score of ''Metastaseis'' and offered his support. Although Scherchen did not premiere that particular work, he did give performances of later pieces by Xenakis, and the relationship between the conductor and the composer was of vital importance for the latter.<ref>[[#Matossian|Matossian]], 77–79.</ref>

By the late 1950s Xenakis slowly started gaining recognition in artistic circles. In 1957, he received his first composition award, from the [[European Cultural Foundation]], and in 1958 the first official commission came through, from Service de Recherche of [[Radio France]].<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA23 23].</ref>{{Verify source|date=April 2016}}<!--Radio France was not established until 1975. Does Harley actually say this, or does he instead refer to the (O)RTF?--> In the same year, he produced a musique concrète piece, ''[[Concret PH]]'', for the Philips Pavilion. In 1960, Xenakis was well known enough to receive a commission from [[UNESCO]] for a soundtrack for a documentary film by Enrico Fulchignoni.<ref>[[Iannis Xenakis#Harley|Harley]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC&pg=PA19 19].</ref>

=== Later life ===
After leaving Le Corbusier's studio in 1959, Xenakis supported himself by composition and teaching, and quickly became recognized as one of the most important European composers of his time. In 1965, he became a French citizen. He became especially known for his musical research in the field of computer-assisted composition, for which he founded the Equipe de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (EMAMu) in 1966 (known as CEMAMu: Centre d’Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales, since 1972). He taught at [[Indiana University School of Music]] from 1967 until 1972 (and established a studio similar to EMAMu there), and worked as visiting professor at the [[University of Paris (post-1970)|Sorbonne]] from 1973 until 1989.<ref name="grove" />

Xenakis frequently lectured (for instance, from 1975 to 1978 he was Professor of Music at [[Gresham College]], London, giving free public lectures),<ref>Cole, Jonathan 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150118235935/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/music-and-architecture-confronting-the-boundaries-between-space-and-sound "Music and Architecture: Confronting the Boundaries between Space and Sound"], Gresham College (21 September, archive from 18 January 2015, accessed 29 April 2016)</ref> and teaching composition. His works were performed at numerous festivals worldwide, including the [[Shiraz Arts Festival]] in Iran. His notable students include [[Pascal Dusapin]], [[Henning Lohner]], [[Miguel Ángel Coria]], [[Susan Frykberg]], [[Norma Tyer]], [[Robert Carl]], and [[Julio Estrada (musicologist)|Julio Estrada]]. In 1983, he was elected as a member of the [[Académie Française]].
[[File:Iannis Xenakis 1975.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Xenakis (1975)]]
In addition to composing and teaching, Xenakis also wrote a number of articles and essays on music. Of these, ''[[Formalized Music]]'' (1963) became particularly known and was later expanded into a full book. A collection of texts on applications of [[stochastic process]]es, game theory and computer programming in music, it was later revised, expanded and translated into English as ''Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'' (1971) during Xenakis's tenure at Indiana University.

Xenakis was an [[Atheism|atheist]]. Polish musicologist Zbigniew Skowron, describing ''[[Aïs (Xenakis)|Aïs]]'', wrote "In accordance with his atheist views, Xenakis emphasizes the finality of death as the ultimate event of human life, and this is probably why wild shrieks and moans punctuate his score".<ref>Skowron, Zbigniew (ed.). (2001). ''Lutosławski Studies''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-816660-3}}. pages 122–123.</ref> Xenakis himself wrote, "Man is one, indivisible, and total. He thinks with his belly and feels with his mind. I would like to propose what, to my mind, covers the term "music":&nbsp;... 7. It is a mystical (but atheistic) asceticism&nbsp;...".<ref>Xenakis, Iannis. (1992). ''Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition'', second edition. Harmonologia Series, no. 6. Stuyvesant, New York: Pendragon Press. {{ISBN|978-1-57647-079-4}}. page 181.</ref>

Xenakis completed his last work, ''O-mega'' for percussion soloist and chamber orchestra, in 1997. His health had been getting progressively worse over the years, and by 1997 he was no longer able to work. In 1999, Xenakis was awarded the [[Polar Music Prize]] "for a long succession of forceful works, charged with sensitivity, commitment and passion, through which he has come to rank among the most central composers of our century in the realm of art music, exercising within its various fields an influence which cannot be readily overstated".<ref>"[http://www.polarmusicprize.org/iannis-xenakis/ Iannis Xenakis, Laureate of the Polar Music Prize 1999]". Polar Music Prize website (accessed 29 April 2016) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308042009/http://www.polarmusicprize.org/iannis-xenakis/ |date=8 March 2012}}</ref>

After several years of serious illness, on 1 February 2001 the composer lapsed into a coma. He died in his Paris home four days later, on 4 February, aged 78; and was shortly after cremated, with his ashes being given to his family. He was outlived by his wife, who died on 12 February 2018 in [[Courbevoie]], and his daughter.<ref>[[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Griffiths, Paul]]. (5 February 2001). [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/arts/iannis-xenakis-composer-who-built-music-on-mathematics-is-dead-at-78.html Iannis Xenakis, Composer Who Built Music on Mathematics, Is Dead at 78"], ''The New York Times'', page B7</ref>

== Works ==
{{See also|List of compositions by Iannis Xenakis}}
Specific examples of mathematics, statistics, and physics applied to music composition are the use of the [[statistical mechanics]] of gases in ''[[Pithoprakta]]'', [[statistical distribution]] of points on a plane in ''[[Diamorphoses]]'', minimal [[Constraint (mathematics)|constraints]] in ''Achorripsis'', the [[normal distribution]] in ''ST/10'' and ''Atrées'', [[Markov chain]]s in ''Analogique'', [[game theory]] in ''Duel'', ''Stratégie'', and ''Linaia-agon'', [[group theory]] in ''[[Nomos Alpha]]'' (for [[Siegfried Palm]]), [[set theory]] in ''Herma'' and ''[[Eonta]]'',<ref>Chrissochoidis, Ilias, Stavros Houliaras, and Christos Mitsakis. (2005). "Set theory in Xenakis' ''EONTA''". In ''International Symposium Iannis Xenakis'', edited by Anastasia Georgaki and [[Makis Solomos]], pp. 241–249. Athens: The National and Kapodistrian University.</ref> and [[Brownian motion]] in ''N'Shima''. ''Persephassa'', commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival, was performed by [[Les Percussions de Strasbourg]], receiving its world premiere in Persepolis in 1969. Subsequently, he was once again commissioned by the Shiraz Arts Festival and composed ''Persepolis'' for the occasion, a "polytope" composed specific to the historic site.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gluck|first=Robert|date=2007|title=The Shiraz Arts Festival: Western Avant-Garde Arts in 1970s Iran|journal=Leonardo|volume=40|pages=21–28|doi=10.1162/leon.2007.40.1.20|s2cid=57561105}}</ref>

Although [[Electroacoustic music|electroacoustic]] compositions represent only a small fraction of Xenakis's output, they are highly relevant to musical thinking in the late 20th century. Important works in this medium include ''[[Concret PH]]'' (1958), ''Analogique B'' (1958–59), ''[[Bohor (Xenakis)|Bohor]]'' (1962), ''La légende d'Eer'' (1977), ''Mycenae-Alpha'' (1978), ''Voyage absolu des Unari vers Andromède'' (1989), ''Gendy301'' (1991), and ''S709'' (1994).<ref>[[#DiScipio|Di Scipio]], 201.</ref>

By 1979, he had devised a computer system called [[UPIC]], which could translate graphical images into musical results.{{sfn|Hugill|2008|pp=95, 182}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gagné |first=Nicole V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxWbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA397 |title=Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music |date=17 July 2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2298-3 |pages=397 |language=en}}</ref> "Xenakis had originally trained as an architect, so some of his drawings, which he called 'arborescences', resembled both organic forms and architectural structures." These drawings' various curves and lines that could be interpreted by UPIC as real time instructions for the sound synthesis process. The drawing is, thus, rendered into a composition. ''Mycenae-Alpha'' was the first of these pieces he created using UPIC as it was being perfected.<ref>[[#DiScipio|Di Scipio]], 220.</ref>

Xenakis also developed a stochastic synthesizer algorithm (used in GENDY), called ''dynamic stochastic synthesis'', where a polygonal waveform's sectional borders' amplitudes and distance between borders may be generated using a form of [[random walk]] to create both aleatoric timbres and musical forms.<ref name="Serra">[[#Serra|Serra]], 241.</ref> Further material may be generated by then refeeding the original waveform back into the function or wave forms may be superimposed. Elastic barriers or mirrors are used to keep the randomly generated values within a given finite interval, so as to not exceed limits such as the audible pitch range, avoid complete chaos (white noise), and to create a balance between stability and instability (unity and variety).<ref name="Serra"/>

Despite Xenakis's reputation as a "mathematical" composer, his works are known for their power and physicality. [[Alex Ross (music critic)|Alex Ross]] wrote that Xenakis "produced some of the rawest, wildest music in history—sounds that explode around the ears. Rarefied methods were employed to release primordial energies."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/03/01/waveforms|title=Waveforms: The singular Iannis Xenakis|last=Ross|first=Alex|author-link=Alex Ross (music critic)|date=22 February 2010|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref> [[Ben Watson (music writer)|Ben Watson]] expressed admiration for the "terrifying emotional impact of [Xenakis'] sonic objectivity", describing his music as possessing "truly majestic otherness. It is an alien shard, glimmering in the heart of the West."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Watson |first=Ben |date=June 1995 |title=Iannis Xenakis: Primal Architect |magazine=The Wire |issue=136 }}</ref>

[[Tom Service]] praised Xenakis' music for its "shattering visceral power" and "sheer, scintillating physicality", noting its "deep, primal rootedness in richer and older phenomena even than musical history: the physics and patterning of the natural world, of the stars, of gas molecules, and the proliferating possibilities of mathematical principles."<ref name="service" /> Service described Xenakis as a composer "whose craggily, joyously elemental music turned collections of pitches and rhythms and instruments into a force of nature, releasing a power that previous composers had only suggested metaphorically but which he would realise with arguably greater clarity, ferocity, intensity than any musician, before or since," and suggested that his music is "expressive: not in a conventionally emotional way, perhaps, but it has an ecstatic, cathartic power. Xenakis's music – and its preternaturally brilliant performers – allows its listeners to witness seismic events close at hand, to be at the middle of a musical happening of cosmic intensity."<ref name="service" /> Service concluded: "it took Xenakis for music to become nature. On holiday in Corsica, Xenakis would pilot his canoe into the teeth of the biggest storm he and his paddle could manage. When you're listening to his music, you also go out there into the eye of a musical storm that will invigorate, inspire, and awe. See you out there..."<ref name="service" />

== Writings ==
* Xenakis, Iannis. 2001. ''[[Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition]]'' (Harmonologia Series No. 6). Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press. {{ISBN|1-57647-079-2}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Cited sources==
* {{cite journal|ref=DiScipio|author=Di Scipio, Agostino|year= 1998|title=Compositional Models in Xenakis's Electroacoustic Music|journal=[[Perspectives of New Music]]|volume= 36|issue=2 |pages=201–243|doi=10.2307/833529|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275776438|jstor=833529}}
* {{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Gilbert|year=1966|title=Winston Churchill|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{cite book|ref=Harley|author=Harley, James|year= 2004|title=Xenakis: His Life in Music|place= London|publisher= Taylor & Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHXqbJGEM4EC|isbn=0-415-97145-4}}
*{{cite book|ref=Hoffmann|author=Hoffmann, Peter|title=Grove Music Online|chapter=Xenakis, Iannis|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor= Deane Root|year=2001|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30654| isbn=978-1-56159-263-0|url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.30654 }}
* {{cite book|last=Hugill|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Hugill|year=2008|title=The Digital Musician|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-80660-2}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Nouritza Matossian|author=Matossian, Nouritza|year=1986|title=Xenakis|place= London|publisher= Kahn and Averill|isbn=1-871082-17-X|ref=Matossian|url=https://archive.org/details/xenakis0000mato/page/n5/mode/2up}}
* {{cite journal|last=Serra|first=Marie-Hélène|journal=[[Perspectives of New Music]]|date=Winter 1993|title=Stochastic Composition and Stochastic Timbre: ''GENDY3'' by Iannis Xenakis|jstor=833052|volume=32|issue=1|pages=236–257|doi=10.2307/833052|ref=Serra}}
* {{cite book|ref=Varga|author=Varga, Bálint András|year= 1996|title=Conversations with Iannis Xenakis|place= London|publisher= Faber and Faber|isbn=0-571-17959-2}}

== Further reading ==
* Amagali, Rosemary Tristano. (1975). "Texture as an Organizational Factor in Selected Works of Iannis Xenakis". M.M. Thesis, Indiana University.
* {{cite magazine|last= Anther| first= Eric|date= 1986|title= "Mi-homme, mi dragon" par Iannis Xenakis |url= https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Mi_homme_mi_Dragon%22_par_Iannis_Xenakis_(Propos_recueill%C3%ADs_par_Eric_Anther).pdf|magazine= Le monde de la musique |location= France|publisher= Le monde and Telerama}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Ariza|first1=Christopher|title=The Xenakis Sieve as Object: A New Model and a Complete Implementation|journal=[[Computer Music Journal]]|volume=29|issue=2|year=2005|pages=40–60|issn=0148-9267|doi=10.1162/0148926054094396|s2cid=10854809|ref=none|doi-access=free}}
* Bardot, Jean-Marc. (1999). "Cendrées de Xenakis ou l'émergence de la vocalité dans la pensée xenakienne." Undergraduate thesis (equivalent). Saint-Etienne: Université Jean Monnet.
* Biasi, Salvatore di. (1994). ''Musica e matematica negli anni 50–60: Iannis Xenakis''. Bologna. Università degli Studi di Bologna.
* Boivin, Jean. 1995. ''La Classe de Messiaen''. Paris: Christian Bourgois.
* Clark, Philip. (2009). "Xenakis", in ''The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music'', 191–198. London and New York: Verso. {{ISBN|978-1-84467-427-5}}.
* [[Dimitri Kitsikis|Kitsikis, Dimitri]]. (2014). Περί Ηρώων: Οι ήρωες και η σημασία τους για τον σύγχρονο ελληνισμό (On Heroes.: Heroes and Their Importance for Contemporary Hellenism). Athens: Herodotos. {{ISBN|978-960-485-068-6}} (Chapter "Iannis Xenakis: Souvenirs from Paris, by D. Kitsikis, Xenakis's Intimate Friend").
* {{cite news |last=McCallum |first=Peter |date=17 October 1992 |title=Metaphors of space |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51930908/iannis-xenakis-mccallum/ |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|page=47 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=23 May 2020|ref=none}}
* {{cite news |last=Murray |first=Margaret |date=5 November 1988 |title=Taking Bach to the planets |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51931041/iannis-xenakis-murray/ |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|page=93 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=23 May 2020|ref=none}}
* Paland, Ralph, and [[Christoph von Blumröder]] (eds.). (2009). ''Iannis Xenakis: Das elektroakustische Werk. Internationales Symposion. Tagungsbericht 2006''. Signale aus Köln. Beiträge zur Musik der Zeit 14. Vienna. Der Apfel. {{ISBN|978-3-85450-414-6}}.
* {{cite news |last=Peters |first=Frank |date=2 May 1967 |title=Battle Sounds Graphed Into Music |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51889551/yannis-xenakis-peters/ |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |location=St. Louis, Missouri |page=41 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=23 May 2020|ref=none}}
* {{cite web |first=Hans-Jürgen |last=Schaal | title=Die Mathematik der Klangwolken – Ausgabe: 5/22 – neue musikzeitung | website=[[nmz]] |date=29 May 2022 | url=https://www.nmz.de/artikel/die-mathematik-der-klangwolken | language=de | ref={{sfnref | nmz}} | access-date=29 May 2022}}
* {{cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark |date=10 November 2010 |title=Cold, stern and so very hip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51930818/iannis-xenakis-swed/ |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|page=32 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=23 May 2020|ref=none}}
* Woodward, Roger (2014). "Iannis Xenakis". ''Beyond Black and White''. HarperCollins. pp.&nbsp;353–399. {{ISBN|9780733323034}}

===Obituaries===
* {{cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark |date=5 February 2001 |title=Iannis Xenakis; Avant-Garde Composer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51931099/iannis-xenakis-obituary-swed/ |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|page=22 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=23 May 2020|ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Iannis Xenakis}}
{{wikiquote}}

* [http://xenakis.musicportal.gr/ xenakis.musicportal.gr] from the Institute for Research on Music and Acoustics, Athens (Greece) – in Greek and English with many score and audio examples
* [http://www.iannis-xenakis.org/ Iannis-Xenakis.org] by the Friends of Xenakis
* [http://www.medieval.org/music/modern/xenakis.html Medieval.org: Modern Music: Xenakis]
* [http://www.sergioluque.com/stochastics Luque, Sergio. 2009. "The Stochastic Synthesis of Iannis Xenakis." Leonardo Music Journal (19): 77–84]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514135847/http://www.durand-salabert-eschig.com/formcat/actuel/XENAKIS2006.pdf Works catalogue] 70-page PDF from Xenakis's publisher [[Éditions Durand]]-Salabert-Eschig
* [http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?composerid=2822 Iannis Xenakis @ Boosey & Hawkes Publisher]
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/xenakis.html Iannis Xenakis: the aesthetics of his early works] by Markos Zografos
* [http://leonardo.info/isast/spec.projects/Xenakisbib.html Iannis Xenakis Bibliography and Discography] compiled by James Harley for [[Leonardo, The International Society of the Arts, Sciences and Technology|Leonardo/ISAST]]
* Two articles by Grant Chu Covell (2006) documenting then-recent Xenakis recordings and books about Xenakis: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219062421/http://www.lafolia.com/archive/covell/covell200610xenakis1.html Part 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120219062440/http://www.lafolia.com/archive/covell/covell200612xenakis2.html Part 2]
* {{BrahmsOnline|3397}}
{{ContemporaryMusicOnline|Xenakis|works}}
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/xenakis.html Interview with Iannis Xenakis], 25 March 1997

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