Sound Portraits #17: Iannis Xenakis
Doors: 19:30 / Start time: 20:00
Sound Portraits is a series of listening sessions, curated by Doron Sadja, focusing on the work of iconic composers who have paved the way for contemporary electronic music. After a short introduction of each artist's life and work, we will listen to a selection of excerpts and complete works from the artist’s repertoire. Besides providing an opportunity to introduce these seminal artists to a new audience, the Sound Portraits series also offers an open forum to engage in group listening in a quiet atmosphere.
This session: Iannis Xenakis
Read more about the series at http://sound-portraits.tumblr.com
Iannis Xenakis
You can read all you like about the mathematics, computers, architecture and Greek myths that underpin the music of Iannis Xenakis’s music, but nothing quite prepares you for its savage, brute force and immense beauty. A composer, architect, engineer, and political refugee, Xenakis is arguably one of the most important composers of the 20th century - pioneering the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of set theory, stochastic processes and game theory and was also a vital force in the development of electronic and computer music. A trained architect, Xenakis collaborated with Le Corbusier, which influenced his approach with music: he integrated music with architecture, designing music for pre-existing spaces, and designing spaces to be integrated with specific music compositions and performances.