For many years the sole Xenakis I had on recording was Tetras by the Arditti String Quartet.  Its hyperactive spasms completely captivated me; I had never heard a quartet like it.  And in live performance, here and there some of the chamber music had crossed my path, like Okho (1989) for three djembes (a goblet-shaped African drum).

But my “it moment” with Xenakis happened relatively recently, with Erikhthon for piano and 88 musicians (1974), performed by Hiroaki Ooï on Volume 4 of Arturo Tamayo’s outstanding series with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg (on Timpani).  It’s basically a piano concerto, with the soloist making the first stabs in furious, spiky torrents, followed by a wave of sound in the orchestra that soon becomes a tsunami of glissandos.  The day I bought it I must have played it four or five times (since it’s only about 15 minutes long).  And I love the cover illustration, showing the composer’s head with his hair ablaze. 

Three more recent snapshots: the first was at Galapagos, before a flute-with-electronics recital by Claire Chase.  As people were entering the space, on the sound system if I recall (thanks to composer Jason Eckardt, who identified the recording) was the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra playing Aïs (1980), Troorkh (1991) and Anastenaria (1953).  In September 2008 I was fascinated by the International Contemporary Ensemble’s traversal of Oresteia, with its nonstop demands on percussionist David Schotzko.  (Although if the truth be told, and ICE’s virtuosity aside, the piece itself didn’t enthrall me as much as I thought it might.)  And a month later, the Jack String Quartet played all four of the composer’s output in that genre, none of which I had heard live.

In piece after piece, I find myself in awe of the sheer physicality and visceral impact of his music.  It’s the classical equivalent of heavy metal.

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Bruce Hodges, long-time friend of ICE and prolific contemporary music journalist, critic, and bloger, shares his thoughts on X. Visit him in his natural habitat at monotonous forest.