by Steve Schick

I have had the great privilege to play the music of Iannis Xenakis many hundreds of times over the last 35 years. The collaboration with ICE on Palimpsest, Echange, Akanthos and Omega has been one of the most satisfying and exciting of any of those performances.  The group is superb, dynamic and passionate. The extraordinary Tony Arnold is, well, extraordinary.  What she does is so engaged and exacting, she seems to re-write the rules of singing.  I think the MCA concert in Chicago will be mind-blowing!

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. 

We interviewed Francisco and asked him about why he thought Xenakis had such appeal in the noise, metal, and ambient communities. Listen here to his illuminating response.

Boston Herald original link 
March 20, 2009

With high-octane superstars like Renee Fleming, Peter Serkin and Murray Perahia coming to town this spring, Boston’s classical scene promises to please. But amid the star power, one event stands out: a long-overdue tribute to courageous composer Iannis Xenakis.

Name another composer who would take a commission from a ruthless dictator (the shah of Iran) and then go on to write a work dedicated to the man’s political prisoners. Who else would design a World’s Fair building by first writing a score? Xenakis moved easily from physics to game theory to architecture to computer music, but the 20th century was slow to recognize his influence or output. Next month’s concert, featuring the International Contemporary Ensemble as part of the Isabella Stewart Gardner’s Composer Portraits series, should start rectifying his neglect (April 16 at the Gardner Museum; $5-$23; 617-278-5156).

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For tickets and more information, visit the Gardner Museum’s website.