Iannis Xenakis | Artist

Iannis Xenakis was a Greek-French composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and engineer born 1922 in Romania. After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalized citizen of France. He is considered an important post-World War II composer whose works helped revolutionize 20th-century classical music. 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. As an architect, Xenakis is primarily known for his early work under Le Corbusier: the Sainte Marie de La Tourette, on which the two architects collaborated, and the Phillips Pavillion at Expo 58, which Xenakis designed by himself. As a composer Xenakis has hundreds of instrumental, chamber, orchestral and choral works published. He also wrote and performed numerous works for electron apparatus and computer. Among his many album releases, standouts include La légende d'Eer, Electronic Music, X: GRM Works 1957-1962, and Nuits. The 2011 compilation Alpha & Omega is also recommended.

Artist Website: iannisxenakis.org

Featured Albums: Iannis Xenakis

Video Clips: Metastasis, Pithoprakta, Six Chansons for Piano