| Format: | 5LP |
| Availability: | Out of stock |
KR092
28/01/2022
This 5LP box set celebrates the 100th anniversary of Xenakis (on May 29th, 2022), one of the most influential 20th century avantgarde composers. All tracks have been newly mixed by longtime zeitkratzer sound engineer Martin Wurmnest and mastered by Rashad Becker and finally reveal their full sonic range and dynamics. Booklet with English / German liner notes by Reinhold Friedl (zeitkratzer) and rare photos from the Xenakis archive. For the first time, the complete electroacoustic works of Xenakis are now available on record – the truly overdue testimony and legacy of a restless investigator and explorer of sound.
Xenakis is one of the most important composers of the 20th century avantgarde whose influence on music can be traced to the present day – not only in the world of conservatory-trained composers but also in various streams of current non-academic underground aesthetics such as experimental electronic music, noise and industrial. His compositions often are based on mathematical principles which give his music an unprecedented aesthetic and "shocking otherness" (The Guardian). Although he also composed for orchestra (his most famous works are "Metastasis", "Pithoprakta" and "Terretektorh"), electronicmusic became his way for exploring new ideas and concepts and to develop new techniques like a graphic interface for sound synthesis or later, when computers were easier accessible, his so-called "stochastic synthesis"(Gendy 3, S.709 > Disc V, Late Works).
Xenakis' first electroacoustic pieces (Disc I) like "Diamorphoses" or "Bohor" turned out groundbreaking works while the latter even caused, as Michel Chion put it,the "greatest scandal of electroacoustic music" on the occasion of its performance 1968 at the GRM in Paris. His so-called "Polytopes" (Discs II - IV) were overwhelming multimedia performances with especially designed architectures, laser and light shows etc. where sometimes up to several hundred loudspeakers were used to move the sounds in space.
