Iannis Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis Ιωάννης Ιάννης Ξενάκης May 29 1922 – February 4 2001 Was A Greek Composer Music Theorist And Architect. He Is Commonly Recognized As One Of The Most Important Post-War Avant-Garde Composers. Xenakis Pioneered The Use Of Mathematical Models Such As Applications Of Set Theory Varied Use Of Stochastic Processes Game Theory Etc. In Music And Was Also An Important Influence On The Development Of Electronic Music. Xenakis Was Born In Braila Romania. In 1932 His Family Returned To Greece And He Was Educated On Spetsai And At The Athens Polytechnic Where He Studied Engineering. In 1947 He Arrived In Paris Where He Became A Member Of Le Corbusier's Architectural Team Producing His First Musical Work Metastasis Only In 1954 Based On The Design For The Surfaces Of The Philips Pavilion To Be Built For The Brussels Exposition Of 1958. This With Its Divided Strings And Mass Effects Had An Enormous Influence But In Ensuing Works He Moved On To Find Mathematical And Computer Means Of Handling Large Numbers Of Events Drawing On For Example Gaussian Distribution ST/10 Atrées Markovian Chains Analogiques And Game Theory Duel Stratégie . Other Interests Were In Electronic Music Bohor 1962 Ancient Greek Drama Used In Several Settings And Instrumental Virtuosity Herma For Piano 1964 Nomos Alpha For Cello 1966 . His Later Output Chiefly Of Orchestral And Instrumental Pieces Is Large Many Works From The Mid-1970s Onwards Striking Back From Modernist Complexity To Ostinatos And Modes Suggestive Of Folk Music. read less