The Harpsichord Works of Iannis Xenakis

Pace, Ian (2001) The Harpsichord Works of Iannis Xenakis. Contemporary Music Review, 20 (1). pp. 125-140. ISSN 0749-4467

Abstract / Summary

This article contains an analysis of Xenakis’s five works for harpsichord, and is the only detailed study of all of these pieces to appear to date. The primary focus is upon Xenakis’s use of pitch and pitch classes in each work, with the application of filtering and other techniques upon these, and how they provide for structural determinants, in very different ways in each piece, as well as his use of ‘arborescence’ and/or ‘random walk’ techniques. It examines some connections between these works and others of Xenakis, including some of the piano works, as well as simply considering the effects of Xenakis’s compositional techniques upon perception. In the case of A l’Ile de Gorée, the article speculates also on possible programmatic implications. Finally, it considers the particular type of instrument envisaged by Xenakis, as well as his individual and idiosyncratic use of registration.

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