He is particularly remembered for his pioneering electronic and computer music, and for the use of stochastic mathematical techniques in his compositions, including probability. He explored the use of the Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic theory of gases in Pithoprakta, aleatory distribution of points on a plane in Diamorphoses, minimal constraints in Achorripsis, Gaussian distribution in ST/10 and Atrèes, Markov chains in Analogiques), game theory (in Duel and Stratégie), group theory (Nomos Alpha), and Boolean algebra (in Herma and Eonta), and Brownian motion (in N'Shima). In keeping with his use of probabilistic theories, many of Xenakis's pieces are, in his own words, "a form of composition which is not the object in itself, but an idea in itself, that is to say, the beginnings of a family of compositions."
Xenakis' visceral score, Kraanerg (1968), was originally composed for dance. The orchestra of woodwinds, brass and strings is interwoven with a dramatic 4-channel tape which is derived from a recording of the orchestra, transformed and distorted. Its sonic textures kaleidoscopically expand the range of expression while at the same time remaining connected to the instrumental material. In this video rendition of Kraanerg, instead of a dance choreography, it is a combination of the ensemble performance of the music and abstract visuals created for the tape segments. Visually, it is a choreography of reprocessed images of the performance through special effects and images of the symbols of life and its dualities: Water and fire, fragments and wholeness, calm and chaos, beauty and decay, internal and external, the transitory and the infinite....
Marcadores: Iannis Xenakis