The passing of Iannis Xenakis

Synopsis

Many 20th century composers were scarred by the violence and turmoil of their times — but none quite so literally as Greek composer, engineer, and architect Iannis Xenakis, who died at 78 on today’s date in 2001.

In the early 1940s, Xenakis was a member of the Communist resistance in Greece, fighting first the German occupation, then, as the war ended, the British. In 1945, when Xenakis was 23, his face was horribly disfigured by a shell fragment fired by a British tank, resulting in the loss of one of his eyes. Two years later he was forced to flee to Paris. As he laconically put it: “In Greece, the Resistance lost, so I left. In France, the Resistance won.”

Xenakis wanted to write music, but earned his living as an architect and engineer in Paris at Le Courbusier’s studio. Xenakis designed and was involved in major architectural projects for Le Courbusier, including the famous Philips pavilion at the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels.

As a composer, Xenakis wrote highly original music that was meticulously ordered according to mathematical and scientific principles, but sounded intensely emotional, almost primeval. His music might even be described as “Pre-Socratic,” as Xenakis seemed to echo the theories of the early Greek thinker Pythagoras, who saw a relationship between music, mathematics, and religion.

Music Played in Today's Program

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001): Opening of A Colone; New London Chamber Choir; Critical Band; James Wood, conductor; Hyperion 66980

Huuem-Duhey; Edna Michell, violin; Michael Kanka, cello; Angel 57179

On This Day

Births

• 1740 - Swedish song composer Carl Michael Bellman, in Stockholm

• 1892 - Finnish song composer Yrjo Kilpinen, in Helsingfors

• 1893 - American composer Bernard Rogers, in New York

Deaths

• 1781 - Bohemian-born composer Josef Mysliveczek, age 43, in Rome

• 1997 - American composer Ross Lee Finney, age 90, in Carmel, California

• 2001 - Romanian born, Greek-French composer and architectural engineer Iannis Xenakis, 78, in Paris

Premieres

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 126 (Erhalt uns, Herr, bei Deinem Wort) performed on Sexagesimae Sunday after Epiphany as part of Bach’s second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25)

• 1884 - Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Feb. 16)

• 1908 - First public performance of Stravinsky: Symphony in Eb in St. Petersburg, conducted by Felix Blumenfeld (Julian date: Jan. 22); A private performance of two movements of this symphony had occurred on April 14/27, 1907, also in St. Petersburg

• 1945 - Hovhaness: Lousadzek (Coming of Light) for piano and strings, in Boston, with the composer conducting from the piano

Others

• 1837 - Franz Liszt performs a chamber recital in Paris, featuring the then-unfamiliar Piano Trios of Beethoven. At the last minute, the performers decided to reverse the printed order of the program, performing on the first half of the concert a trio by Pixis, and a Beethoven trio on the second half. The audience (and critics) warmly applaud the Pixis, mistakenly thinking it was the Beethoven work, and react coolly to the Beethoven, assuming it was by Pixis. Among the critics, only Berlioz notices the program switch.

• 1854 - First documented American performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, at Boston’s Odeon by the Germania Musical Society conducted by Carl Bergmann, with Robert Heller the soloist

• 1887 - American premiere of Bruckner: Symphony No. 7, by the Boston Symphony, Wilhelm Gericke conducting