Iannis Xenakis

(photo) blossom rain, in the Ueno park, Tokyo

I went to Ueno Thursday to listen to the music of Inannis Xenakis(1922-2001) who was one of important contemporary musicians. He was born in Romania as a Greek, maybe a Jewish Greek. His life was really hard. He was involved in the Greek civil war after coming back to Greece. He lost his left eye and was seriously injured in the jaw in the war. He managed to escape the country to France in 1947. Fortunately he could see some good friends and an excellent composer and teacher, Olivie Messiaen there.  Messiaen advised him to compose his music by his major mathematics and architecture.

His works are characterized by mathematical theories including the probability theory but have humor factors. I was very surprised all the string players of the orchestra began not to play the instruments but beat them in the first work PITHOPRAKTA. He is called the architect of the sound. Indeed I have an impression he is building something by using sounds but his music has no pause. That means the music continues without any interval and suddenly ends. In other words, his music has no space that nature intervenes or no silence. His music is really interesting and I  like it but I think it is typically western music that tends to divide between the world of nature and that of human being..

I didn't really like to listen contemporary music but I noticed the live is very interesting.