Yannis Xenakis

Yannis Xenakis , 1922-2001, Greek-French composer, b. Brăila, Romania. Xenakis studied civil engineering in Athens (1940-47) and worked as an architect in Paris (1947-59) with Le Corbusier . He was also a composition pupil of Arthur Honegger , Darius Milhaud , and Olivier Messiaen . Xenakis used both Greek folk elements and twelve-tone technique in his music. He also developed a "probabilistic" technique of composition, based on the mathematical probability of the recurrence of notes and rhythms. His works include Métastasis (1953-54) for orchestra, Pithoprakta (1957) for strings, and Achorripsis (1958) for 21 instruments. In 1958, Xenakis collaborated with Edgar Varèse on the Poème Electronique. His later compositions often include electronic sound, as in Bohor (1962) and Polytope de Cluny (1972), or virtuoso percussion, as in Psappha (1975), Rebonds (1988), and his last piece, O—Mega (1997). He was a founder of the Centre d'Etudes Mathématiques et Automatiques in Paris and of the Center for Mathematical and Automated Music at Indiana Univ. Xenakis wrote several treatises explaining his various theories.

Xenakis, Yannis (1922–2001) Greek composer. Xenakis studied music under Arthur Honegger and Olivier Messiaen and architecture under Le Corbusier. His first composition, Metastasis (1954), was based on an architectural design. Some of Xenakis' work is twelve-tone music and he has been a pioneer of the use of computers and mathematical models in the compositional process. Other works include Stratégie (1962).