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Article: Xenakis: ... tireless renewal at every instant, at every death ...(Iannia Xenakis)(Critical Essay)
- Article from:
- Perspectives of New Music
- Article date:
- January 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Perspectives of New Music. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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XENAKIS WAS A MAN of keen intellect, with a sardonic, bird-of-prey character. He was by turns imperious or vulnerable, impish or implacably unforgiving, which is to say that--as is true of any complex being--he both represented himself and was represented by others in disconcertingly varied ways. From the early sixties until his death, I had the privilege of knowing him; we spent informal, personal time together, and also shared encounters in public, professional settings. And it was this contact which led me to undertake the present project.
The components of Xenakis's education were as uncommon as they were formatively decisive: a grounding in Greek philosophy ...