Iannis Xenakis

Romanian-born Greek composer. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Athens while studying music. During World War II, he joined an underground organization and participated in the anti-German resistance movement. After the war, he continued to resist the dictatorial government and was sentenced to death for it, but he defected to Paris in 1947 and became a naturalized French citizen in 1965. From 1948, he worked as an architectural designer under Le Corbusier, while studying music under Honegger, Milhaud, and Messiaen. Since his Metastasis, which premiered in 1955, and Pisopracta, which premiered in 1957, he has consistently composed using computers, and is widely known as a composer who introduced the laws of probability distribution and probability theory into music. He applied structures to music that may appear random from a microscopic perspective but are controlled from a macroscopic perspective. His music is characterized by a strict hierarchical structure of chaos and order. On the surface, his technique is similar to the tone group technique used by Ligeti and others, but in Xenakis's case, the light and dark density of the sound and the calculation of the range of the sound make it seem as if one is listening to a huge wall of sound. In the 1980s, he was involved in the development of music education and composition programs using digital computers. His representative works include "Eonta" (1964), "Polytope" (1967), "Nomos Gamma" (1969), and "Persepolis" (1971). He was awarded the Kyoto Prize in 1997. His books include "Formalized Music" (Musiques formelles ) (1963, translated into English as " Formalized Music " in 1971) and " Musique. Architecture " (1971, translated into Japanese as "Music and Architecture").

[Shuhei Hosokawa]

"Music and Architecture" translated by Takahashi Yuji (1975, Zen-On Music Publishers)" ▽ "Xenakis' Polytopes" by Olivier Lefort d'Aronne, translated by Takahashi Yuji (1978, Asahi Publishing)" ▽ "To Escape from All Conventions - A Collection of Interviews with Takemitsu Toru" by Takemitsu Toru (1987, Ongaku No Tomosha)" ▽ "Wings of Song, Staff of Words - A Collection of Interviews with Takemitsu Toru" by Takemitsu Toru (1993, TBS Britannica)" ▽ "Iannis Xenakis: Formalized Music; Thought and Mathematics in Composition (2001, Pendragon Press)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ルーマニア生まれのギリシア人作曲家。音楽の勉強と並行してアテネ工科大学で建築学を学んだ。第二次世界大戦中は地下組織に身を投じて対独抵抗運動に参加。大戦後も反独裁政府抵抗運動を行い、そのため死刑を宣告されたが、1947年パリに亡命し、65年にはフランスに帰化。1948年からル・コルビュジエのもとで建築設計を担当するかたわら、オネゲル、ミヨー、メシアンに音楽を学ぶ。55年初演の『メタスタシス』、57年初演の『ピソプラクタ』以降、一貫してコンピュータを利用した作曲活動を続け、確率分布の法則、蓋然(がいぜん)性理論を音楽に導入した作曲家として広く知られている。ミクロ的には偶然的にみえてもマクロ的にみれば統御されているような構造を音楽に適用した。カオス（混沌(こんとん)）と秩序の厳密な階層構造を特徴とする。表面的にはリゲティらの音群技法とも似ているが、クセナキスの場合、音の密度の濃淡、音域の計算などから、巨大な音の壁を聴くようなところがある。80年代にはデジタル・コンピュータを用いた音楽教育、作曲プログラムの開発などにも従事した。代表曲に『エオンタ』（1964）、『ポリトープ』（1967）、『ノモス・ガンマ』（1969）、『ペルセポリス』（1971）などがある。97年（平成9）京都賞受賞。著書に『形成化された音楽』Musiques formelles（1963。英訳『Formalized Music』1971）、『Musique. Architecture』（1971。邦訳『音楽と建築』）がある。

［細川周平］

『高橋悠治訳『音楽と建築』（1975・全音楽譜出版社）』▽『オリヴィエ・ルフォー・ダロンヌ著、高橋悠治訳『クセナキスのポリトープ』（1978・朝日出版社）』▽『武満徹著『すべての因習から逃れるために――武満徹対談集』（1987・音楽之友社）』▽『武満徹著『歌の翼、言葉の杖――武満徹対談集』（1993・ティビーエス・ブリタニカ）』▽『Iannis Xenakis：Formalized Music；Thought and Mathematics in Composition（2001, Pendragon Press）』

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