Iannis Xenakis

**Giannis Klearchou Xenakis** (also known as **Yannis** or **Iannis Xenakis**; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Greek, French, and Romanian composer and architect

## Early Life

Giannis Klearchou Xenakis was born in Brăila, Romania. He was born to Klearchos Xenakis, a businessman from Euboea, and Fotini Pavlou from Lemnos, a pianist. He had two brothers named Jason and Kosmas.

His parents were both interested in music, and wanted Xenakis to learn more about it. He would learn music at a boarding school and the National Technical University in Athens.

In college, Xenakis fought for the National Liberation Front. He later graduated from college.

Xenakis left Greece for Paris as a refugee. He was sentenced in absentia to death in Greece. He came back many years later, once the sentence was ended.

## Works

Xenakis wrote many musical compositions. This includes thirty two pieces for voice, two ballets, and seventeen solo instrumental pieces.

## Further reading

- Amagali, Rosemary Tristano. (1975). "Texture as an Organizational Factor in Selected Works of Iannis Xenakis". M.M. Thesis, Indiana University.
- Bardot, Jean-Marc. (1999). "Cendrées de Xenakis ou l'émergence de la vocalité dans la pensée xenakienne." Undergraduate thesis (equivalent). Saint-Etienne: Université Jean Monnet.
- Biasi, Salvatore di. (1994). _Musica e matematica negli anni 50–60: Iannis Xenakis_. Bologna. Università degli Studi di Bologna.
- Boivin, Jean. 1995. _La Classe de Messiaen_. Paris: Christian Bourgois.
- Clark, Philip. (2009). "Xenakis", in _The Wire Primers: A Guide To Modern Music_, 191–198. London and New York: Verso. .
- Kitsikis, Dimitri. (2014). Περί Ηρώων: Οι ήρωες και η σημασία τους για τον σύγχρονο ελληνισμό (On Heroes.: Heroes and Their Importance for Contemporary Hellenism). Athens: Herodotos.  (Chapter "Iannis Xenakis: Souvenirs from Paris, by D. Kitsikis, Xenakis's Intimate Friend").
- Paland, Ralph, and Christoph von Blumröder (eds.). (2009). _Iannis Xenakis: Das elektroakustische Werk. Internationales Symposion. Tagungsbericht 2006_. Signale aus Köln. Beiträge zur Musik der Zeit 14. Vienna. Der Apfel. .
- Woodward, Roger (2014). "Iannis Xenakis". _Beyond Black and White_. HarperCollins. pp. 353-399. ISBN <bdi>9780733323034</bdi>

## Other websites

- xenakis.musicportal.gr from the Institute for Research on Music and Acoustics, Athens (Greece) – in Greek and English with many score and audio examples
- Iannis-Xenakis.org by the Friends of Xenakis
- Medieval.org: Modern Music: Xenakis
- Luque, Sergio. 2009. "The Stochastic Synthesis of Iannis Xenakis." Leonardo Music Journal (19): 77–84
- Works catalogue 70-page PDF from Xenakis's publisher Éditions Durand-Salabert-Eschig
- Iannis Xenakis @ Boosey & Hawkes Publisher
- Iannis Xenakis: the aesthetics of his early works by Markos Zografos
- Iannis Xenakis Bibliography and Discography compiled by James Harley for Leonardo/ISAST
- Two articles by Grant Chu Covell (2006) documenting then-recent Xenakis recordings and books about Xenakis: Part 1 and Part 2
- Interview with Iannis Xenakis, 25 March 1997

## Infobox (composer)

- **image**: XenakisMDaniel crop.jpg
- **caption**: Xenakis in his Paris studio, c. 1970
- **birth place**: Brăila, Kingdom of Romania, Romania
- **death place**: Paris, France
- **years active**: 1947–1997
- **children**: 1
- **birth name**: Giannis Klearchou Xenakis
- **native name lang**: Ιάννης Ξενάκης
- **occupations**: Composer, architect