My post reflecting on Iannis Xenakis has been posted on the mini-site devoted to the composer by the International Contemporary Ensemble. The site is there to promote ICE’s Boston and Chicago all-Xenakis concerts (in April and June) with ace percussionist Steve Schick. (Bonus: Back in the day (2006), Molly Sheridan reviewed Schick’s performance on a John Luther Adams CD in Time Out Chicago. Eagle-eyed readers will note this was before TOC felt the need to pepper its reviews with ***STARS***.)
“Three memories stick out whenever I hear Xenakis – which is more than
I can say for many composers. They each have to do with the music’s
effect on listeners, and not the music itself, but that, too, is a
comment on the music, right? Without the music, you don’t get the
effect of it, and, really, it’s that effect and that memory that
composers are hoping to get across (I think they’d admit in their
heart of hearts) to an audience, above and beyond the immediate impact
in concert.”
Read the rest here.