Description

Syrmos

Syrmos by Iannis Xenakis [Traces, Tracks] from 1959 is not about homogeneity, but about the polychromy of the string sound. Systematic as he was, he drew up a catalog of basic forms, which he distributed throughout the composition according to the principles of probability calculation [more precisely: so-called Markov chains]: horizontal lines, ascending and descending glissandi and their intersections, swarms of pizzicato, sounds struck and bowed with a bow, glissandi in the form of curved surfaces and geometrically converging or diverging configurations. By mathematically linking these individual components, he arrived at unimagined sound combinations that anticipated many of the discoveries of today’s composers.

Program musica viva (March 30, 2006)