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| Metastaseis | |
|---|---|
| Name | Metastaseis |
| Composer | Iannis Xenakis |
| Year | 1953–1954 |
| Genre | Orchestral music |
| Duration | ca. 8–9 minutes |
| Premiere date | 1955 |
| Premiere location | Athens, Greece |
| Premiere performer | Philharmonic Orchestra of Athens |
| Publisher | Éditions Salabert |
Metastaseis is an orchestral composition by the Greek-French composer Iannis Xenakis written in 1953–1954 that marks a pivotal moment in postwar avant-garde music. The work synthesizes mathematical models, architectural experience, and orchestral innovation into a single-movement score that challenged mid-20th-century performance practice and aesthetics. Its conception and first presentations intersected with major cultural institutions and figures across Athens, Paris, New York City, London, and Cologne, catalyzing debates in contemporary composition, acoustics, and visual arts.
Xenakis composed the piece after working with Le Corbusier at the office of Atelier Le Corbusier and while engaged with Groupe Espace, linking architectural projects like Philips Pavilion to musical experimentation. Influences include prior modernists such as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Olivier Messiaen, and contemporaries like Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Luciano Berio. The work arose amid dialogues with institutions including Domaine musical, IRCAM, Radio France, and festivals such as the Donaueschingen Festival and Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music. The political and cultural milieu involved interactions with Greek artistic circles in Athens and Parisian avant-garde networks centered on venues like Théâtre de la Ville.
Metastaseis employs processes derived from mathematics and physics, notably sets of transformations related to stochastic processes, set theory, and models akin to Brownian motion and graph theory. Xenakis used concepts informed by his study of engineering and exposure to Le Corbusier’s urbanism and with references to architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The score features rapid glissandi, micro- and macro-structural massing, and innovative uses of orchestral timbre drawing on instrumental groups linked to traditions of the Vienna Philharmonic and practices associated with conductors like Herbert von Karajan and Pierre Monteux. Formal organization eschews traditional themes and motifs in favor of emergent textures similar to works by Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and Earle Brown.
The premiere occurred in Athens by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Athens in the mid-1950s, shortly before significant European performances in Paris and Cologne. Subsequent key performances involved ensembles such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductors associated with early advocacy include Hans Rosbaud, Willem van Otterloo, Georges Prêtre, and Cameron McKinney. Prestigious festivals presenting the work included Donaueschingen Festival, Baden-Baden Festival, and series at institutions like Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Salle Pleyel.
Critical response ranged from acclaim in avant-garde circles tied to Darmstadt School aesthetics to skeptical assessments from more conservative reviewers aligned with institutions such as the Vienna State Opera and press outlets in London and New York City. The piece influenced composers and theorists including Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Nyman, Jean-Claude Risset, Tristan Murail, Georges Aperghis, and Helmut Lachenmann. It also impacted architects and visual artists linked to Brutalism, Constructivism, Minimalism, and figures like Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, Anish Kapoor, and Donald Judd. Debates invoked journals and organizations such as The Musical Times, Die Reihe, Tempo (journal), and Perspectives of New Music.
Commercial recordings appeared on labels including Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Sony Classical, Columbia Records, and Naxos Records. Distinguished interpreters include recordings by conductors and ensembles like Pierre Boulez with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic, Willem Mengelberg-era archive releases, and newer versions by Peter Eötvös, Sylvain Cambreling, Riccardo Chailly, and the London Sinfonietta. Live archival documents from broadcasts by Radio France, WDR, and BBC Radio 3 preserve variant readings that reveal evolving performance practice spanning from the 1950s to contemporary festivals at Berlin Philharmonie and Salle Gaveau.
Scholars have analyzed the work through lenses including computational modeling, spectral techniques, and archival musicology, producing studies in journals associated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and periodicals such as Journal of the American Musicological Society and Computer Music Journal. Key monographs and dissertations appear from authors affiliated with King's College London, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Paris, and Royal College of Music. Research ties the composition to theoretical frameworks by Ivo Bagley, Dmitri Tymoczko, François-Bernard Mâche, and mathematicians and engineers connected to École Polytechnique and CNRS.
Category:Orchestral works Category:1954 compositions Category:Iannis Xenakis