Xenakis: Piano Works

Featuring

Stéphanos Thomopoulos
Raquel Camarinha
Matteo Cesari
Iannis Xenakis

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Compositional Technique

Iannis Xenakis's music often combines 'stochastic music' (weaving organic sound surfaces) and 'symbolic music' (organizing these surfaces within a work, like sonata form).

Compositional Technique

The title Zyia refers to a type of Greek folk music group with two instruments—one rhythmic and one melodic—accompanying a voice, with the piano playing the rhythmic role and the flute the melodic role in this piece.

Composer Biography

Iannis Xenakis's personal life was marked by struggle, including perpetual displacement, war, injury, exile, and constantly having to prove himself as an outsider in both Greece and France.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Iannis Xenakis, the composer, aimed to create music that was entirely new and different, stating he would imitate no one and would stand by his own means.

Composition History

The piece Zyia, composed in 1952, was forgotten by Xenakis for decades until flautist Cécile Darroux expressed regret that he had written no flute pieces, prompting him to rediscover and dedicate it to her.

Performer Biography

Stéphanos Thomopoulos, the pianist on this album, is the first pianist in France to complete a Doctorate in performance at the Paris Conservatoire, with his thesis focusing on Xenakis's piano works.

Recording & Production

This recording features the complete works for solo piano by Iannis Xenakis, along with Zyia for soprano, flute, and piano, and three previously unpublished early pieces.