Cheap Xenakis: Thalleïn; Aïs (Music) (Iannis Xenakis, Thomas Nee, Rand Steiger, Steve Schick, Philip Larson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Xenakis: Thalleïn; Aïs

A mixed bag
Gendy3 is 18+ minutes of synthesized sound. It was "written" by a program called GENDYN, which Xenakis wrote (in BASIC!) as part of his research into algorithmic composition. The result has eleven sections, each 1-2 minutes long, each pretty much a single texture which doesn't evolve in any particular way. The sequence of the eleven sections seems arbitrary. If you like the sound clip on this page, you'll probably like listening to the piece, if not, it may make you run from the room.

I find Tauriphanie a more interesting listen. It also uses computer-generated sounds, but this time inspired by the sounds of bulls.

This disc is currently the only way to hear these two pieces.

Aïs and Thalleïn are fine works, but there's a newer and much stronger performance of Aïs on Timpani.

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More essential Xenakis recordings
It's astounding how many CDs are available now that feature Xenakis' music. While it's great, it makes it a little difficult to know which CDs to pick up and which ones to leave alone. Xenakis, of course, is an incredible composer, but like anyone he *does* have a few misses here and there.

If it weren't for the first piece on this CD, "Aïs", I'd say this CD is probably one to leave alone. It has 2 recent electronic pieces, and another chamber piece (which sounds strikingly like "Aïs" but without the baritone or percussion solo). I've always found Xenakis' acoustic music much more interesting than his purely electronic music because, like most electronic music, it tends to come off flat and uninteresting.

Having said that, "Aïs" is one hell of a piece... possibly the best Xenakis I've heard. It's a piece for baritone solo, percussion solo and orchestra and is one of the most intense 10 mins of music I've heard. "Aïs" alone is worth the price of this CD. Not only is the piece excellent, but the performance is impeccable. Steve Schick (percussion) and Philip Larson (baritone) and two of the most accomplished interpreters of contemporary music around, so to hear them performing together on such an incredible piece is quite a treat.