Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001)

Oresteïa (1966-87)
Radio-France production,
Strasbourg Music Festival October 1987
Salabert/Harmonia Mundi France SCD 8906 (1990)

Voile (1995) (Veil)
Ensemble Resonanz, Johannes Kalitzke, cond.
Mode 152 (2005)

In 1966, Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was asked to write music to accompany a condensed theatrical production of Aeschylus’s ORESTEIA: the trilogy Agamemnon, The Choëphori, and The Eumenides. In 1987, Xenakis completed his Oresteia by adding another scene, Kassandra.

Xenakis, composer, architect, engineer, was born in 1922 and died in 2001. His music is quite unique, and his Oresteia extremely dramatic. Rather than aim for strict accuracy in recreating the world of ancient Greek music, Xenakis creates a totally new sound world for this tragic celebration of the birth of human justice as opposed to divine justice.

Xenakis uses the classical Greek phonetics of Aeschylus’s text to establish melodic and rhythmic basis for the music. The dramatic effect is intense.

Xenakis Website