Critical edition of Iannis Xenakis.

Iannis Xenakis is widely acknowledged as one the most important composers of the twentieth century. Besides an extensive work, he left a large quantity of writings on a variety of subjects, including music, architecture, science, philosophy, esthetics, etc. Among these writings, some are out-of-print, others remained unpublished. One of the objectives of this project is to make them available. But to publish Xenakis' texts or interviews without any comment would not do justice to this great "artist-conceptor". The scientific contents of his theoretical writings have often driven away musicians and musicologists with no backgroud in science or mathematics.  Xenakis has been regarded as a "mathematician-composer". It has also been suggested that his work relied essentially on calculus. In fact, only a small part of his writings concerns his attempt to formalize music. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of his works shows that there is sometimes a difference between what the composer says or writes and what he really does. To publish Xenakis' writings without any comments would perpetuate the same image of Xenakis. His writings need to be commented on in relation to his work and set in the context in which they were written.  A critical edition of his writings is essential to fully understand the extent of his work and thought.

This project takes account of Xenakis' previously published books. It
consists in the publication of three volumes dealing with texts less known to the general reader:

1) Interviews (including a previously unpublished biographical interview with Henri-Louis de la Grange)

2) Xenakis on Xenakis (compilation of Xenakis' notes on his works)

3) Early Xenakis (from the early years up to Formalized Music,
including texts on folklorism, serialism, etc.)

As part of a broader plan to publish the critical edition of Iannis Xenakis' writings, this project follows the publication both in english and french of Xenakis' book "The Music and Architecture",  compiled with commentary by Sharon Kanach.

This critical edition aims to become a cornerstone of future research on Iannis Xenakis. It is carried out with the consent of Xenakis' copyrights-holders, Françoise Xenakis and Mâkhi Xenakis-Klatzmann.