Xenakis evryali

Iannis Xenakis, the master of pre-composition, wrote everyali, his second (mature) work for solo piano in 1973 and dedicated it to pianist Marie-Francoise Bucquet.

The material is laid out on a grid of 16th notes (except for the 32nd note episodes near the beginning). The Wikipedia article describes the compositional techniques in terms of "generative contour", "stochastic clouds", and "polyphonic arborescences". This may well be, but to my eyes it looks very much like a kind of fractal called a "Bifurcation Plot" (Pickover), the generating equation being "x = Lambda*x*(1+x)**(-beta)", highly magnified. This is made clear in the two graphic examples I've appended to the performance.

Many of Xenakis's works may only be approached by a human performer, impossible to completely master (I know, I've tried). This is where midi shows it's real strengths. That being said, you cannot simply enter the notes and set the clock ticking; the results would be highly unsatisfactory, like monkeys on a keyboard. Much balancing, de-quantizing and tempo fluctuations later and we have our realization. This was one of my first projects in midi, and all these years later, I have something I'm satisfied to share with you.

I found the score (which is still under copyright) at http://classicscore.hut2.ru/

Created, edited and mastered in Digital Performer 5.13 originally in DP 2.x (MOTU) using Ivory Italian Grand sound banks (Synthogy)