Entry 11: Iannis Xenakis - Concret PH

Very atmospheric. All of the sounds in this piece seem to be coming from the same source or similar source sounds, and this coupled with the small ammount of different sound ideas that are ongoing in their nature give the piece a very elongated minimal feel even though it is a short piece. Essentially, this piece is an additive process of building one big texture and the entrie piece consists of forward momentum with the exception of the last thirty seconds or so. Also, the dynamics motions were all linear in nature which adds to the forward movement of the piece. I found the klanking and dripping sounds in the textures quite intriguing in that they were very percussive and created these sparatic rhythmic cycles that stand out in the texture. Xenakis’ manipulation is very interesting in that the sounds are on this strange border inbetween this burning and dripping texture. The piece has a large sound space and the reverberation and resonance times help creating this blur between these sounds.

~ by mathiasc on October 14, 2007.