Music 507: Seminar in Music Composition and Theory

The Music of Iannis Xenakis

(Spring 2019)

Time: F 11-1:50
Room: 3060 Music Building (it might change)
Credit: 2 or 4 hours
Prerequisite: Graduate standing in music composition theory, or consent of instructor.
Instructor: Dr. Sever Tipei
Office: 4036 MB
email: s-tipei@illinois.edu

Course website
http://cmp.music.illinois.edu/courses/tipei/M408B/index.html

Iannis Xenakis was one of the foremost 20th century composers who introduced a completely new way of composing music. The seminar will concentrate on his music with brief forays into his techniques, aesthetics, and philosophy.

Among the topics to be discussed:

• Brief Historical perspective (January 18)
  Political upheavals in post-War Greece.
  Xenakis' life: composer, architect, thinker; his personality
  European Cultural environment 1950-1970
  
• Technique (January 25-February 8)
  Stochastic distributions
  Markov chains
  Sets, Groups, and Sieves
  Game Theory
  Random Walks and Arboresences
  Cellular automata and other techniques
  
• The music (February 15 - April 12)
  Vocal Works
  Piano Works
  Electro-acoustic Works
  Percussion Works
  Orchestral Works
  Polytopes
  String Quartets
  Other Chamber Works
  
• Main features of Xenakis' music; Esthetics and Philosophy (April 19 - 26)
  Textures
  Lines
  Timbres
  Form
  Montage
  Self-Borrowing
  

Due to the amount of material to be covered, students will contribute through class presentations on one or more of the above topics. The final grade will be based on these contributions and on a substantial final paper (15-20) pages. The exact topics will be chosen (not exclusively) from the following categories and according to each person's background and abilities:

• musical analysis of a piece
• comparative and critical appraisal of available recordings
• performance challenges - lecture demonstration
• discussion of a particular technique in comparison with other contemporry composers' techniques.

The grades:

        98-100  A+      93-97   A       90-92   A-
        88-90   B+      83-87   B       80-82   B-
        78-80   C+      73-77   C       70-72   C-
        68-70   D+      63-67   D       60-82   D-
                         0-60   F

Basic sources:

	

	
Francois Delalande         - Il faut etre constamment un emmigre. Entretiens avec Xenakis (in French)
	
Benoit Gibson              - The Instrumental Music of Iannis Xenakis
	
James Harley               - Xenakis
	
Sharon Kanach ed.          - Performing Xenakis
	
Nouritza Matossian         - Xenakis
	
Makis Solomos              - Iannis Xenakis (in French)
	
Balint Andras Vargas       - Conversations with Iannis Xenakis
	
Iannis Xenakis             - Arts/Sciences: Alloys
	
Iannis Xenakis             - Formalized Music
	
Iannis Xenakis             - Music and Architecture
	
Francois-Bernard Mache ed. - Portrait(s) de Iannis Xenakis (in French)
	

Attendance
A student may be absent without excuse three times throughout the semester. For each absence more than three, your final grade will be reduced 0.5%. Homework will not be accepted if turned in late due to an unexcused absence. Excused absences include professional obligations, religious observances, and mandatory athletic or organizational events Other excused absences include documented illnesses and personal or family emergencies as describedby the Office of the Dean of Students: http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1_part5_1-501.html

Please read carefully:
According to Article 1, Part IV, section 402 of the University of Illinois Student Code, plagiarism is defined as representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic endeavor. This includes copying another student's paper or working with another person when both submit similar papers without authorization to satisfy an individual assignment. This constitutes an infraction of academic integrity that may result in a variety of penalties as well as a permanent record of the infraction being placed in your student file (see http://admin.illinois.edu/policy/code/article1_part4_1-403.html [ms6.express.cites.illinois.edu]).

Please follow this link and read carefully: emergency procedures

Disabilities
If you have a disability that requires special testing accommodations or other classroom modifications,you should notify meand the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) no later than the 2nd week of the term. You may be asked to provide documentation of your disability to determine the appropriateness of accommodations. To notify DRES, call 217.333.4603 (Voice or TTY) or send them an email at disability@uiuc.edu. Their Office is located at 1207 S. Oak St. in Champaign.

• Class notes
• Reserve List
• Presentations
• Works discussed in class (Spring 2019)

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