Iannis
Xenakis 1929
Nomos Alpha
for cello solo 1965 (15')
Nomos Alpha Is somehow
emblemAtic,
some say problematic
'nomos' meaNs
'rule', 'law'
'special melody' aNd
'mode'
'alpha', 'begInning' a dedication to
the memory of the 'firSt' -ancient
greek musictheorist AristoXenes
of Tarento
unprEdictable,
abstract, ritual music
coNceptualy
extremly complex, as based
on the 24 rotAtion-possibilities of
the hexaeder, 'maKing music out of a cube'!
ultimately parametrIzed,
full of
rude, raw and conjuring geStures
durations dyNamics and densities
chaos and Order
the 'game',is synchronisM,conjunction,disjunction or negation
'symbOlic
music' in a sense of
mathematical logic baSed on
set-theory
but, nevertheless pervaded by An incontestable frenetic
expressiveness
violent, expLosive
and abrupt
poetry, science and Philosophy
matched into an energetic patcHwork of carefully sculpted 'affects'
the end, omegA', a
'deus ex machina'
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