Iannis Xenakis 1922
Nomos Alpha for cello solo 1965 (15')
Mesosticon A.D.


 

                   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
            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,negation
                          'symbOlic music' in a sense of
          mathematical logic baSed on set-theory

      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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