Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition (Harmonologia Series, No 6) (Harmonologia Series, No 6)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 490 pages
• Published by: Pendragon Pr; 2Rev Ed edition March 10, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1576470792
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1576470794
• Book Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 13.4 ounces

Product Description
Pendragon Press is proud to offer this new, revised, and expanded edition of Formalized Music, Iannis Xenakis's landmark book of 1971. In addition to three totally new chapters looking at recent breakthroughs in music theory, two original computer programs illustrating the actual realization of newly proposed methods of composition, and an appendix of the very latest developments of stochastic synthesis as an invitation to future exploration, Xenakis offers a very critical self-examination of his theoretical propositions and artistic output of the past thirty-five years. This edition of Formalized Music is an essential tool for understanding the man and the thought processes of one of this century's most important and revolutionary musical figures.

Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This is an incredible work, the concentrated expression of Xenakis' philosophy of music, and the category he pioneered, "stochastic music." Of course very few composers have followed Xenakis into this new universe -- Roger Reynolds is perhaps the best and most important, though Xenakis is only one of his key sources. "Musiques Formelles" was originally published in French in 1963, and the English edition dates from 1971. The potential reader should know that the better part of the book is expressed in mathematics. It therefore provides a working basis for an aspiring stochastic music composer, but not what most of the rest of us consider gripping reading. I found the discussion of the use of "screens" in composition based on Markov chains to be intelligible, but there are pages and pages of equations that I would only read if it would further a goal such as a stochastic composition. There are, however, several powerful passages in chapters I ("Free Stochastic Music") and VIII ("Towards a Philosophy of Music") that are crucial for anyone interested in 20th century music. It would be a great development if Xenakis was to belatedly replace the minimalists as a major force in "contemporary classical"/"new music" !! Comment | Permalink | (Report this)