Xenakis Keqrops Piano Concerto YOU MUST HEAR

[dnephi]

Awesome piece.  Very powerful, if unsettling.

[retrouvailles]

The best of the three in my opinion. Synaphai is the weakest by far.

[furtwaengler]

Woah!  Woah! That gets my blood a boiling. Mind boggling music!

“This is true new music,” as I think Sviatoslav Richter remarked after hearing Woodward play Synaphai. But I have to agree with retrouvailles that this Keqrops is much stronger than Synaphai. It was one of my many first impressions of Xenakis (is that possible?), and for years I failed to understand him, though fascinated with him, the door was always cracked and never ever closed. I urge those who hate him to keep the door cracked open!

This year I began to *really* enjoy Xenakis, the gateway being a piece for violin and piano called Dikhtas which remains my favorite. There are really no words for Dikhtas, music as distinctive as the dent in its composer's face. It's another must hear, especially in the recording with Jane Peters and Aki Takahashi on the label Mode (I wonder if Accardo and Bruno Canino ever did play Dikhtas?)

And then - goodness - I've flirted with learning Evryali, or starting a process to learn the impossible, physically brutal Evryali, but am noncommittal. But what expression this sometimes violent, and always jaw dropping music holds!

Roger Woodward is a true artist, and I've never been able to find his Xenakis recordings, nor had I before your posting heard Keqrops. I thank you deeply for this pleasure, dnephi. After listening a first time, I immediately listened again, jaw dropped. I keep thinking of the furious, chaotic imagery of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite - it is not contrary to the line of music history.

(After a third listen, I’m done for the night. There are no words!)

[pies]

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[dnephi]

https://www.youtube.com/user/John11inch

The person who uploaded this sounds familiar...

Also: Synaphai is not the weakest 

You're just jealous that your hand span isn't as big.   And I think it is.   Weakest does not necessarily require weak.

[lostinidlewonder]

Hey this is my good old teacher playing in this Terrible piece nonetheless (for me!) arrrrggg

[elbert]

WHY...."keep the door cracked"....heavy on the crack...lol

[furtwaengler]

Hey this is my good old teacher playing in this Terrible piece nonetheless (for me!) arrrrggg

Wow, what is he like as a teacher? I like his playing (in more than just the modern).

WHY...."keep the door cracked"....heavy on the crack...lol

Because you never know what may interest you in the future. I at one time strongly disliked John Adams, but he's now one of my favorite composers. I've not yet come to enjoy Morton Feldman's music, but I'm not going to shut the door.

I can understand not liking Xenakis - I used to think he was merely putting the most obnoxious sounds he could think of together and calling it music, and it took me years to find something in it - but I can assure you there is something in it. If you find that gateway into his expression, it could open up a whole new world.

And now for something completely different...I'm suddenly *really* liking baseball. Go LAD!