Xenakis: String Quartets nr. 1-4

Xenakis wrote four string quartets, spanning a period of 40 years. His first, ST/4, was 'written' (rather: programmed) between 1955 and 1962. It's a strictly algorithmic composition (11 minutes) where "each detail of each sound of intervention type of timbre (arco, pizzicato, glissando, ...), choice of instrument, pitch, inclination of glissando, duration, dynamics, etc." is determined by a computer. It sounds less intimidating than one might expect. The result is a typically nervous, pointillistic avant garde idiom.

The Second Quartet, Tetras, dates from 1983. This is classic Xenakis stuff: abrasive and volcanic, and yet suffused with a mellow sense of mastery and wisdom. Taking just under 15 minutes, it's a more substantial work compared to ST/4 too. It is laid out in nine sections, played without interruption but nevertheless fairly easy to demarcate. There is profusion of expressive devices and sound effects and the piece must be extremely demanding on the players. Sometimes it sounds really funny too. But on the whole one cannot remain indifferent to this very powerful music. It really demands awed attention. If there's anything in this genre that I have heard up to now that could be considered to go beyond what Bartok did in his Fourth Quartet in 1928, then it's this.

Tetora also means 'four' but then in the ancient Doric language. This Third Quartet (1990, roughly 14 minutes) already belongs to Xenakis' late period in which his musical language densifies and become monumental, and texturally almost impenetrable. The work starts with a brutish, primitive modal melody which indeed recalls a kind of proto-folk inspiration from the depths of time. The musical material seem to be blocks, hewn out of some harsh mineral material. There is not a single pizzicato to lighten up the texture. The language is less obviously avant garde, but the overall effect is more alienating than either Tetras or ST/4. Not an easy listen.

The final quartet, Ergma, is not on my collection of chamber music (a double CD on Montaigne Audivis, with the Arditti Quartet taking the quartets splendidly in their stride). However, it can be heard via Youtube in a performance by the American JACK Quartet. It's a slightly shorter work (9 minutes) composed in 1994. It seems to continue the line set out with Tetora: a thick and opaque soundscape, just a tad more strident and dissonant than his predecessor. As one of the Youtube listener remarks: "I know Xenakis is not for everyone, but these harmonies are pretty kickass." The work was commissioned by the Mondriaan Quartet and allegedly is an homage to the Dutch painter. It even doesn't sound implausible.

I quite enjoyed getting to know these works better. Tetras is the big prize here and I will certainly return to this work. The late pieces are ok, but not for everyday listening ...