Iannis Xenakis - Metastasis (Spectral View)

Metastasis or Metastaseis ("dialectic transformations"), is an orchestral work by Iannis Xenakis, a Greek composer-architect and a major figure in the postwar development of musical modernism worldwide. He is particularly remembered for the pioneering use of stochastic mathematical techniques in his compositions, including probability (Maxwell-Boltzmann kinetic theory of gases, aleatory distribution of points on a plane, minimal constraints, Gaussian distribution, Markov chains), game theory, group theory, Boolean algebra and Brownian motion.

Metastasis was inspired by Einstein's view of time (a function of matter & energy) and structured on mathematical ideas by Xenakis's colleague Le Corbusier. The 1st and 3rd movements don't have a melodic theme to hold them together, but rather depend on the strength of this conceptualization of time. The 2nd movement does have some sort of melodic element. A fragment of a 12-tone row is used, with durations based on the Fibonacci sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34...)

The preliminary sketch for Metastasis was in graphic notation looking more like a blueprint than a musical score, showing graphs of mass motion and glissandi like structural beams of the piece, with sound frequencies on one axis and time on the other. In this video I tried to display this by presenting the frequency spectrum (0-20.000Hz) of the piece and how Xenakis actually "drew" music.

SWF Symphony Orchestra
Hans Rosbaud, conductor
October 1955

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  Music

[Iván Navarro]

0:40 - 0:47 it's like THX tune no?

[Kozichi]

So fucking scary.

[gibsonrulezz]

Really interesting, thank you very much. .

[ScarletMacaw2013]

I recommend you 'Fuzzy nebulae' by Horacio Lavandera, composed with fuzzy logic theory and FM.

[sampi tantra yoga]

Nice work!

[Gonzalo Etse]

Both statements (the one you do and the one from K1) can work together. They are not exclusive. That´s ´my opinion.

[Bregowald]

your opinion that it is just an opinion is just an opinion and therefore subjective and therefore not objectively true, and therefore what you call an opinion is not just an opinion but a possible factual statement.

[k1ngross]

exactly.

[Bregowald]

that's just your opinion

[k1ngross]

 Anything anyone says is a "valid opinion" because "opinion" by it's very definition doesn't have to be fact, it's an opinion, a personal point of view.