154 Pages
by
Routledge
Kraanerg by Iannis Xenakis is one of the most important works of the post-1950 era. James Harley, a leading Xenakis scholar, presents the genesis of Kraanerg, from the granting of the commission to the choreographer, to the selection of Xenakis as composer, to the premiere, recording, and subsequent presentations. The book is written with the benefit of access to sketches and recordings in the... Read more
Contents: Introduction; Biography; Musical background to Kraanerg; The Kraanerg project; Kraanerg analysis; Reception; Performance history; Epilogue; Bibliography; CD track list; Index.
Biography
James Harley is a Canadian composer. He obtained his doctorate at McGill University in 1994, after spending six years (1982-88) composing and studying in Europe (London, Paris, Warsaw). As a researcher, Harley has written extensively on contemporary music. His book Xenakis: His Life in Music was published in 2004.
’James Harley's detailed account of one of Xenakis's most substantial compositions is an exemplary piece of scholarly reconstruction. With ample material on the work's biographical and technical background, and a thorough survey of its performance history and critical reception, a vivid picture emerges of those mid-twentieth-century years in which pioneering and uncompromising avant-garde enterprises like Xenakis's achieved a rare and relatively brief artistic momentum.’ Arnold Whittall, King’s College London, UK
