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Title: Promise unfulfilled
Review: The composer Xenakis brings most to mind is George Antheil. Both composers made a huge initial splash. But repeated listening to these pieces reveals that they are little more than empty effect. Although dates of the pieces here span two or three decades, all of the music is rooted firmly in the sixties. There are many composers who experimented with similar textures during this period. But for the best of breed, this kind of music became an important part--but only a part--of a larger toolkit. Without this experimentalism, we'd have never had Ligeti's "San Francisco Polyphony" or Lutoslawski's mighty "Third Symphony". But Xenakis appears to feel that the effect is the thing. There's not much in this music beyond theatricality.This has often been considered to be groundbreaking music. But it's important to build something after breaking ground. Xenakis has left us an empty lot.
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