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Aki Takahashi - Iannis Xenakis: Works for Piano (1999) [Xenakis Edition, Vol. 4]

Posted By: Designol

Date: 26 May 2023 08:04:05

Known for drawing unusual sonorities from conventional instruments, Xenakis strangely left the piano's potential for novel sounds unexplored. In these works, Xenakis stays on the keyboard without so much as a plucked string or any use of gadgetry to alter the instrument's sound. Although that might make these pieces appear less radical, even "safe," Xenakis exploits every other option available. Evryali is an energetically rhythmic piece that bursts into a chaotic roar of crashing chords, traversing the piano's range and achieving maximum volume. Dikhthas is also heavily dependent on loud, percussive playing, though the violin's glissandi and pitch-bending provide the microtones that are integral to Xenakis' sound and add a welcome timbral contrast. Herma, constantly shifting in mood with wildly variable gestures, is regrettably like many other avant-garde solo piano pieces. A kind of mini-concerto, Palimpsest is the most characteristic work on the disc, full of the sonic mayhem and ritualistic patterns for which Xenakis is best known. Mists darts everywhere, as if actively pursuing ideas only to find that they dissipate when grasped. A.r., the briefest piece, is a rapid toccata extrapolated from a fragment by Ravel, though the overpowering result is unlike anything by that composer.

Review by Blair Sanderson, Allmusic.com

Sit at your piano with your left hand at the keyboard’s very bottom and your right hand at the very top, fingers stretched out in arduous chords, and hammer away in rapid irregular rhythms. That gives you an idea of what Xenakis’ piano music demands of Aki Takahashi, who is very much up to the task. Evryali is a diabolical endurance test, but also tremendously engaging in its toccata-like perambulation of the keyboard. Takahashi conjures a colorful dynamic range in Herma, a piece commissioned by the pianist’s brother Yuji, and in the strange A.r. (Hommage à Ravel) which bears only a slight resemblance to Ravel in its imaginative sequences of held chords. Violinist Jane Peters matches Takahashi’s formidable energy for the dazzling wild ride of Dikhthas (“dual” in Greek), and Palimsest’s polyrhythms become razor-sharp in Takahashi’s version with The Society for New Music. Even the bizarre liner notes (“In the middle section, chains of sixty-four-notes and dyads in both hands cause a condensation”) can’t compare with the opacity of Xenakis’ own explanations of his music that involve sieve theory, Brownian movements, and hyperbolic-cosine law. Unless you’re into higher math, sit back (or bolt upright) and enjoy this brilliant album.

Review by Sarah Cahill, ClassicsToday.com
Artistic Quality 10 / Sound Quality 10

Iannis Xenakis at Allmusic
Iannis Xenakis at Wiki

Aki Takahashi Website
Aki Takahashi at Wiki

Aki Takahashi (piano) 1-6
Jane Peters (violin) 2
The Society for New Music 4
Charles Peltz (conductor) 4

Recorded Mar. 28-30, 1998, Carnegie Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh (1st, 5th-6th works)
Apr. 5, 1998, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Syracuse, N.Y. (4th work)
Feb. 24-25, 1999, Troy Music Hall, Troy, N.Y. (2nd-3rd works)

Tracklist:

01. Evryali (1973) for piano solo (9:57)

02. Dikhthas (1979) for violin & piano (14:42)

03. Herma (1960–61) for piano solo (7:50)

04. Palimpsest (1979) for piano, 6 drums, winds, & strings (12:42)

05. Mists (1981) for piano solo (12:59)

06. A.r. (Hommage à Ravel) (1987) for piano solo (2:32)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009

EAC extraction logfile from 19. December 2010, 11:57

Iannis Xenakis / Complete Solo Piano Works (Aki Takahashi)

Used drive : TSSTcorpCDDVDW SH-S203D Adapter: 4 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 9:57.14 | 0 | 44788
2 | 9:57.14 | 14:42.22 | 44789 | 110960
3 | 24:39.36 | 7:49.53 | 110961 | 146188
4 | 32:29.14 | 12:42.06 | 146189 | 203344
5 | 45:11.20 | 12:58.72 | 203345 | 261766
6 | 58:10.17 | 2:31.43 | 261767 | 273134

Track 1

Filename C:\EACrips\01 - Evryali.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 100.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC F4417C87
Copy CRC F4417C87
Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename C:\EACrips\02 - Dikhthas, for violin & piano.wav

Peak level 72.8 %
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 877B3D2A
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename C:\EACrips\03 - Herma.wav

Peak level 62.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6D2E03BD
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Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename C:\EACrips\04 - Palimpsest, for piano, 6 drums, winds & strings.wav

Peak level 98.7 %
Track quality 99.9 %
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Copy CRC 242A3BD0
Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename C:\EACrips\05 - Mists.wav

Peak level 85.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
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Copy CRC AC6B4A20
Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename C:\EACrips\06 - А r..wav

Peak level 91.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 6B4ED45C
Copy CRC 6B4ED45C
Track not present in AccurateRip database
Copy OK

None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

No errors occurred

End of status report

AR log

[CUETools log; Date: 04.07.2017 18:31:06; Version: 2.1.4]
[CTDB TOCID: gL7KTljqCJzVbeuqOQl80mR.SF0-] found.
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
2 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
3 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
4 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
5 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
6 | (6/6) Accurately ripped
[AccurateRip ID: 000fdf3a-005405ba-560e3906] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [0c9f590e|4970e5f1] (0+0/2) No match
02 [a36ad0ae|51f72f6c] (0+0/2) No match
03 [06c6ce2f|943e4ed1] (0+0/2) No match
04 [08b7ac2f|b7ed4a80] (0+0/2) No match
05 [8653c31e|e0818401] (0+0/2) No match
06 [3b2c4ee8|99b9ca1e] (0+0/2) No match
Offsetted by -667:
01 [9d84df6b] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)
02 [c3544d75] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)
03 [3bc89a1e] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)
04 [5d14a2ff] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)
05 [99307919] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)
06 [9802bf75] (0/2) No match (V2 was not tested)

Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 100,0 [742B27BF] [09AD01F6]
01 100,0 [F4417C87] [422EBBFC] CRC32
02 72,8 [877B3D2A] [79ACC67C] CRC32
03 62,6 [6D2E03BD] [B813496B] CRC32
04 98,7 [242A3BD0] [72F97576] CRC32
05 85,1 [AC6B4A20] [A2229625] CRC32
06 91,6 [6B4ED45C] [CD30CB04] CRC32

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-07-04 18:46:54

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Aki Takahashi / works for piano
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 0.00 dB -18.84 dB 9:57 01-Evryali (1973)
DR14 -2.75 dB -23.99 dB 14:42 02-Dikhthas (1979)
DR13 -4.07 dB -23.31 dB 7:50 03-Herma (1960–61)
DR12 -0.11 dB -16.65 dB 12:42 04-Palimpsest (1979)
DR13 -1.40 dB -21.49 dB 12:59 05-Mists (1981)
DR15 -0.76 dB -19.61 dB 2:32 06-à r. (Hommage à Ravel) (1987)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 6
Official DR value: DR14

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 509 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

All thanks to original releaser

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