Iannis Xenakis revolutionized post-war music more forcefully than any other 20th-century composer. A Resistance leader in World War II, he escaped from Greece to Paris under sentence of death. He became one of Le Corbusier’s chief architects, and a pioneer of the computer age in music and the arts. Milan Kundera called him ‘the prophet of insensibility’.

Since it was first published in 1980, Nouritza Matossian’s perceptive book on Xenakis has helped students, musicians and audiences appreciate his music. A reserved man, he spoke frankly to her about his mysterious methods of composition, and his relationships with Varèse, Messiaen, Le Corbusier and Boulez.

This new edition includes an unpublished interview and essays, and is illustrated with musical and architectural sketches, scores and recently released archival photos.

ISBN 9963-642-22-50 Soft back. 42 b/w photographs, 49 b/w illustrations, scores and line drawings. CYP 16.80 inc. VAT

Nouritza Matossian was born in Cyprus. She is a writer and performer, speaks nine languages, and was the first Honorary Cultural Attaché of the London Armenian Embassy. Her book Xenakis was followed by a BBC documentary. Her biography of the Armenian-American painter Arshile Gorky, Black Angel, inspired Atom Egoyan’s film, Ararat.

An intelligent book.

The New Yorker

A revealing contribution to the history of post-war avant-garde.

The Independent

An accessible biography ... and an excellent introduction.

Le Monde