Mid-20th century electronic and instrumental music and its relationship with architecture will be explored in a talk at RMIT Gallery on Thursday, 19 May, from 12 to 1pm.

Internationally celebrated Sydney musicologist Richard Toop will speak about the late Greek composer, architect and mathematician, Iannis Xenakis and the relationship between music and architecture in the second half of the 20th century.

Photo: Iannis Xenakis from www.gold.ac.uk

Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) was a seminal modernist composer who was also an architect and, during the 1950s, one of the renowned French architect Le Corbusier’s right-hand men. Musically, Xenakis was a pioneer of avant-guarde electronic composition, with such pieces as Metastaseis and Akrata redefining the boundaries of classical music and giving the impetus for experimentation within electronic music.

Photo: Philips Pavilion from playtherecords.com

As an architect, the Guardian reports that he explored the use of parabolic curves which he also used to structure his early musical work. Although Le Corbusier is widely believed to have designed the Phillip's Pavilion for the Brussels World Fair in 1958, it was actually Xenakis who had creative control of the building. Created to house the multimedia works for the Fair, the soaring curves of the building are a testament - albeit impermanent - to Xenakis' creative partnering of music and architecture.

Oswalt explains Xenakis' use of Polytopes, derived from the Greek words poly (many) and topos (place), they are compositions that explore the intertextual possibilities of sound and space. “After splitting with Le Corbusier, Xenakis went on to create many ‘Polytopes’, which combine music, architectural space and lighting in an entirely original manner,” Mr Toop said. “My talk will include many musical and visual examples.

Mr Toop recently retired from the Sydney Conservatorium, where he is now Honorary Reader in the Musicology Unit. His particular interest is in contemporary modernist art music.

RMIT Gallery Director, Suzanne Davies, said that as current exhibitions explored music and spatial qualities in architecture, Mr Toop’s talk would further the dialogue in this area. “RMIT Gallery is a forum for exploring all areas of creative discourse; and architects, designers and musicians will benefit greatly from this event."

Artist Chelle Macnaughtan researched Xenakis as part of the work leading into her current RMIT Gallery exhibition, Spatial Listening (14 April-28 May). “Xenakis is the most important mid-20th century example of a transdisciplinary thinker who crossed boundaries between architecture and music."

WHO: Richard Toop, with artists Chelle Macnaughtan and Malte Wagenfeld

WHAT: Talk about Greek composer, architect and mathematician, Iannis Xenakis

WHEN: Thursday, 19 May, 12-1pm

WHERE: RMIT Gallery, 344 Swanston Street. Free. Bookings (03) 9925 1717

For further information contact: RMIT Gallery Media Coordinator, Evelyn Tsitas, (03) 9925 1716, 0418 139 015 or evelyn.tsitas@rmit.edu.au.

David Sullivan

Xenakis-explored-at-RMIT-discussion-1736092112.png

Let’s connect!