12. Activating Sound Phenomena in the Music of Iannis Xenakis

Acoustic energy is a fundamental resource, although little studied, in the music of Iannis Xenakis. This approach is articulated within the concept of activating sound, a notion from psychoacoustics. According to Eggerman, this is one of the underlying mechanisms that enables emotional responses to music. For this author, musical listening is the final stage of a process of acoustic energy transfer, which has a direct correlation with the sympathetic nervous system and as a response generates a certain orientation, as well as physiological arousals towards the stimulus. Xenakis's music invokes an overwhelming physicality, a by-product of sound constructions endowed with a power emanating from the composer's design and realization strategies. With the intent of displaying how this remarkable quality guides Xenakis's creative endeavor, in this chapter I present a descriptive analysis of some iconic passages in which the Greek musician employs the resource of acoustic energy with exceptional mastery.