The powerhouse JACK Quartet returns to Philadelphia for a concert featuring the hypercomplex string quartets by Iannis Xenakis. A leading figure in twentieth century music, Xenakis (1922 – 2001) was trained as a civil engineer, then became an architect and developed revolutionary designs while working with Le Corbusier. Utilizing his technical background, Xenakis approached composition with a curious mix of analysis and intuition, creating works of massed orchestral textures, dense electronics, polyrhythmic percussion music. Taken as a whole, the four string quartets – Tetora, Ergma, ST-4/1,080262, and Tetras – represent a remarkable overview of this composer’s development and changing approaches to sound, complexity, density, and form.

XENAKIS: The Complete String Quartets
performed by the JACK Quartet

Iannis Xenakis, Tetora
Iannis Xenakis, Ergma
Iannis Xenakis, ST-4/1,080262
Iannis Xenakis, Tetras