Modern composer Iannis Xenakis dead at 78

The Greek/French composer, who was born in Romania to Greek parents, died after a long illness.

A former assistant to star architect Le Corbusier, Xenakis was a largely self-taught musician inspired and encouraged by composer Oliver Messiaen.
Xenakis was opposed to the post World War II compositional style of repetitive music called serialism and sought to broaden and not limit the use of sound, pitch, rhythm, and timbre.
In the early 1950s this led to his development of stochastic music, compositions characterized by masses of sounds or "galaxies", where individual elements cannot be determined. The term "stochastic" comes from Greek and means stretching irresistibly towards a goal.

Xenakis devised new theories about music and in 1962 he wrote the book Formalized Music which investigated the use of mathematics and probability in composition.
Xenakis wrote orchestral, choral and ballet works and made much use of computers although many of his works are not automated music.
After studying engineering in Athens Xenakis became active in the Greek Resistance against German troops and lost an eye after being wounded seriously in the face on January 1, 1945.

He went into exile in France, escaping to Paris using a counterfeit passport. He worked with Le Corbusier for 12 years and became a French citizen in 1965. A year later he founded a School of Mathematical and Automated Music in Paris.
Among the accolades received by Xenakis during his musical career are the Beethoven Prize of the German city of Bonn, the Kyoto Prize and the Polar Music Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Xenakis leaves a daughter Makhi from his marriage with French writer Francoise Gargouil.

(ba/dpa)