Le Corbusier / Varèse / Xenakis: Philips Pavilion

In 1958, three influential artists - Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Edgard Varèse (1883-1965), and Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) - collaborated on one of the most ambitious multimedia spectacles in history, Poème électronique. In this video, we explore the revolutionary Philips Pavilion created specifically for this purpose.
The recordings used in the video are:
Edgard Varèse: Poème électronique (Varèse - The Complete Works, Decca 1998)
Iannis Xenakis: Concret PH (Adventures in Sound, El 2009)
Narration: Marko Slavíček
Text: Marko Slavíček
Design: Nikola Pacek-Vetnić, Marko Slavíček
CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
0:10 - Background
1:36 - Architectural concept
3:19 - Pavilion's structure
6:25 - Light effects
7:07 - Le Corbusier's contribution
8:11 - General narrative
11:11 - Edgar Varèse’s contribution
12:49 - Poème électronique: Analysis
16:50 - Poème électronique: Spatialization
17:54 - Iannis Xenakis' contribution
19:29 - Concret PH: Analysis
22:45 - Final remarks
SOURCES
Barczik, G. & Lordick, D. (2009). Algebraic Geometry in Architectural Design.
Beilharz, K. (2004). Designing sounds and spaces: interdisciplinary rules and proportions in generative stochastic music and architecture. In Journal of Design Research, 4(2), pp. 144-161.
Centola, N. (2018). The disruptive relations between sound and image in Poème électronique. In International Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media, 2(1), pp. 66-77.
Di Scipio, A. (2001). Clarification on Xenakis: The Cybernetics of Stochastic Music. In Presences of Iannis Xenakis, pp. 71-84.
Harley, J. (2004). Xenakis: His Life in Music. Taylor & Francis.
Harley, M. A. (1998). Music of sound and light: Xenakis's polytopes. In Leonardo, 31(1), pp. 55-65.
Kalff, L., Tak, W., & de Bruin, S. L. (1958). The Philips Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World Fair. In Philips Technical Review, vol. 20, no. 2-3, pp. 1-53.
Kanach, S. (2008). Music and architecture by Iannis Xenakis. Nova Iorque: Pendagron Press.
Korkmaz, A. (2013). Music Composed in Numbers: A Study in Music of Xenakis.
Lombardo, V., Valle, A., Fitch, J., Tazelaar, K., Weinzierl, S., & Borczyk, W. (2009). A Virtual-Reality Reconstruction of Poeme Électronique Based on Philological Research. In Computer Music Journal, 33(2), pp. 24-47.
Mattis, O. (1992). Varèse's Multimedia Conception of" Déserts". In Musical Quarterly, pp. 557-583.
McEwen, H. (2009). A discussion of Xenakis and Varese, metaphor and simile, music and architecture. In South African Journal of Art History, 24(3), pp. 34-44.
Ouzounian, G. (2008). Sound art and spatial practices: situating sound installation art since 1958. Doctoral dissertation. UC San Diego.
Sofia, Sal G (2001). An Analysis of Edgard Varèse's Poème Électronique. Thesis. University of Washington Seattle.
Sterken, S. (2001). Towards a space-time art: Iannis Xenakis's polytopes. In Perspectives of New Music, pp. 262-273.
Valle, A., Tazelaar, K., & Lombardo, V. (2010). In a Concrete Space: Reconstructing the Spatialization of Iannis Xenakis’ Concret PH on a Multichannel Setup. In Proceedings of the Sound and Music Computing Conference.
Xenakis, I. (1992). Formalized music: thought and mathematics in composition (No. 6). Pendragon Press.
Zaplitny, M. (1975). Conversation with Iannis Xenakis. In Perspectives of New Music, pp. 86-103.
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CONTACT
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[@spatialmusicforum]

We highly recommend the papers on the EU-funded project of the reconstruction of Poème électronique and Concrete PH, written by Lombardo et al. and Valle et al., respectivelly.

[@vgermuse]

This is truly the most comprehensive, connected and compelling unfolding of Poeme Electronique with such insight in to Xenakis and Varèse!!!

[@spatialmusicforum]

Thank you, Todd

[@jean-lucdegbo2496]

Thank you. Great presentation!

[@zoemcpherson9022]

awesome, wish this was not destroyed

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Very interesting!

[@oceanmachine1906]

Love it and instant sub (already covered two of my favorite composers, Xenakis and Scriabin)

[@spatialmusicforum]

Thank you for the encouragement, OceanMachine. There will be more Xenakis videos in the following months.

[@oceanmachine1906]

@@spatialmusicforum awesome stuff, I'm looking forward to it :)

[@Pan_Kosmi]

How many information in just 25 mins?.. thank you, great presentation.