Persephassa

Persephassa (1969) is a composition by Iannis Xenakis for six percussionists. Persephassa is Xenakis' first composition that is completely characterized by rhythmic designs and processes and experiments with the phenomenon of sound in relation to time in space.

Persephone or Persephassa (Latin Prosperina) (Roman = Proserpina - queen of the dead) was extraordinarily beautiful and the daughter of Zeus and Demeter .

Conception

In the music of the 20th century, new musical parameters such as the spatiality of sounds play an increasingly important role. Instead of static, moving music can be created in the room.

This composition makes it clear that the room is not static, but rather changes over time. Every recording of the room depends on the time and thus also on the position of each individual listener. Each listener gets their own impression of the room. From a sound engineering point of view, one could determine the center of the room as the ideal listening position, but from an aesthetic point of view, one cannot determine an ideal position. Each position in the room enables its own hearing impression and a comprehensive idea can only be derived from the combination of all positions. Since it is not possible to wander around the room during the concert, the music takes on the function of movement in the piece and helps the audience to grasp the room acoustically. In addition to spatial aspects, periodicities, sieves and ritual aspects also play a role in the piece.

Arrangement of the performance

6 percussion sets arranged hexagonally in the room.
The audience sits in the middle - framed by the drums.

Composition techniques

long and short vertebrae
Stops with different vertical densities
Accents and pauses
Rhythmic layers in different tempos and speeds
Clearly defined repetition groups
Sound clouds with characteristic density gradients
Characteristic process-related changes in volume or speed

The piece has three parts that differ from one another in many ways. The individual periods of time are divided partly by stops and their time orders, partly by dynamic differentiations (swelling and swelling).

The composition's areas of tension

Impression of movement
Relativity of time
Continuity - discontinuity
Periodicity - aperiodicity
Quasi-continuous, gradual developments
Diverse handling of the material: spatial / temporal means, timbre, tone density, dynamics, etc.

Because the musicians sit further apart, fewer sound frequencies overlap and the sound becomes more transparent. Space is created between them, so to speak.
You sit closer to the instruments physically and as a result less sound energy and thus components of the tonal substance are lost. The sound becomes more lively.

literature

Boris Hofmann: Spatial aspects in Xenakis' Instrumental works . In: Proceedings of the International Symposium Iannis Xenakis . Athens, 2005

music

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Perséphone - Mélodrama en trois tableaux d'André Gide for tenor, speaker, mixed choir, children's choir and orchestra
Clyde: Persephone-based fictional character on Tori Amos ' ninth studio album American Doll Posse