Overview
Introduction
Iannis Xenakis has written a fair amount of music for the piano, including three substantial solo works, three concerti, and numerous chamber pieces. À R. (Hommage à Ravel) (1987) is a short occasional piece written for the Montpellier Festival in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Maurice Ravel's death. To be sure, there is little in the rather abstract architecture of this work to suggest the direct influence of Ravel; still, there are certain features that suggest an affinity with the music of the French master. One can detect such a connection in the tertian harmonies -- which Xenakis normally avoids -- in some of the sustained chords. The work also contains passages that recall the liquid figurations of Ravel's keyboard music; here, though, the hands must often move in contrary motion, and the scales are built from patterns that do not repeat in every octave, adding to the performer's difficulties. For a nimble-fingered pianist with a bent for the unusual, À R. has all the makings of a highly effective encore piece.
