Xas - Iannis Xenakis
XAS by Iannis Xenakis, commissioned by the Rascher Saxophone Quartet, was composed in 1987. The title itself is an anagram of “SAX”: the S—the only asymmetrical letter - is reversed to form a mirror image. It also playfully references the composer’s own name, XenAkiS, by highlighting its outermost letters and its central A. Since Xenakis had never before written for the saxophone, embedding part of his name into the title while reversing the name of the instrument’s inventor can be read as an appropriation - claiming the saxophone for his own musical language. This work would remain his only composition for the instrument, as a projected concerto was never realized.
Despite the quartet’s modest instrumentation, XAS radiates power combined with an almost abrasive intensity. Extended techniques appear only sparingly: a few quarter tones and simple multiphonics punctuate the score. For the most part, Xenakis avoids the range of timbral and attack-based effects commonly associated with the instrument, leaving such choices largely to the performers. Instead, he pushes the saxophones beyond their conventional limits, employing an extraordinarily extended high tessitura: up to a minor sixth above the soprano’s range, a minor ninth for the alto and tenor, and even an eleventh for the baritone.
In the decades since its premiere, XAS has become one of the most compelling works for saxophone quartet. Many consider it the first “serious” piece for the medium by a major composer, at a time when the quartet was often dismissed as trivial or even in poor taste, much like the brass quintet once was. The saxophone had long been confined to popular music and jazz by most twentieth- and nineteenth-century composers. Xenakis’s bold nonconformism helped redefine the ensemble’s artistic potential and sparked the growth of its repertoire. Since the publication of XAS, composers such as Donatoni, Cage, Dufourt, and Aperghis have enriched the saxophone quartet literature, each exploring the vast and still-evolving possibilities of this dynamic chamber formation.
(Program note by Serge Bertocchi, edited by Don-Paul Kahl)
EBM PERFORMANCE RECORD:
2025:
4 October 2025 - Selinsgrove, PA, USA - Susquehanna University - LINK
6 October 2025 - Norfolk, VA, USA - Old Dominion University - LINK
7 October 2025 - Glassboro, NJ, USA - Rowan University - LINK
10 October 2025 - Baltimore, MD, USA - Peabody Institute - LINK
19 October 2025 - Boston, MA, USA - New England Conservatory - LINK
2024:
19 October 2024 - Catania, Italy - Tinni Tinni Arts Club - Festival internazionale Classica e dintorni XXI edizione
20 October 2024 - Palermo, Italy - Sala Perriera ai Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa - Curva Minore Contemporary Sounds
2023:
28 April 2023 - Hannover, Germany - Sprengel Museum - Klangbrücken Festival
2022:
6 September 2022 - Berlin, Germany - Unerhörte Musik
2021:
2 November 2021 - Tel Aviv, Israel - Tel Aviv Academy
3 November 2021 - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hateiva Festival
11 November 2021 - Nicosia, Cyprus - 10th New Music Festival Cyprus
14 November 2021 - Basel, Switzerland - Museum Kleines lingental
15 November 2021 - Bern, Switzerland - ONO
16 November 2021 - Zurich, Switzerland - Wasserkirche
2018:
13 February 2018 - Athens, Greece - ONASSIS Cultural Center
20 March 2018 - Paris, France - Fondation des Etats-Unis
22 March 2018 - Paris, France - Selmer Paris Showroom
24 March 2018 - Palma de Mallorca, Sparin - X Mallorca Saxophone Festival
15 April 2018 - Zurich, Switzerland - AKI Borderless
22 September 2018 - Tallinn, Estonia - Soundplasma Festival
22 October 2018 - Bilbao, Spain - Kuraia Festival
27 October 2018 - Hannover, Germany - Sprengel Museum