Repertoire for Sixxen: the (Re)Definition of a New Instrument Through Composition

Abstract

This paper catalogues and discusses the repertoire composed between 1978 and 2017 for Sixxen, an instrument created by Iannis Xenakis. Extensive literature and documentary research was conducted to achieve the results. The results demonstrate a repertoire consisting of at least 46 works, by 43 composers from 11 countries. The decades of 2000-2009 and 2010-2017 present the largest quantity of works (82% of the total). The creation between the years of 2010-2015 in particular, with about 70% of the total number of compositions, exceeds the entire output from previous decades added together, and presents a five times greater increase than the quantitative between 2000-2009. The largest number of compositions originates in the USA, France, and Brazil. The article also analyzes information about the notation for Sixxen, the relationship of groups with composers to elaborate new works and the conceptual and practical resizing generated by the application of the instrument in different contexts.

Keywords

• iannis xenakis
• pléïades
• sixxen
• contemporary repertoire