Even though Kraanerg never became a staple of the ballet repertoire after its premiere performance in Ottawa in 1969, this volatile score is central to
Iannis Xenakis' canon and represents a high point in his development of stochastic procedures to produce fascinating music. Composed for a chamber orchestra of woodwinds, brass, strings, and electro-acoustic tape, Kraanerg is
Xenakis' longest single-movement work, running over 77 minutes; though it appears to be subdivided into 22 sections with pauses of varying lengths (which consequently provide the track divisions on this 2008 Mode release), it is really one continuously unfolding work where silences are mathematically integrated with the blazing instrumental and electronic sonorities. The tape, presented for the first time on a recording in its original surround sound, may in places remind some of the cosmic roar of Bohor (1962), as it was produced using some of the same musique concrète techniques of filtering and tape manipulation. This energetic performance by the
Callithumpian Consort under
Stephen Drury's direction presents Kraanerg in a clearly configured arrangement that is remarkably vibrant, deep, and spacious in both the stereo CD and the DVD formats. While long sections of the music can be played comfortably at mid-level, there are several passages of such cataclysmic force, shrillness, and intense dissonance that some volume adjustments may be necessary.