The score of Rythmes sur Tabla, a “key document” in the work of Iannis Xenakis?

With the publication of a revised and expanded edition of Iannis Xenakis, un père bouleversant (Xenakis [2015] 2022), Mâkhi Xenakis has brought to light several previously unknown documents related to her father’s work. Her work as an artist is based on a study of the creative process and on what is revealed as a piece evolves, giving rise to a very interesting reading of the appearance of glissandi and sound clouds in I. Xenakis’s work in 1953–54. Two challenging documents were specifically identified as important triggers. One, found in Xenakis’s engineering thesis, is an image in pencil on graph paper (Xenakis [2015] 2022, 234-1); the other is the score for Rythmes sur Tabla dated January 1953 (Xenakis [2015] 2022, 239–1&2). The first is understood to be at the origin of the glissandi in Metastasis (1953–1954) and the hyperbolic paraboloids in the Philips Pavilion (1956– 1958),1 while the score is understood as a study leading to the graphic writing of the sound clouds in Metastasis, and later the undulating glass panes (1954–1955). M. Xenakis finds in these two documents the foundation for some of her father’s creations, an influence that runs throughout his œuvre... This article intends scientifically to mine this vein using first-hand archival documents, with reference to works listed in the composer’s personal library. The article will first identify elements behind a new consideration of the score for Rythmes sur Tabla, and will complete the analysis carried out by F-B Mâche (Mâche 2009). A graphic score, the partial graphic representation of Rythmes sur Tabla found in 2020, will be presented. This discovery makes it possible to examine the document anew, and to consider it Xenakis’s very first graphic expression of a polyrhythm, created between January and December 1953. Lastly, the article will discuss the latest archival studies, which seem to confirm the importance of Indian musical theory to the young Iannis Xenakis.