A creative mind in eruption: Xenakis composing the Anastenaria cycle in 1953

Several scholars pointed already out the very quick evolution of Xenakis’ style in his early works, from the folklorist tendancy of his first attempts to Dipli and Tripli Zyia (1952), the Anastenaria’s cycle and finally Metastasis (53-54). However documents held in Xenakis’ archives at the French National Library bring new lights on Xenakis’ evolution during those years and make possible to evaluate even more precisely the early building of his creative personnality. On Anastenaria cycle whose genesis has so far remained somewhat unclear, notebooks and sketches enlighten the processes brought into play and the links with Metastasis, seen wrongly at the present time as the third part of the cycle. The study of these processes will make possible to understand Xenakis’ evolution particularly during the year 1953 that appears as a real turning point in his artistic path