ABSTRACT
Following his earliest investigations of probability theory as a means of manipulating large sound masses and disposing single sonic events in a continuum, Iannis Xenakis sought to formulate an all-encompassing theory of music that would conform to the principles of formal (symbolic) logic and define “the mental operations used in composition.” (Xenakis, 1971, 155) Toward this end, Xenakis became determined to “formalize” the act of musical composition by focusing on the logical processes underlying the creative act, processes that could be expressed in the universal language of logic – mathematics.
