ABSTRACT
Iannis and his two brothers, Cosmos and Jason, spent most of their childhood in Braila, Romania in the care of governesses. By all accounts, Iannis, the eldest, was nonetheless deeply devoted to his mother, who unfortunately died when he was five. He was, in Matossian’s words, “deeply scarred by his mother’s death. He clung to the few experiences he had shared with her: the gift of a flute whose sounds had astonished him, her wish that he should enjoy music” (1986, 13). After her death, however, he received little encouragement, and precious little affection. Xenakis has said he developed a “defense mechanism” against certain kinds of music associated with his childhood “because it awakens very sad memories in me.” “I reacted against [this] music because I felt I was too sensitive. Music could even bring me to tears” (Varga 1996, 10, 8, 11).
