Iannis Xenakis is a Greek-born composer who has been creating twentieth-century classical music since the early fifties. He originated the practice of stochastic composing, which is a method that uses randomly selected events based on statistical probabilities. That is, he defines a realm of probabilities, then allows chance to select the actual events that occur, developing the overall structure of a piece somewhat like an animator who draws every fiftieth frame on a storyboard but leaves the details to his apprentices. Xenakis uses a lot of calculus in his composing and his scores are complex mathematical graphs with lines for each instrument crisscrossing across the page like so many angry bees. His pieces run the instrumental gamut: from small ensemble works to full orchestral symphonies to electro-acoustic or music concrete. Although his methods may seem cold and calculated, he actually began utilizing these compositional practices as an escape from what he called the deterministic realm of "serialism" that had developed during the early twentieth century. His music is intended to reflect the stochastic tendencies of nature, like frogs in a pond, insects in the trees, cannon fire during a war or the hum and outbursts of chant from an angry mob. Kraanerg is a new recording of an older Xenakis piece for orchestra and tape, released in celebration of his seventy-fifth birthday. The instruments thump, scrape and howl their way through the piece with its tremendous clusters of events ranging from a few pizzicato violins to full-on orchestral noise. This mayhem is backed by a manipulated quadraphonic recording of another orchestra made over thirty years ago, which wafts through the tumult as if it's looking for its final resting place. The piece begins at a fevered pitch and ends, seventy-five minutes later, at the same point, having progressed from tense to more tense. Inspired by the population boom of the fifties, Kraanerg feels like a war is raging outside your window, with gunfire, crowds, screaming and the general din that accompanies such human folly. It's not the most serene of listening adventures, but it's certainly not boring.