Who oversaw the fitting of 400 speakers for Varèse’s *Poème Électronique*?

Architect Iannis Xenakis.

Edgar Varèse’s *Poème Électronique*, premiered in 1958 for the Philips Pavilion at the Brussels World Fair, stands out as a famously large early multi-channel spectacle. The architectural design and implementation of the sound system for this piece were overseen by the architect Iannis Xenakis. Xenakis was responsible for fitting the physical structure of the pavilion with an enormous array consisting of 400 individual speakers. Varèse’s composition, recorded on a three-track tape, was then dynamically distributed across this vast speaker array using a complex switching system that relied on a synchronized second sprocketed tape to control the movement of the sound.