Psappha (Edition: Salabert, 1975) is a musical composition for multi-percussion solo by Franco-Greek modernist composer Iannis Xenakis.
[1] The actual printed performance score is written in a unique graph notation and consists of 2,396 segments.
"Psappha" is an archaic form of "Sappho",[2] a great Greek poet from the Island of Lesbos, born in the 6th century BC.
Written for six groups of instruments, three of wood and/or skins and three of metal,[2] Psappha is sharp, brittle, and even violent at times.
Psappha was commissioned by the English Bach Festival with financial assistance from the Gulbenkian Foundation and is dedicated to percussionist Sylvio Gualda.