Today is the 53rd anniversary of the passing away of George Antheil, at the age of 58 years.
He was born July 8, 1900.
Here are the cover notes in their entirety:
Having heard some, but by no means all, of Antheil's later work, I have to strongly disagree with the beginning of the closing paragraph above. These works are, while perhaps simpler in their structure and expression,nonetheless very powerful, iconoclastic, and exciting works which have proven to have an undiminished relevance- as acknowledged later in the same paragraph- and power which many of his other, later works would seem to lack.
-Dr I
George Antheil- BALLET MECANIQUE / A JAZZ SYMPHONY / VIOLIN SONATAS
Side One:
1- Ballet Mecanique
Side Two:
2- A Jazz Symphony
Netherlands Wind Ensemble
conducted by Reinbert De Leeuw
3- Finale from Sonata No. 1 For Violin and Piano
4- Sonata No. 2 For Violin and Piano
Vera Beths- Violin
Reinbert De Leeuw- Piano
File repaired
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His autobiography "Bad Boy of Music" is a hoot, insightful too. Long out of print but well worth tracking down a copy
ReplyDeleteThis of course is the revised and simplified version of the Ballet Mecanique, as his original score was not realized until 1999 when midi technology finally enabled the synchronization of the player pianos. That performance is found on a Mode CD, and can be seen on the DVD, Bad Boy of Music. I saw the second performance of the original score in SF in 2000, and it was breathtaking.
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeleteive added your link
thanks.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have added "A Closet of Curiosities" to the bloglist of "Inconstant Sol".
Cheers!
Woolfnotes-I haven't read it, nut always meant to- I'll check my local library. That image of the pistol in the tuxedo always made me laugh. I'm a fan of self-made myths like this. I've GOTTA find that d.v.d. Didn't know about that AT ALL.
ReplyDeleteGidouille- I'm tres jealous- Who was directing the performance you saw? Was it loud?
P.s. My sympathies, and good luck with the future Hut.
Mr.PC- Thanks!
Onxidlib- Great! Thanks, and I'll request the vice-versa asap!(I can't do it meself) :x :)
Oops- Gidouille, the last sentence addressed to Woolfnotes above was meant for you.Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDrEyescope,
ReplyDeleteBallet Mecanique was part of the American Mavericks series put on by Michael Tilson Thomas and the SF Symphony, which also included performances of works such as Ameriques by Varese. It was loud and relentless with constantly shifting time signatures. There are some 630 time changes in the piece. MTT noted that Antheil's only tempo markings were Pianola=85, which it was determined meant not 85 beats per minute, but that the piano rolls would be fed through at 8.5 feet per minute which calculates to a 152 tempo. This turned out to be impossible for the human players. Even the diskclaviers begin making mistakes about 133 bpm, so the piece is typically performed at around 100 bpm.
I was wrong about the CD. It's not on Mode but rather EMF (Electronic Music Foundation) as is the DVD. It's worth checking out, there's a documentary about Antheil, the 1999 performance and Leger's film with the score synchronized to the action.
Gidouille-
ReplyDeleteI thought it might have been MTT, but "American Mavericks"! I loved the radio series hosted by Suzanne Vega, not because I learned anything much new (I did learn a few things) - but for the audio performances linked to the show which could be streamed at their on line site once upon a time. I spent a lot of time visiting that site.
I would have wanted to see everything I could possibly afford at that series: Ives 4th Symphony, especially. which i can't imagine MTT overlooking, and Ruggles "Sun Treader"... Ameriques must have been grand. Thanks for the information-
best- DrI
Sorry, Tracks 2 & 3 missing the intro, I know this music for a long time....
ReplyDeleteI know what's wrong. The beginning of the "Jazz symphony" is at the end of the "Ballet Mécanique" track. Same with the violin sonate, Thanks anyway
ReplyDeleteThanks Fred- Damned sorry- The program I use has been acting up when I export the files. I'll re- up a proper edit asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the heads up.
Sorry All. I'll put a note next to the fixed links.
FEH.
ReplyDeleteIt now appears that perhaps ALL of my posts are flawed in this manner.
In the interests of not wasting anyone's time from this moment on, I have removed all my posts until I can verify the status of each.
Sorry, and please be patient.
Doctor...
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the Jazz Symphony is a bit sloppy (and disappointing), but the Sonatas are wonderful! The Ballet Mecanique is quite delightful as well. Now that I've been exposed to this, I plan to seek out the EMF recording of it that gidouille alludes to. Additionally wondering what year it was that MTT conducted the piece with the SF Symphony.
Thanks Doctor.
Hey Miles- There are two other recordings of the Ballet Mecanique here in A Closet- click on the
ReplyDelete"George Antheil" label and go.
Yes, the Jazz Symphony is a bit disappointing:(Not simply the performance, but the composition as well-It's a bunch of cliches strung together, more or less, though some of the turns of phrase are pretty funny.(I can see, though, why it would be compared unfavorably with "Rhapsody In Blue", which is a far better piece,if I had to choose, which I don't). One of my favorite Antheil works is the Airplane Sonata- A very exciting work and a great companion to the violin sonatas - though I'm not bowled over by Steffen Schleiermacher's interpretation in "Bad Boys". My favorite,(having heard only three interpretations) is on a Vox Box- "Piano Music In America- Vol.2:1900-1945" featuring a lot of great stuff.It's played by Roger Shields and is the only thing I have of this pianist.
Thanks again for your two cents.
MTT conducted the Ballet Mecanique in June 2000.
ReplyDeleteAnother American Mavericks Series begins in a couple weeks with performances scheduled in SF, Ann Arbor, Chicago and NYC. No Antheil, at least for the SF concerts, but they're performing Amériques again. You can find the full run down here:
http://americanmavericks.org/events/
What I would give to be at Carnegie Hall at 8pm on Mar. 28. Orchestral transcriptions aren't my thing, but I'd make an exception in this case.
ReplyDeletePretty close to the imaginary program I mentioned above.
thanks for the info Gidouille, it's appreciated.