Bad Boy of Music

George Antheil wrote a fascinating autobiography, Bad Boy of Music, and a lot of "bad boy" music before he settled down to a career as a mainstream film composer. His Ballet mécanique still has a lot of life in it, but most of this piano music is simply dated: nose-thumbing naughty stuff that doesn't convince anymore. Antheil had obviously heard Prokofiev's famous Sonata No. 7 before writing his own Sonata No. 4. You may enjoy the Valentine Waltzes, which find a convincing balance between romance and dissonance. And pianist Marthanne Verbit obviously takes this music more seriously than the rest of us will.

The Airplane Sonata, for piano (a.k.a. "Second Sonata"), W. 40
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

Sonata Sauvage, for piano, W. 41
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 1
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 2
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 3
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 4
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 5
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 6
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 7
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 8
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 9
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 10
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 11
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 12
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 13
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 24
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 25
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 26
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 40
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 43
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 44
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

La Femme 100 Têtes, preludes (45) for piano inspired by etchings of Max Ernst, W. 60 No. 45
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

Little Shimmy, for piano, W. 45
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

Tango aus der Oper Transatlantic, for piano, W. 311 (arranged by Alexander Steinbrecher)
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

Sonata, for piano No. 4 (the second "No. 4"), W. 71
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit

Valentine Waltzes (11), for piano, W. 74
Composed by George Antheil
with Marthanne Verbit