Antheil Plays Antheil

Composer George Antheil (1900-1959) is most remembered for his mechanistic piano music hailed by 1920s Paris. The obsessive repetition of his Ballet Mécanique foreshadowed the entire minimalist movement. But by 1948, when he'd become the third most-played American-born composer of orchestral music, his style reflected a more emotional, more mature personality. This centennial collection highlights selections from Antheil's later "neo-romantic" period —mostly reissued from the pioneering SPA label of conductor F. Charles Adler—and including the only recordings of Antheil himself at the piano. Also here are previously unreleased items that lend new insight into one of America's most engrossing mavericks. A 60-page booklet by Charles Amirkhanian, illustrated with previously unpublished photos, accompanies this two CD set.

• DISC ONE: THE MUSIC
  1-11 Valentine Waltzes (1949)
       1      2'11
       2      1'28 (RealAudio)
       3      1'11
       4      0'44
       5      1'33
       6      0'46
       7      1'36
       8      1'53
       9      1'13
      10     1'48
      11     2'27
      George Antheil, piano
• 12-19 Eight Fragments from Shelley (1950)
       12   When Soft Winds   1'39
       13   To the Moon   1'17
       14   When the Lamp is Shattered   4'59
       15   I Stood Upon a Heaven Cleaving Turret   2'43
       16   A Dirge   3'11
       17   To-Morrow   1'24
       18   Sonnet to Byron   2'02 (Realaudio)
       19   I Faint, I Perish with My Love   4'03
     Roger Wagner Chorale
     George Antheil, piano
• 20 McKonkey’s Ferry Overture (1948)    10'15
     F. Charles Adler, Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra
• 21-23 Symphony No. 5, “Joyous” (1947-48)
       21   Allegro   8'25
       22   Adagio molto   8'09
       23   Allegretto giocoso   7'59
     Herbert Haefner, Vienna Philharmonia Orchestra
• TOTAL TIME      73'23

• DISC TWO: SPEECH & STORIES
  1-2 Two Odes of John Keats (1950)
       1   Ode on a Grecian Urn   4'10
       2   To a Nightingale   7'02
     Vincent Price, narrator
     George Antheil, piano
• 3   “The Prostitute,” from the ballet Capital of the World (1953)   1'22
     George Antheil, spoken introduction and piano
• 4   Peter Pokes a Pig (Story for Peter, 1942)   3'04
• 5   Mu-uh-uch in the Moonlight (Story for Peter, 1942)   3'23
     George Antheil, voice and piano
• 6-7 Prediction of Allied Invasion of North Africa (1942)
       6   Part One: Signposts to the Future   2'03
       7   Part Two: The Defense of Stalingrad   4'24
     Manchester Boddy, radio announcer
• 8 Biggest Muscles Waltz (Story for Peter, 1942)   3'23
• 9 Captain Peter Shoots Down Nazi Air Ship (Story for Peter, 1942)   3'35
     George Antheil, voice and piano
• 10 George Antheil Speaks (1958)   17'50
• 11 The SPA Interview (1981)   20'00
     Charles Amirkhanian interviews Hannah M. Adler and Norman Fox
• TOTAL TIME      71'08