Propelling Music: George Antheil (1900-1959)

[Karl Henning]

... only meager relief from the pictorial crudities.

Love it!

[cilgwyn]

Let's hear it for Symphonies 1 & 6! Although,I must admit I'm listening to a boxed set of the blues singer,Ma Rainey at the moment (well it arrived in the post today!!)

[cilgwyn]

I just posted this in the "What are you listening to now",thread.

"I got this through the post today and I am listening to it now! I actually resisted this cd for a long time because I had the emi cd of American ballet music,with the old mono recordings of Schuman's scandalously neglected Undertow,Morton Goulds Fall River Legend,which I rather like,and Antheil's Capital of the World. All in very good,but also,very mono recordings! Anyway,to get to my point  .......the Antheil on the emi cd includes flamenco dancing. Some of the reviews I read suggested that the ballet just wasn't as good without the foot stamping noises,and yes,it is quite fun. But then you hear this recording,and as an astute reviewer observes on Amazon,you really do need a stereo recording with a score as colourful as this. Well,listening now,I have to concur with him. I also liked his wry observation that the absence of the foot stamping noises "allows you to hear the score". Again,listening now,I totally concur. I was also slightly dubious that a  performance by Slovak musicians would be as good (perhaps some of those Marco Polo recordings led to this bias?). How wrong I was. This is a superb recording,with comparable sound quality which really makes you realise what a fantastic score this really is. In fact,I would honestly never have known it was this good from the emi recording,or the Suite,on Cpo. The performance of the symphony is also first rate. I would now,wholeheartedly,recommend this cd to Antheil admirers. More fool me for taking so long to add it to my collection! "

[vandermolen]

I received the new Chandos CD today. The performance of Symphony 4 is terrific with great urgency and the spectacular recording allows much more of the detail to be heard. Sure it shows the influence of Shostakovich, especially the Leningrad Symphony and in its use of the orchestral piano. At one point I was reminded of Sibelius too. The booklet note writer mentions Ives as well and I see what he means and yet Symphony 4 is, I think, a very original, powerful and in spiriting score. I played the finale three times in the car. Antheil thought that Symphony 5 was his greatest work but I have to say that I found it so derivative of Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet in movements 1 and 2 and Symphony 5 in the finale) as to be completely distracting. I thought that it was a big anti-climax after Symphony 4. The shorter work was an endearing piece of Americana.

[Karl Henning]

And here it is!

[asin]B06XWMVFH8[/asin]

I received the new Chandos CD today. The performance of Symphony 4 is terrific with great urgency and the spectacular recording allows much more of the detail to be heard. Sure it shows the influence of Shostakovich, especially the Leningrad Symphony and in its use of the orchestral piano. At one point I was reminded of Sibelius too. The booklet note writer mentions Ives as well and I see what he means and yet Symphony 4 is, I think, a very original, powerful and in spiriting score. I played the finale three times in the car. Antheil thought that Symphony 5 was his greatest work but I have to say that I found it so derivative of Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet in movements 1 and 2 and Symphony 5 in the finale) as to be completely distracting. I thought that it was a big anti-climax after Symphony 4. The shorter work was an endearing piece of Americana.

Well, we must wait until the third week of May for availability here in the US of A.

Dear fellow, I encourage you (after an interval, perhaps) to go back to the Fifth.  (I shan't go back and repost my review, unless you wish.)  Just because, sure, I heard all the allusions, but I did not find them distracting, but on the contrary fully enjoyed the musical give-&-take.

[vandermolen]

Well, we must wait until the third week of May for availability here in the US of A.

Dear fellow, I encourage you (after an interval, perhaps) to go back to the Fifth.  (I shan't go back and repost my review, unless you wish.)  Just because, sure, I heard all the allusions, but I did not find them distracting, but on the contrary fully enjoyed the musical give-&-take.

Will do Karl.
Maybe I was a bit harsh in my initial assessment. It has an exciting ending - although still reminiscent of Prokofiev's 5th Symphony.

[Karl Henning]

Will do Karl.
Maybe I was a bit harsh in my initial assessment.

No worries;  many of my own assessments of various pieces have been works-in-progress, and some music, I have indeed roughed up rather, after an initial hearing 

[Karl Henning]

Also, to be honest, since we at GMG explore all kinds of comparatively obscure and [either mediocre, or genuinely] undersung symphonists, it does my heart good to see the occasional negative remark, so that it is not all just cheerleading.

However, in this case, you're maligning a really fine symphony  0:)   

[cilgwyn]

I posted this yesterday,at the Art Music Forum. There are some references to members of the AMF,who don't post here,and a member of the AMF who used to post here. (Come back,Dundonnell!) I must have a been in a bit of a bad mood when I posted this,or just a bit rattled at some of the posts there,so I went in on the attack to defend a composer I do enjoy very much. Some of it is a bit ott;and if Chandos have decided to record Antheil,that's not such a bad thing. They could be recording yet another Dvorak cycle? A composer I love;but we've got quite enough,imho! And let's face it,they've made vandermolen happy;which has to be good! I think I pinched the waste of space,electricity bit (did!) from the late John Peel. I could say the same about some punk music,by the way. I like Emerson Lake & Palmer!! (Now reduced to -------------Palmer! )

"I think Antheil is a very interesting composer and I find some of his music quite fascinating. That said, the reason why his best symphonies are so interesting to people like me,who enjoy them,is because of the sheer fecundity of his imagination and brilliant ear for colourful,imaginative orchestration. In that respect it is no surprise that he was a successful film composer. I find some of his symphonies quite extraordinary for their vivid almost hallucinogenic orchestration. I would single out No's 1 & 6,in particular. I also enjoy his collage like approach to composition. Like A musical magpie incorporating allusions to other composers and,above all,his inventive assimilation of popular idioms and styles. In this respects I think Antheil is a fascinating and in his own way very original composer,and I think his music is fully deserving of more attention. On a more negative level,I would not regard him as a major symphonist because of his poor sense of structure. His collage like approach to the symphony almost works for me. He's almost like an American version of Brian in the way that he builds up his music through a process of allusion and his ideas are usually very good. He's almost like a conjurer in this sense. Making a rabbit appear magically from a hat;but you know it's not really the way it looks. It's all done by sleight of hand. In that sense he's not a good symphonist. But he's not really bad either;because he's so good at what he does. I could go so far as to class him as a sort of musical conjurer. Maybe,even to people like me,who enjoy his music,he's not really quite as good as he seems! More a David Copperfield,than a bad boy of American music. As to the Chandos series. I quite like the artwork and you'll get that big,boomy,somewhat reverberant ( somewhat superficially) spectacular Chandos sound. Apart from that,I can't think of one reason why I would want to invest in this when the Cpo cycle is so categorically superb. Much as I enjoy Antheil,I think this new cycle from Chandos is a complete waste of time,money,materials,power;and if I were to buy it,space as well! In this respect I agree with Dundonnell and Latvian. We've had totally unecessary duplication of a widely praised and totally satisfactory Atterberg cycle,duplications of Raff symphonies,already available in first rate recordings from Tudor,Vaughan Williams recordings which are unlikely to ever replace classic recordings in the publics affections,and I can confidently predict never will.......I could go on. Luckily,for everyone else,I won't!! Chandos certainly won't be getting a penny of my money until they wise up!! If they wanted to record a cycle of something that has already been recorded,I would have preferred to have seen a cycle of Tournemire symphonies. These have had some adequate recordings,and some really lousy recordings;and I have not quite made my mind up about the true value of some of them;but there is enough to arouse my interest and make me want to explore these ambitious scores via some really first rate recordings. He certainly has his own sound world and Timpani don't seem to be interested,so far. And there is so much more. We all have composers in mind,that we would like to see recorded. I find it difficult to believe that some of Piston's symphonies,for example,are only available in ancient old recordings. The absence of a really good modern recording of Harris' Fifth Symphony,one of his best symphonies,imho,is a shame. A Fricker cycle would be fantastic. Imagine hearing his best scores in state of the art digital sound? Even some Holbrooke would be preferable to this Antheil nonsense!! Are there really hundreds of Antheil groupies waiting to pounce on this new recording? If they can have a slice of the pie,why not us Holbrookeians? Holbrooke was keen on popular music,too!!

NB: I understand Gauk's point;but it does make you wonder what Chandos will be duplicating next? Yes,it may help to increase interest in this very worthwhile and entertaining composer;but
      the overriding impression I get out of is a record label that has run out of new ideas. It all feels a bit like the recording industry equivalent of those bbc remakes of old situation comedies".

[vandermolen]

I posted this yesterday,at the Art Music Forum. There are some references to members of the AMF,who don't post here,and a member of the AMF who used to post here. (Come back,Dundonnell!) I must have a been in a bit of a bad mood when I posted this,or just a bit rattled at some of the posts there,so I went in on the attack to defend a composer I do enjoy very much. Some of it is a bit ott;and if Chandos have decided to record Antheil,that's not such a bad thing. They could be recording yet another Dvorak cycle? A composer I love;but we've got quite enough,imho! And let's face it,they've made vandermolen happy;which has to be good! I think I pinched the waste of space,electricity bit (did!) from the late John Peel. I could say the same about some punk music,by the way. I like Emerson Lake & Palmer!! (Now reduced to -------------Palmer! )

"I think Antheil is a very interesting composer and I find some of his music quite fascinating. That said, the reason why his best symphonies are so interesting to people like me,who enjoy them,is because of the sheer fecundity of his imagination and brilliant ear for colourful,imaginative orchestration. In that respect it is no surprise that he was a successful film composer. I find some of his symphonies quite extraordinary for their vivid almost hallucinogenic orchestration. I would single out No's 1 & 6,in particular. I also enjoy his collage like approach to composition. Like A musical magpie incorporating allusions to other composers and,above all,his inventive assimilation of popular idioms and styles. In this respects I think Antheil is a fascinating and in his own way very original composer,and I think his music is fully deserving of more attention. On a more negative level,I would not regard him as a major symphonist because of his poor sense of structure. His collage like approach to the symphony almost works for me. He's almost like an American version of Brian in the way that he builds up his music through a process of allusion and his ideas are usually very good. He's almost like a conjurer in this sense. Making a rabbit appear magically from a hat;but you know it's not really the way it looks. It's all done by sleight of hand. In that sense he's not a good symphonist. But he's not really bad either;because he's so good at what he does. I could go so far as to class him as a sort of musical conjurer. Maybe,even to people like me,who enjoy his music,he's not really quite as good as he seems! More a David Copperfield,than a bad boy of American music. As to the Chandos series. I quite like the artwork and you'll get that big,boomy,somewhat reverberant ( somewhat superficially) spectacular Chandos sound. Apart from that,I can't think of one reason why I would want to invest in this when the Cpo cycle is so categorically superb. Much as I enjoy Antheil,I think this new cycle from Chandos is a complete waste of time,money,materials,power;and if I were to buy it,space as well! In this respect I agree with Dundonnell and Latvian. We've had totally unecessary duplication of a widely praised and totally satisfactory Atterberg cycle,duplications of Raff symphonies,already available in first rate recordings from Tudor,Vaughan Williams recordings which are unlikely to ever replace classic recordings in the publics affections,and I can confidently predict never will.......I could go on. Luckily,for everyone else,I won't!! Chandos certainly won't be getting a penny of my money until they wise up!! If they wanted to record a cycle of something that has already been recorded,I would have preferred to have seen a cycle of Tournemire symphonies. These have had some adequate recordings,and some really lousy recordings;and I have not quite made my mind up about the true value of some of them;but there is enough to arouse my interest and make me want to explore these ambitious scores via some really first rate recordings. He certainly has his own sound world and Timpani don't seem to be interested,so far. And there is so much more. We all have composers in mind,that we would like to see recorded. I find it difficult to believe that some of Piston's symphonies,for example,are only available in ancient old recordings. The absence of a really good modern recording of Harris' Fifth Symphony,one of his best symphonies,imho,is a shame. A Fricker cycle would be fantastic. Imagine hearing his best scores in state of the art digital sound? Even some Holbrooke would be preferable to this Antheil nonsense!! Are there really hundreds of Antheil groupies waiting to pounce on this new recording? If they can have a slice of the pie,why not us Holbrookeians? Holbrooke was keen on popular music,too!!

NB: I understand Gauk's point;but it does make you wonder what Chandos will be duplicating next? Yes,it may help to increase interest in this very worthwhile and entertaining composer;but
      the overriding impression I get out of is a record label that has run out of new ideas. It all feels a bit like the recording industry equivalent of those bbc remakes of old situation comedies".

What an interesting post cilgwyn and, yes, the Chandos recording did make me happy. I prefer the artwork to the CPO version ( ). I would, however, rather have seen a modern recording of Klaus Egge's contemporaneous First Symphony or a first ever CD release of Ruth Gipps's memorable Fourth Symphony.

[Karl Henning]

[...] I like Emerson Lake & Palmer!! (Now reduced to -------------Palmer! )

In interesting timing, an old mate of mine down in Florida just saw Carl Palmer do Pictures at an Exhibition this past Tuesday evening.

[Karl Henning]

I don't see anything 'superfluous' in Chandos doing a second (right?) Antheil cycle in 'rivalry' of the cpo cycle.

You may argue that, instead, they ought to record the Henning Symphony № 1, and you may just be right, at that.  But short of that unlikelihood, I don't think two Antheil cycles are too many  0:)

[vandermolen]

I don't see anything 'superfluous' in Chandos doing a second (right?) Antheil cycle in 'rivalry' of the cpo cycle.

You may argue that, instead, they ought to record the Henning Symphony № 1, and you may just be right, at that.  But short of that unlikelihood, I don't think two Antheil cycles are too many  0:)

I'll go for Henning Symphony 1 and I want the coupling to be that beautiful choral/vocal work I heard recently (please remind me of its actual title).

[Karl Henning]

I'll go for Henning Symphony 1 and I want the coupling to be that beautiful choral/vocal work I heard recently (please remind me of its actual title).

Possibly the Passion According to St John?

[vandermolen]

Possibly the Passion According to St John?

I think that's the one. Thanks Karl.

[cilgwyn]

I don't see anything 'superfluous' in Chandos doing a second (right?) Antheil cycle in 'rivalry' of the cpo cycle.

You may argue that, instead, they ought to record the Henning Symphony № 1, and you may just be right, at that.  But short of that unlikelihood, I don't think two Antheil cycles are too many  0:)

To be honest,I think I was just reacting to some of the posts at the AMF. Some of which seemed a little dismissive. I was just thinking now,how nice his fantastic (imho) Symphonies 1 & 6 will sound in lush,spacious Chandos sound!! Nah! What am I moaning about?! As to the rest. I was just trying to be deep! In fact,why not a third cycle by another rival record label? Why should Dvorak and Mahler get the multiple cycles?!!
vandermolen: I love the Cpo artwork for the Antheil cycle;but I think I do marginally prefer the Chandos. It seems more apt,for what's inside,as well.

[cilgwyn]

Also, to be honest, since we at GMG explore all kinds of comparatively obscure and [either mediocre, or genuinely] undersung symphonists, it does my heart good to see the occasional negative remark, so that it is not all just cheerleading.

However, in this case, you're maligning a really fine symphony  0:)   

I must have another listen to his Fifth. I must say,I like allot of Antheil's music,very much. That said,my favourites Antheil symphonies are 1,3 & 6;particularly 1 & 6.
I'm listening to Josef Suk's late romantic blockbusters at the moment,which may occupy me for a while?!!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Checking in with that thread. (Good to have seen it taken off..., if you will pardon the mild pun).

[vandermolen]

Oh dear, more temptation:

https://www.mdt.co.uk/antheil-george-symphony-no-3-philharmonic-john-storgards-chandos-1.html

[Brian]

Tianwa Yang and Nicholas Rimmer have recorded the Antheil violin sonatas for future Naxos release.