George Antheil

* Symphony Nr.1 "Zingareska"
* Symphony Nr.6 "After Delacroix"
* Achipelago-Rhumba

Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt/Hugh Wolff
CPO 999604-2 [DDD] TT: 62:35

Summary for the busy executive: What is the bad boys road more? sad or
beautiful?

George Antheil really wanted to conquer the world.  As many young men
with too much testosterone knew, to conquer the world means to get eternal
life; to by showered with glory and be mentioned in the history books,
and it is just necessary to ba able to stand life and even oneself.
Now Herostratos solved this problem in his own way: he is mentioned
in the history, and will be remembered as long as the Greek culture is
remembered, likely.  His deed was so horrifying - he destroyed what the
Greeks consenced was the foremost of beauty: the temple of Artemis in
Halikarnassos.  The fire was lit on and the Greeks had to give him fame,
neither them wanted or not.  Now many would argue and agree that Herstratos
got a very special notoriousness labelled after him, that he cheated, and
therefore only can be said to have got an A- as mark.  To get the A without
minus is of course the main target, like Alexander of Machedon, Julius
Kaisar, of Napoleon.  But one doesn't need to conquer the world so
concrete.  The art historians of 16th century of Italy were concerned
that the genial Leon Battista Alberti, whom today is most known for
his architectural buildings which still are left, some cathedrals
perticulary...but in his time was regarded the sharpest mind since
Arkimedes and the most honorable polyhistor since Aristoteles, should have
the bronze medal, and finer than him - on silver - should come nobody, to
mark the greatness of Leonardo from Vinci, who was honoured with the golden
lion.  There is respect with the mark A.  Of course Mozart and Beethoven
didn't lead any Napoleonic armies on the battle field; their soldiers were
the notes, their battlefield a sheet of paper with black stripes on, their
musquets had the shape of trombones, their cannons were the strike on the
big drum, and their field marschall was named "General Bass".

To conquer the world Antheil travelled in Shuttletraffic between New York,
London, Paris, Berlin and Hollywood, from the traditionalist manners to
jazz, to the uttermost modernism in Ballet Mechanique.  A child prodigy
he took his first piano and violin lessons at age six.  The Liszt pupil
Constantin von Sternberg gave him more advanced pianolessons, which gave
him a phenomeonal technique, and thereto his profound knowledge of theory.
He took at 19 lessons from nobody lesser than Ernest Bloch, but had to quit
due to lack of funds.  But Antheil entered peoples life as "A Stormwind an
April Morning" as August Strindberg says it.  Four years later, Mary Louise
Bok, the founder of the Curtis Institute, was impressed enough by his
talents to send him an monthly gift of 150 dollars, to keep him floating.
Antheil, who was of German/Polish origin headed for Europe.  The journey
took the way over London where he amazed the Wigmore Halls audience with
playing Chopin like Strawinsky, and most important of all: Strawinsky
like Antheil.  A bad boy was born.

In Berlin he met the conductor Rudolph Schulz-Dornburg - or Mr. Schluz
von Dornberg as Antheil said.  Apparently names wasnt his stong side.  In
his early youth he also had problems with a certain Mr. Dombrowski...  -
R.S-D premiered his first symphony and Antheil described the premiere with
enthusiasm, but also slightly frightened.  Antheil writes how the conductor
lifted his baton and sunk it, the orchestra struck, the first accord was
taken on....and it sounded exactly like he had thought when he wrote it
with his pen.  But he also found weaknesses in the structural work with the
form, that he wasn't aware of when he wrote it.  "The performance is
naturally the ultimate test" he remarks in his memoires.  But this self
criticism is common in composers, and is in my opinion the most dangerous
circumstance that can prevent them from writing music or good music.
Antheil, who loved Tjajkovskijs music could have heard him murmble the same
thing at the premiere of his 5th symphony, had he been present at that
occasion.

For now Atheil shouldn't stay long in Berlin.  The year was the tumultuous
one of 1923 and Germanys economy went down in hyperinflation.  Antheil
quickly decided Berlin was only the start of his career, and he went to
Paris, to have his money still in value, and with the hope to meet Igor
Strawinsky, who was his great idol.  In Paris he made friends with
Ernst Hemmingway, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, and other prominent
avant-guardists.  He composed pianosonatas after mechanical schemes, and
when he performed them at Theatre de Champs-Elysees, he made a scandal
comparable to the one the choreography of "Le Sacre du Printemps" caused
(this was 04.10.1923).  He became more and more famous, seemingly with
every jazzinspired ultrastrawinski pianorecital he gave.  He could have had
a good life here, but he still had too much testosterone.  Antheil was a
Richard Wagner with money.  His wife had to read endless variations on "If
I only had dollars...", and she more than once pointed a warning finger to
him.  With dollars he did not only wanted money per se, but also the fame
of the New World.  He composed a piece for Piano, Pianola, Percuassion
and a "airplane-rattle", with which he should tamen the world.  Ballet
Mechanique had its permiere in Carnige Hall, but became a great flop.
Much thanks to the reason that the arrangers insisted on having a real
airplane-motor on the stage, which literally blew the orchestra and the
audience away.  When his Pianoconcerto flopped in the same wave, he seemed
to have gotten a little tamed.  He dabbled with other thighs for some years
- among them he wrote kitsch for a lovemagazine ("Boy advices Girl"),
agiatated about the World War II, and invented a remote-control torpedo, of
all strange things.  Clearly he was multitalented.  He moved to Hollywood,
got a filmmusic contract which endured him 2 months of work with income for
the rest of the year, and had his Symphony Nr.4 published by Boosey &
Hawkes.  From that day he was financically independent.  he wrote operas,
symphonies, a violinconcerto, and in 1947 he was, according to a survey,
the after Gershwin, Copland and Barber, the most frequent played American
composer.  Nevertheless he might have felt frustration in his later years.
His production declined and he died from heart failure relatively young (At
age 58).

To me Antheil is a sort of a mystery.  By all means he was one of the most
talented Americans who ever set notes on paper, but ouch what a messy man!
Nobody has started composing the same pianoconcerto as many times as him.
Linda Withesitt had a helluva of work sorting out his Violinsonatas.  His
symphonies include 2 unnumbered, so that 4th numberlabelled symphony is
actually his nr.5, and his nr.7 (fragment) is actually nr.9.  When I listen
to his symphonies I can hear remisences of Strawinsky, Sjostakovitj,
Tjajkovskij, Beethoven and Bruckner in a helluva mixture.  The booklet adds
hints of remiscences to Weber opera, Prokofijevs 5th, and the song "John
Brown" in the 6th symphony.  One might think that the title "Zingareska"
are suggesting the as traditionally seen roaming life of Gypsies as an
allegory for Atheil himslef roaming the genres and styles.  The most damned
thing is just that he does it damned well!  I am no particualry hot fan of
Ballet Mechanique and its derivatives, but these symphonies are wonderful.
The critics hunted down the public success of Antheils first symphony.
Antheil, in his charming autobiograhy "The Bad Boy in Music" (of 1945,
which I hope you take time to read as it is very entertaining and
informative meanwhile) he explains the continious bad criticism that he
wasn't good enough for the snobs with detesting atonality and dodecaphony
and yet not formal enough, but that doesn't help when Krenek has success at
about the same time with his 2nd symphony which is neither atonal nor
dodecaphonic, and goes and develops in a formal or traditional pattern.
One strike from the critic was that his symphonic works in particular
are "loose" symphonically.  I think this can be a circumscription; the
developing in Antheils symphonies might be a little tricky to get at first,
but I think they are good enough to work.  I think it is rather on a more
philosophical level Antheil gets problems.  In his letters he continiously
complained that "Americas commersialism threatens to engulf me" etc, and
the themes he choose in his symphonies: Communist warhorse melodies and
tunes, and the title suggesting DeLaCroix French Revolutionary Freedom
Painting, makes a more than dubious flirtmessage to "American
Commersialism".  Especially as his technique is so much
Media-Age-Copy-'n-Paste - a product of American Commersialism - as it can
get.  Rautavaara and Schnittke has no chance in comparision.  He stands as
a forerunner for the Media Age composers, and his has pasted his sometimes
even Beethovenian bits with the outermost secure and understanding for
technique and craftmanship.  Boy did he like to conquer America, he ended
up tamed in Hollywood, honoured, but probably not the way he wanted.

Frankfurts Radios Symphony Orchestra under Hugh Wolff playes with
joy and great secure throughout, and the result is a very fresh fruit.
Particualry the "Archipelago"-Rhumba, which is a perfect pendang to
Gershwins "Cuban Ouverute" (and thereby a bit different and more coherent
in style than the smphonies) is a good example for the busy executive.
Especially the brass plays with a dancing jazzy style, with great secure,
seemingly well used to play music of more modern kind than 19th century,
and the strings have a warm solid sound, which makes very good in this
music.  Although the Kuchar set on Naxos wins in price, I would conclude
that this performance is so fine that it is well worth the extra money.
Sound is fine too, rich and clear.

Mats Norrman
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