 Devoted to the revival of the first version of George Antheil's amazingly prophetic 1924 composition, Ballet Mécanique. Come visit it periodically—the information will be updated often. |
a
work in progress
by Paul D. Lehrman |
|
In
San Francisco:
"A huge, glorious din!" said
the San Francisco Chronicle. |
 |
|
The
Ballet Mécanique on CD!
The World Premiere Recording of the 1924 version of George Antheil's Ballet mécanique, for three xylophones, four bass drums, tam-tam, two pianos, seven electric bells, three airplane propellors, siren, and 16 synchronized player pianos, is now available on the Electronic Music Foundation label. "Outrageously
entertaining" says the review in |
At
Carnegie Hall!
Dennis
Russell Davies and the American Composers Orchestra outdid themselves in a spectacular
performance of the Ballet mécanique on April 2. 
wrote:
“This was probably the performance
that Antheil had always wanted to hear.”
Read the whole review…
At
Lowell, Massachusetts!
The World Premiere of this
amazing piece took place November 18, 1999, at the University of Massachusetts
Lowell. Listening to the Webcast on wgbh.org, the San Francisco Chronicle
said, "I had been in the presence
of Great Art (unqualified and non-ironic) only three times prior to Thursday....
I add the first performance of Antheil's Ballet mécanique to that
list."
More reviews here…
| So what the heck is the Ballet Mécanique??? |
| The
Ballet Mécanique on the air… |
November 18, 1999, with Chuck Kraemer December
16, 1999 on Ideal-TV's America America, June 14, 2000 on ZDTV |
|
and in the press… |
Read
this major article in
Articles in Electronic Musician and Sound on Sound magazines. |
| historical
audio files and excerpts: |
Antheil
Speaks!
Three excerpts from a 1958 interview |
Copyright © 2000 by Paul D. Lehrman.
All rights reserved
Illustrations, except as noted, adapted from "Bad
Boy of Music", by George Antheil, published by Samuel French
© 1945 by George Antheil, © 1973 by Elisabeth Antheil and Peter R.
Antheil
Used by permission of the Estate of George Antheil
