Tag: CD

Antheil the Futurist

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Liner Notes for Antheil the Futurist In 1920, a brash young composer from New Jersey named George Antheil decided to be the “most ultra” of the avant-garde, quarreled with his teachers, and transformed himself into a concert pianist. His cousin Robert Antheil remembered many years later: “At that time George was getting ready for his trip to Europe and was practicing all day long. The keys on the piano were worn through the ivory and down into the wood. He attacked the piano fiercely. When his fingers got very sore

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Antheil 2nd Piano Concerto

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A concert pianist and vanguard composer, George Antheil (1900-1959) became known as the “Bad Boy of Music.” The ultimate American in Paris, Antheil was an avant-garde provocateur of the first order who made his name composing iconoclastic compositions: the loudest and brashest classical music of his time. But this album gives us three new performances-two of them world-premiere recordings-which reveal another, forgotten side of antheil, the incurable romantic. Written in 1926, after the the height of Antheil’s radical period, the Piano Concerto No. 2 is an experiment in classical form.

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The Lost Sonatas of George Antheil

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Sotto Voce with Fist: The Story of Antheil’s “Lost” Sonatas Just as John Cage was probably the most notorious American composer of the post-war twentieth century, George Antheil was the most notorious of the pre-war era. Antheil’s succés de scandale was astonishing, making him the rival of Stravinsky and Satie. As with Cage, Antheil’s eagerness to foment revolution came from his daring instrumentation, surprising pronouncements, and anti-establishment attitudes. Works like the Ballet mécanique–scored for 16 mechanical pianos, airplane propellers, percussion, and siren–literally blew people away and caused riots in the

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Winter Music

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Recorded under the supervision of John Cage in 1991, and directed by Stephen Drury, with the Caluthumpian Consort: we recorded for Mode Records at Jordan Hall (New England Conservatory), Boston. Pianists include Alanna Battat, Guy Livingston (arrangement) and Joanna Kovitz…

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Don’t Panic: sixty seconds for piano

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“Daring to be New” —Allan Kozinn, The New York Times “All about risk” —Sports Illustrated “Bravura emblematic of the richness than one minute can hold… A postmodern fantasy.. Superbly shows off Guy Livingston’s vocal and fingerwork virtuosity.” —Le Monde “The composers create radical and independent worlds, full of charm or anguish.” Coup de Coeur Award —Piano Magazine “Cutting Edge”—Paris Free Voice “Taking Excess to Extremes” —Bernard Holland, The New York Times The CD mixes a wide range of new music styles ranging from jazzy and neo-classical works through virtuosic- serialism

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