Composer, born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He studied in New York City under Ernest Bloch, spending some years in Europe as a professional pianist before becoming known as the composer of the Jazz Symphony (1925), the Ballet Mécanique (1926), and the opera Transatlantic (1930). The sensation caused by the ballet, written for 10 pianos and a variety of eccentric percussion instruments, overshadowed his more traditional later works, which include five symphonies, concertos, operas, and chamber music.
George Antheil (Trenton, New Jersey, June 8, 1900 – New York City, February 12, 1959), American composer and pianist.
George Antheil was an infamous avant-garde composer of the early twentieth century.
From 1916, Antheil studied piano under, first, Constantine von Sternberg of Philadelphia and then Ernest Bloch of New York. Here, Antheil received formal instruction in composition. In 1922, Antheil leaped into his concert career with a European tour. Audiences in Budapest got so restless sometimes that Antheil would pull a pistol from his jacket and lay it on the piano to make people pay attention.
Around the time of this tour, von Sternberg introduced the young Antheil to his patron of the next two decades: Mary Louise Curtis Bok, founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. As critical as she was to his livelihood however, Antheil never acknowledges her in his autobiography.
By 1923, Antheil had married Böski Markus and moved to Paris. Obviously, the soundtrack had to be scrapped, although the film credits still included Antheil. Antheil became known as the “bad boy of music.”
Antheil took Ballet Mécanique to Carnegie Hall in New York the following year. The Americans seemed less enthusiastic: they expressed mild amusement, but they would never accept Antheil as a “serious” composer. Antheil remained in France as a Guggenheim scholar for a few more years, during which time he wrote his opera Transatlantic, but the Depression brought him back to the US in 1932.
Apart from music, Antheil had many other pursuits.
Antheil continued to work hard through the last years of his life.
Other Notes on Antheil:
Ezra Pound helped to promote Antheil's compositions early in his career and introduced him to writer Natalie Barney, who provided financial backing and hosted the premiere of Antheil's First String Quartet in 1926. The Anthology Film Archive's 2001 version of the print with Antheil's score is believed to be Léger's original print, presented at the Vienna premiere in September 1924 by Frederick Kiesler.
During the 1920s, Antheil frequently toured and performed with violinist Olga Rudge, the mistress of his friend Ezra Pound.
Antheil was not of Polish descent as he claimed, nor was he Jewish as others thought. His family immigrated to the USA from Ludwigswinkel, Germany .)
Long after his death, his work in yet another field was belatedly recognized: he and Hedy Lamarr are popularly credited with inventing the frequency-hopping spread spectrum technique for signal transmission in 1942, although in fact they were preceded by numerous other inventors who had, and even patented, the idea. George was married to Boski Antheil and with her had one son Peter Antheil, along with another son, Chris Beaumont, who struggles to be recognized by the Antheil estate and his half brother, Peter.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center has a large number of Antheil works, especially original manuscripts and letters. various reprints and languages)
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