Sym.1, 6: H.wolff / Frankfurt.rso

Like a character in a picaresque novel, George Antheil left Philadelphia with the support of a wealthy patron and confidently set out to conquer the musical world. He stormed London, Berlin, and Paris with recitals meant to emulate the success-by-scandal that his idol Igor Stravinsky had enjoyed with 'The Rite of Spring.' He called himself the "bad boy of music" and probably lived up to the name best with his 'Ballet mechanique,' which featured a bevy of player pianos and an airplane engine.
The Symphony No. 1 reflects its composer's ambitious wandering, as it meanders episodically, picking up bits of Strauss, early Bartok, jazz, and lots of 'Petrouchka,' mixing it all into a dreamlike flow of "night music" punctuated by discordant orchestral effects. The "Ragtime" finale sounds a lot like the aforementioned puppet dancing the can-can. The Sixth is a wartime symphony, full of rambunctious industry and reminiscent of the parallel efforts of Prokofiev and Shostakovich; in fact, parts of the larghetto waltz are eerily like the slow movement of the latter's First Piano Concerto.
REVIEWS:
Fanfare (7-8/00, pp.121-122) - "...I can recommend this release without reservation as filling a large gap in the recorded 20th-century native repertoire--and filling it with outstanding flair and musicianship as well as casting a bright spotlight on a much misunderstood figure."