Antheil: Symphony No. 3 "American"; Tom Sawyer; Hot-Time Dance; McKonkey's Ferry; Capital of the World.(Sound Recording Review)

Antheil: Symphony No. 3 "American"; Tom Sawyer; Hot-Time Dance; McKonkey's Ferry; Capital of the World. Hugh Wolff, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. CPO 777 040-2.

In the 1940s a survey indicated that the four American composers whose works were most often performed at that time were George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, and George Antheil. Remarkable, considering that now, more than fifty years on, the first three composers are still immensely popular and the fourth, Antheil, is practically unknown.

American composer George Antheil (1900-1959) was a self-proclaimed "bad boy" of music in the 1920s, going forth to Europe to set the world on fire in the manner of his hero, Igor Stravinsky. There was a difference, of course. Stravinsky wrote the music to back him up. Antheil's music, on the other hand, sounds more like the Hollywood film scores he eventually wrote to earn him and his family money.

Antheil's Third Symphony (1939) is subtitled "American," and while it is certainly very American in its themes and reflections on American life, it is hardly a "symphony" at all. It is more like a series of tone poems, each section a description of a different part of the country. I found most it noisy. The shorter works on ...