- George Antheil
Ballet mécanique (revised version)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Revised 1953.
- timp.5-10perc.glock.2-6xyl/4pf
- 16 min
Media
Scores
Reviews
The music in Ballet méchanique is something few people are likely to forget, even from just one hearing. Play it for friends, or, better yet, for teenagers who think classical music is stuffy, straitlaced fare. They'll take notice: driving rhythms and bell-like sonorities abound, as the music relentlessly moves forward in a mechanical manner, owing mainly to the hyperactivity of the pianos and xylophones (four and two each, respectively, in the revised version). The work can be described as a 1920s view of space-age music. Yet, it isn't as avant garde-sounding as you might think, having an ebb-and-flow sense and a graspable structure. In the end, anyone interested in landmarks of 20th century orchestral music will want this excellently-played and – led performance on Naxos.
[In] Ballet Mécanique, its "machine age" percussion riffs now sound fun rather than subversive.
Discography
- LabelNaxos
- Catalogue Number8.55906
- ConductorDaniel Spalding
- EnsemblePhiladelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra