Over the Plains (1945)

Over the Plains is a jaunty celebration of America and the plains of Texas... For Antheil this piece was "as gay as a young man walking alongside his covered wagon with his little family inside," of course ignoring all of the grinding hard labour, poverty, danger and sickness that these pioneers endured. There are indeed some darker moments in this music, but it is largely a well-crafted blast of Americana with a few touches of Ives in its mixing of themes.