American composer George Antheil (1900-1959) is chiefly remembered for his Ballet Mécanique, which made him famous at its 1926 Paris premiere. Following the ballet’s failure in the United States, Antheil’s musical career went into a tailspin during the 1930s, recovering only when he moved to Hollywood in 1942 to work in film. Antheil’s experiences as a war correspondent led to the composition of his Symphony No. 4 “1942”. Although he was proud of finally developing an “American style”, the work carries the unmistakable influence of Shostakovich. The motor rhythms, wild woodwind runs, dissonance, and free-tonality are highly reminiscent of the “Age of Gold” ballet. Clearly a wartime piece, the music incorporates plenty of marches and militant fanfare passages. Antheil’s Sixth Symphony (1946) reflects his work as a film composer. The music has a dramatic, narrative quality, and is more overtly “American” in its Ivesian quotations of popular battle hymns. The slow waltz of the second movement provides a welcome break from the hustle and bustle, while the finale bears some similarity to the music of Prokofiev. The concert overture McKonkey’s Ferry was inspired by the image of George Washington’s Delaware crossing and is in the same busy, mostly tuneless style as the symphonies. Theodore Kuchar and the National Symphony of Ukraine bring as much fervor to this music as they did to their (first rate) Naxos Prokoviev recordings. The recorded sound is bright, but lacks warmth.
