George Antheil was the darling of the ‘Lost Generation’ of artists, numbering Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and Igor Stravinsky among his earliest supporters. He earned early notoriety with his 1925 Ballet Mécanique, composed for an orchestra consisting of percussion instruments, player pianos, electric buzzers and even an airplane propeller. Antheil later settled in Hollywood where he composed music for films and television.

The works on this recording, which include two CD premières, the Symphony No. 6 and McKonkey’s Ferry, come from the latter part of Antheil’s life when he increasingly adopted classical forms. They draw upon jazz syncopations and the melodic feel of popular song in the composer’s quest to develop a unique ‘American style’.