Title: Antheil: Songs
Artist: Alice Lackner
Label: Brilliant Classics
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 5063758976893
Genre: Classical Artists
Release Date: 2026-01-30
Number of Discs: 2

George Antheil (1900-1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, and inventor known for his radical musical style and innovative spirit. Often dubbed the "Bad Boy of Music," Antheil made his mark in the early 20th century with bold compositions that challenged traditional norms, combining dissonance, mechanical rhythms, and experimental instrumentation. He was particularly fascinated with the intersection of technology and music, a theme that permeated his work-including his infamous Ballet Mécanique (1924), a piece originally scored for synchronized player pianos, airplane propellers, and sirens.Antheil's songs are lesser-known yet deeply compelling. These vocal works, written across various periods of his career, present a more intimate and lyrical side of the composer. Though far removed from the explosive energy of his orchestral and piano music, his songs retain his signature wit, rhythmic precision, and inventive harmonies. They often set texts by poets such as James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and other literary modernists, reflecting Antheil's deep engagement with contemporary intellectual circles.The songs reveal the evolution of Antheil's musical language-from the early Dadaist-influenced miniatures to more mature, expressive works marked by greater emotional depth and nuance. They bridge European modernism and American innovation, merging cabaret, classical lieder, and jazz idioms.

Tracks:
1.1 Five Songs after Adelaide Crapsey~I. November Night
1.2 Five Songs after Adelaide Crapsey~II. Triad
1.3 Five Songs after Adelaide Crapsey~III. Suzanna and the Elders
1.4 Five Songs after Adelaide Crapsey~IV. Fate Defied
1.5 Five Songs after Adelaide Crapsey~V. The Warning
1.6 Nine Songs of Experience~I. The Garden of Love
1.7 Nine Songs of Experience~II. A Poison Tree
1.8 Nine Songs of Experience~III. The School Boy
1.9 Nine Songs of Experience~IV. The Sick Rose
1.10 Nine Songs of Experience~V. The Little Vagabond
1.11 Nine Songs of Experience~VI. I Told My Love
1.12 Nine Songs of Experience~VII. I Laid Me Down Upon a Bank
1.13 Nine Songs of Experience~VIII. Infant sorrow
1.14 Nine Songs of Experience~IX. The Tyger
1.15 Nightpiece
1.16 Schlafe, mein Kindlein
1.17 Ach, meines kleines Mädchen
1.18 Mother
1.19 Six Songs~I. The Vision of Love
1.20 Six Songs~II. Down by the Sally Gardens
1.21 Six Songs~III. The Sorrow of Love
1.22 Six Songs~IV. Lightning
1.23 Six Songs~V. I Hear an Army (fragment)
1.24 Six Songs~VI. An End Piece
2.1 Frankie and Johnny
2.2 Fable of the Redwoods
2.3 Ballade of Jesse James
2.4 Two Songs~I. You Are Old, Father William
2.5 Two Songs~II. Turtle Soup
2.6 Fünf Lieder~I. Morgenrot
2.7 Fünf Lieder~II. Auf Urlaub bin ich gegangen
2.8 Fünf Lieder~III. Wenns Dibbe aber nu e Loch hat
2.9 Fünf Lieder~IV. Was braucht ma auf an Bauerndorf
2.10 Fünf Lieder~V. Lippe-Detmold, eine wunderschöne Stadt
2.11 Bequest
2.12 Two Odes of Keats~I. Ode to a Nightingale
2.13 Two Odes of Keats~II. Ode on a Grecian Urn
2.14 Golden Day
2.15 Just One Moment, Annabelle!
2.16 Songs from A Tongue of Silver~In a Dell
2.17 Songs from A Tongue of Silver~Lady Malmonay's Witching Song
2.18 Songs from A Tongue of Silver~The Pastures of Heaven
2.19 Songs from A Tongue of Silver~Saint Colm
2.20 Sighs and Grones