denny Schools Periods & Styles book

George Antheil (1900-1959) Dreams (1934-35) ballet music I. Introduction 0:00 II. Andante 0:45 III. Polka 2:51 IV. Rat 4:00 V. Acrobat 5:27 VI. The King's March VII. Can-Can VIII. Valse IX. Finale & Epilogue Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Spalding Painting: "Shaker barns" by Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) In 1934-35, Antheil was working for Ben Hecht and Charlie MacArthur as music director of their film studio in Astoria, Queens, which provided him with valuable new experience in orchestration. And he was composing a dance score for Martha Graham (Dance in Four Parts) based on his piano collection, La Femme 100 Têtes. Antheil recalled later that since '[choreographer George] Balanchine was looking for an American ballet sufficiently Parisian! I regret to say that he found exactly the combination of Americanness [sic] and Parisianness he wished in me. He had attended the premiere of [Antheil's opera] Helen Retires, liked it (he was probably the only one), and on the strength of that commissioned me to write him a ballet. I did. It was called Dreams and had a décor by Derain, explained by Balanchine in gorgeous Balanchinesque choreography.' While they did share a recent Parisian history, Balanchine had already met Antheil in New York, through an introduction by the Russian dancer Lisa Parnova ... What Antheil doesn't mention is that Dreams had a prior existence, in Paris. It was called Les Songes, and Darius Milhaud wrote the music in 1933. The plot was based ...