George Antheil
Classical
The next George Antheil concert is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, 2026 at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, Netherlands. See all 1 upcoming concerts
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About George Antheil
Hometown
Trenton, United States of America
Born
1900
Genre
Classical
Born in 1900 to German immigrants in Trenton, New Jersey, George Antheil was a fascinating figure who helped expand modern notions of music through the use of industrial machinery as a sound source. Although he failed to complete high school, Antheil’s enthusiasm and ambition as a pianist and budding composer attracted a string of patrons, teachers, and advocates, such as Marie Louise Curtis Bok, who funded him for two decades, including his studies at the Philadelphia Settlement Music School. In 1922, he moved to Europe, where he composed his most famous work, Ballet Mécanique, which was conceived as the score for a film by the same name by experimental filmmakers Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy. Antheil presented the proto-industrial score—which deployed giant airplane propellers to generate a machine-like presence—throughout Europe and the US before it accompanied the film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1935. The following year, he traveled to Los Angeles, where he became a prolific film composer. While there he met actress Hedy Lamarr, and together they earned a patent for a radio guidance system for torpedoes, a technology eventually embraced by the US military in 1962. He also worked as a writer, penning columns as well as a crime novel edited by T.S. Eliot. His orchestra, chamber, and solo music has gained resonance in the years since his death in 1959, particularly his use of unconventional sound sources.
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