George Antheil: Symphony No.6 (1947/1948)

[@andrewgoldstein5633]

Worth listening to for the beautiful slow movement alone!

[@KeithOtisEdwards]

A sound and original work! It's a disgrace that no American orchestras program his music instead of _The Firebird Suite_ and Tchaikovsky's _Fifth_ yet again.

[@andrewgoldstein5633]

Worth listening to the slow movement

[@moosatious]

Yes, I do hear hints of another composer here, but not a Russian. Anyone ever hear of Havergal Brian? I'd be very surprised if Antheil ever did.

[@ronaldbwoodall2628]

Just when I was tempted to think that Antheil never took himself (his music) too seriously apart from his wartime Fourth Symphony, I was confronted with this disarming, mesmerizing 'larghetto' - but then from behind the curtain came a "slippet" of Prokofiev, which hardly broke the mood. I guess I could say he was never totally himself! The final 'allegro' seemed too much of a contrast, but nonetheless I got caught up in its ebullient good spirits. Was Antheil a great composer? No way, but I find it impossible not to enjoy his music.

[@andrewpetersen5272]

ronald b woodall if you find it impossible to not like his music He may be a greater composer than you think!

[@andrewpetersen5272]

he was a great composer.

[@robrophside3691]

Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!

[@domenecfustersuch1276]

Pure Prokofiev. He almost quotes the fifth symphony finale.

[@jdoggtn7]

A common accusation. But generally, whenever the suspect passages are highlighted, they prove to be orchestrations borrowed from Antheil's own opera Transatlantic , which he wrote in 1930. The similarity to Soviet composers of the era is obvious- particularly a sort of mood and handling of musical materials. But again, research reveals that the passages that "sound like" Prokofiev or Shostakovich are often orchestrations of material that Antheil composed long before the works he is accused of imitating. It may not be total coincidence that another America, Charles Ives, was similarly accused of imitating Arnold Schoenberg and Paul Hindemith, composers whose works he was completely unfamiliar with.

[@paulamrod537]

This piece has little to do with Prokofiev outside of the perpetually running rhythm.

[@Renee2004lr]

Funny, I have heard all his symphonies and don't think this comes even close to ANY of Prokofiev's works. Don't know what's wrong with your ears.

[@sergioazevedo7390]

@@Renee2004lr Please study the scores and you will discover that the problem is with you... he borrows heavily from Prokofiev and Shostakovich 5th Symphonies, perhaps because are the most well-known symphonies of these composers (The "Classical" is very popular but in a category of her own).

[@sergioazevedo7390]

"Almost"? He is very clearly shouting: "This is Prokofiev, but I like it, so I used it!!" :)

[@thevector384]

George antheil= prokofiev+ Stravinsky+Shostakovich+George antheil 😐😂