Indebted 2

George Antheil's one-hit wonder was the Ballet Mécanique. Although Antheil was a first-rate composer, it should be mentioned that most of his other works - the symphonies in particular - will sound somewhat conservative by comparison, at least in terms of means of expression and harmonic language. They are nevertheless chockful of fascinating ideas, imaginative developments, energy, color and spirit. Stylistically both symphonies here appear to be somewhat indebted to Russian contemporaries - the first symphony has touches of Petrouchka, and the sixth sounds very much indebted to Prokofiev, yet both of Antheil's works are unmistakably American.

D’Indy was a contemporary of Debussy and Ravel, and a pupil of César Franck. Fauré described him as ‘The Samson of Music’ for his multifarious and generous-minded work as a composer, conductor, educator and propagandist who greatly strengthened French musical culture. Today the music of d’Indy is sadly neglected, which is why Chandos and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra have decided to embark upon a series devoted to his orchestral works with conductor Rumon Gamba. With a style essentially eclectic and strongly influenced above all by Beethoven and Wagner, d’Indy particularly excelled in orchestral composition. He drew particular inspiration from his native region in southern France, and formed a body of post-romantic works richly orchestrated, often inflected with folk-like melodies and employing Franck’s well-known ‘cyclic method’.