Mechanical ballet

The mechanical Ballet is the most known work of George Antheil (1900 - 1959), American type-setter, written between 1923 and 1925, with a revision in 1953.

Its orchestration is very particular since it includes/understands several Piano S, of the electric stamps, a propeller, a whole of percussions. Work was initially written for an orchestra of 16 pianos, Xylophone and percussions before the unit is extended to other more heteroclite instruments. Its inspiration is futuristic, even dadaïste. The term of ballet is somewhat usurped, the type-setter not having envisaged choreography strictly speaking, from its music, supposed being initially the soundtrack of a film.

Creation took place on June 19th, 1926, with the Théâtre of the Fields-Elysées with a success which was not repeated in the United States one year later. Fernand Leger and Dudley Murphy made a film in 1924 of it with the participation of Man Ray.

Work is composed of only one movement and its execution requires approximately a little more than one fifteen minutes.

External bonds

Imdb Card of the film
work on the site of Ircam
Site in English devoted to the '' mechanical Ballet ''

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