George Antheil - Ballet Mecanique

George Antheil via last.fm

Ballet Mécanique was originally written to accompany a Dadaist film of the same name, directed by Dudley Murphy and Fernand Léger, with cinematography by Man Ray. Originally scored for 16 player pianos and a large percussion battery, Anthiel found it impossible to properly synchronize the player pianos in a live performance - so he substituted four human pianists at the premiere. Thanks to modern technology  this all-robotic version of George Antheil's infamous Dada provocation can now be heard in its original conception. Features new robotic instruments from LEMUR: League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots (http://lemurbots.org)


The setting is the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., March 12 - May 7 2006.