Bad Boy brother’s plane is found

Bad Boy brother’s plane is found

RIP

norman lebrecht

June 06, 2024

Finnish and Estonian newspapers report that the wreckage of a civilian airliner shot down by the Russians on June 14, 1940 has been found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

The plane had been flying from Talinn to Helsinki. Among those on board was Henry William Antheil, a US Embassy official in Helsinki and brother of the composer George Antheil, self-styled Bad Boy of Music.

A Russian general later admitted shooting down the plane.

Comments

  • chet says:

    hard to imagine what a bad boy of music from the 1940s could be

    • Peter San Diego says:

      Take a listen to Antheil’s airplane propeller symphony, and you’ll get an idea. (Much of his other music is pretty conventional, and perhaps his most lasting achievement is his co-invention, with Hedy Lamarr, of frequency-hopping spread-spectrum communication.)

      • Hmus says:

        That was one instrument in antheil’s Ballet Mechanique, from 1924, early in his career. It also featured player pianos and sirens, somewhat ahead of Varese.He ended up writing more conventional symphonies and a few film scores.

    • V. Lind says:

      Look him up. Now THIS guy is worth a bio-pic!

    • john says:

      Jazz…

    • soavemusica says:

      What a relief, then, to hear that the NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, on his European tour, assures there is no military threat from Russia regarding the Baltic and Nordic countries.

      Why, that leaves Europe free to assist Ukraine in their suicide.

  • Lyle says:

    Fascinating. Antheil’s autobiography, Bad Boy of Music, is infinitely readable and highly recommended.

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