Specter

In the words of Duo Odéon: "... We met during our first year as doctoral students at Arizona State University, developing a natural collaborative energy when Hannah began writing her dissertation on Antheil's three Parisian violin sonatas. Over the course of six months, we discovered the very limits of our technical and musical skill as we worked through each piece. We thrived on the raw energy and driving aggression of Antheil's early sonatas, finding beauty in their vivacity and quirky athleticism. In the fall of 2016, we received an email... informing us of a newly discovered Antheil work for violin and piano, found amongst the late violinist Werner Gebauer's papers. Marc Gebauer, his son, had unearthed a set of three short waltzes, Valses from "Specter of the Rose," an arrangement of music from Antheil's 1947 film score for Specter of the Rose. As we studied Gebauer's Valses, we learned that Antheil and Gebauer's relationship extended far beyond successful musical collaboration into friendship, mirroring our own musical relationship. Over the course of their collaboration, Antheil composed two works specifically for Gebauer, his 1945 Sonatina for Violin and Piano and his 1946 Violin Concerto... In the ink of the handwritten manuscript at the Library of Congress, we could see Antheil's borrowed melodies and ideas from earlier works pop out of the page, transformed for Gebauer's technical brilliance... In our recording we have attempted to remain as close to the handwritten score as possible... With these three pieces, we have come to a deeper understanding of the collaboration and friendship between two incredible musicians..."