"By issuing this essential collection of George Antheil's complete works for string quartet, this enterprising label out of the West Coast, Other Minds, is filling a significant gap in our native discography, replacing and expanding a long-deleted release on the defunct Dutch label ETC. ..."

The Del Sol Quartet, which has given the posthumous premiere readings of some of this music, obviously knows and loves these scores inside out, thus providing more incisive and insightful interpretations than the Mondrian Quartet on the earlier disc. Accompanied by a lengthy and well-informed essay by an Italian Antheil specialist, this is an indispensable contribution to the reclamation of our national musical heritage." -Paul A. Snook, FANFARE MAGAZINE (2005)

"The disc represents the first complete compilation of string quartets by Antheil, the American-born composer who became the darling of Paris in the 1920s. Audiences who loved his "Ballet Mecanique" at the S.F. Symphony a few years back will want to hear these fascinating short works, performed with consummate skill by Del Sol violinists Kate Stenberg and Rick Shinozaki, violist Charlton Lee and cellist Monica Scott." -Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times (April 1, 2005)

"This seductive must-have will surely please even the most adamant stereophile. The music is like a masterful black comedy. The kind that draws you in with its benign charm, then before you know it a guilty feeling begins to sink in as you suddenly realize that you've been chuckling at some seriously tragic profundities. The Del Sol String Quartet proves they can dish out Antheil's melancholic episodes with the necessary half-baked slant. These pieces are bouncy and sinister, lopsided but focused. Antheil has the ability to take his ideas uncomfortably far afield, reigning things in by truncating something else or juxtaposing tangential flits in between. The quartet does a valiant job contending with tried and true classical gestures and the composer's off-kilter idiosyncrasies, navigating through all the potholes unscathed." -Randy Nordschow, New Music Box (March 2005)

"The two short movements of 'Lithuanian Night' are sensational, sort of a cross between what you might hear in the salon of an ocean liner, and the vivacious, rhythmic dance style that is Antheil's own. I prefer the Third Quartet myself, for the use of catchy, singable tunes that are transformed into gold by Antheil's musical virtues-terrific motor rhythms and interesting harmonic twists of the melodies... Now we have it and other related pieces by this unfairly neglected composer on a single disc, fabulous played by the local Del Sol String Quartet, which has the perfect tone for Antheil-mellow but not sentimental-and the virtuosity to dash through his prestos, toccatas and allegros with breathtaking elan." -Stephanie von Buchau, Bay Area Reporter (May 12, 2005)

"This vibrant, entertaining disc makes a strong case for at least some of Antheil's string quartets. The best music-the first two string quartets and a suave bauble called 'Lithuanian Night'-dates from the composer's time in Paris in the 1920s, and it boasts punchy rhythms and an engagingly sassy approach to counterpoint... The Del Sol String Quartet plays like gangbusters throughout." -Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (May 8, 2005)

"Produced by longtime Antheil champion Charles Amirkhanian and played with considerable passion by the Del Sol String Quartet... this is an entertaining disk. The first two string quartets are excellent and there is an extraordinary short piece called Lithuanian Night from the composer's days afield in 1920s Paris." -Sequenza21 (May 17, 2005)

The Complete String Quartets of George Antheil: $15.00

Del Sol Performing Arts Organization
754 46th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94121