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Programme Note

During the late 1940s, Antheil wrote several short movements or overtures for orchestra based on American themes. McKonkey’s Ferry, composed in 1948, took inspiration from Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s oil painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River on December 25, 1776, at McKonkey’s Ferry, Philadelphia.

The piece was premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Hans Kindler, the Orchestra’s founder, on December 12, 1948.