This article is an attempt to contextualize George Antheil the American composer’s Ballet Mécanique in
the flow of European modernism. In experiencing the Avant-Garde trend in Paris in the 1920s, Antheil
came to be aware of Ezra Pound’s Vorticism. Similar to Futurism in many aspects, Vorticism found the
possibility of mechanical aesthetics. Under this influence, he composed experimental pieces of music,
including violin sonatas and Ballet Mécanique. Ballet Mécanique is a counterpart in the musical sphere to
Vorticism. Ballet Mécanique was composed as a background music for the same-titled art film by Fernand
Léger. Its most conspicuous trait is the mechanical sounds. Similar to factory sounds, it is notable for its
repetitive rhythm and sound block of percussion. For Antheil, time is more important than tonality. The
work runs parallel to the Copernican turn of intellectual paradigm in the early 20th century. The
co-influential relation between the two figures contributed to the creation of innovative art in both musical
and literary spheres.