New Jersey-born George Antheil traveled to Europe in 1922 determined to become 'noted and notorious' as a pianist-composer, soon gaining a reputation as the 'bad boy of music' with works such as the infamous Ballet mecanique. The first three violin sonatas come from this period, with the eclectic Violin Sonata No. 1 displaying the fiercely barbaric influence of Stravinsky, and the more jazzy No. 2 developing experiments in 'musical cubism'. His Violin Sonata No. 3 achieves a synthesis of Stravinskian rhythms and Antheil’s more song-like tendencies, while the later No. 4 is built on Classical and Baroque models.