Theremin Player

The theremin is quite probably one of the most peculiar yet wonderful instruments ever conceived. It was invented by the Russian Lev Sergeivitch Termen - anglicised to Leon Theremin. He identified the phenomenon, on which his magical new instrument is based, quite by accident in 1917 while a student at the University of Petrograd. Theremin was working on a device to measure the density of gases under pressure. He discovered that the apparatus was very sensitive not only to the proximity of his body, but even to the slightest motions of his hands in the surrounding air. Connecting a set of earphones to the device, he could hear its fluctuations in performance as a varying musical tone. Theremin then adapted his gas measuring apparatus to be a musical instrument, and made its first prototype in 1919. One year later he demonstrated a working instrument at a convention of engineers and physicists. The instrument was initially called the ‘aetherphon’, then the ‘thereminvox’ and finally it received the name of its inventor.

During the years following his invention, Theremin improved his instrument and staged a number of concert demonstrations in Russia. In 1927 he embarked on a European tour. His performances in Frankfurt, Berlin, London, and Paris were met with unrestrained enthusiasm. Listeners were amazed that the seemingly inaccessible technology of electronics had been harnessed to enable a musician to make music by simply waving his hands in the air around a pair of antennae. At the Paris Opera, policemen were called to keep order among the crowds that gathered to hear Theremin's concert-demonstration. For the first time in history, the standing room tickets were sold out. In 1927 Theremin arrived in the United States after lengthy and successful tours of Europe.

At that time, Clara Rockmore became aware of the musical potential of Theremin's invention. Clara was born in Russia, the youngest of three musically gifted sisters. Her oldest sister, Nadia Reisenberg, was a well-known concert pianist who recorded extensively. Clara was a true child prodigy, with absolute memory for music. At the age of two, she could pick out any melody she heard. At her fourth birthday she received as a present from her uncle a quarter-size violin. At the age of five she was admitted as an exceptional student to the Imperial Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg. She was the youngest musician who ever received this honour. She became the most promising pupil of Professor Leopold Auer and, at the age of nine, received permission from the Russian government to perform concerts abroad. Together with her sister, Nadia, she embarked on an extensive European tour. Finally, their recital circuit led them to New York city, where Nadia met Leon Theremin for the first time.

In the United States Clara Rockmore spent several years collaborating with Theremin during which time he developed his invention into a sensitive, multi-octave musical instrument. Throughout that period, Clara worked intensively with Theremin's instruments, developing means to allow greater control and more precise articulation. Mrs. Rockmore gave her first solo theremin concert at New York’s Town Hall in 1934. During the twenty years or so following her theremin début, Clara Rockmore toured widely, performing as guest soloist with major symphony orchestras, and made three coast-to-coast tours.

In the early twentieth century there were around seven-hundred professional thereminists registered with the musicians’ trade union, but, to my knowledge, no records were kept from that period. There are some compositions especially written for theremin. As an example, the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu wrote his Fantasia for theremin, oboe, piano and strings (1944). Due to its ‘cosmic’ sound, the theremin was intensively used in ‘50s and ‘60s to create sound effects in the science fiction movies. Among the records made during the last two decades of the 20th century, two CDs are notable: The Art Of The Theremin (1987) by Clara Rockmore and Music from the Ether (1999) by Theremin’s great niece, Lydia Kavina. The theremin has occasionally been used in pop music for many decades. One famous example is the Beach Boys hit Good Vibrations where the theremin and cello provide backing melody. The theremin was also used as a rock-and-roll instrument by Led Zeppelin, Portishead, Phish and others. Since Theremin’s death, in 1993, there has been an ever-increasing number of pop musicians who have ‘rediscovered’ his instrument’s value as a source of ‘cult sound’.

You may wonder how I discovered the theremin. Well, one day in the autumn of 1998 I was playing my musical saw on the streets in Leicester, England (I began to play this instrument in 1982). A young man together with his son, then a small boy, came to me listening with interest and pleasure to my performance. The man told me that he had heard of another instrument called ‘theramin’ - which could be played in a manner similar to the saw and even without being touched. I couldn’t believe it ! He wrote on a little piece of paper the name of the instrument as above - with a wrong letter in the spelling. Soon after that I went to the Central Library in Cambridge, England to find a patent describing such an instrument. I gave ‘theramin’ as a key word to the librarian, but they did not have any record in the library. Half a year later, in the spring of 1999, I was again playing my saw in Leicester and an old man, Arthur Huscroft, came to me and told me about the existence of this peculiar instrument and, moreover, that he had at home a video-cassette about the theremin and its inventor. Of course, I was very curious to watch his video. A few days later, he gave me the chance to do so, and then I found out the real name of the instrument. I was so enthralled that I couldn’t wait to start researching this new field. One of my friends, Neville Carter, gave me the suggestion to try a ‘Search’ on the Internet… This introduced me to the world of the theremin: historical data, makers, players, festivals, playing techniques, books, records, etc. Soon I acquired an instrument of my own - a kit bought from Jake Rothman, England. After mounting this kit provisionally I was very surprised that, in one afternoon, I could play on the theremin all my saw repertoire without any previous practice!

It would be interesting to mention here that I play a theremin designed and built by myself. Starting with the kit bought from Jake Rothman, I have spent about three years building my theremin bit by bit and improving some of its features. For instance, I have found original ways to obtain the ‘vibrato’ and ‘tremolo’ effects, and also a more expressive sound. My theremin has a smooth ethereal tone which is likened to that of the musical saw.