Rediscovering Leon Theremin

In the early 1920s and 30s a strange electronic instrument found its way from Russia into some of the more fashionable ballrooms, night clubs, and concert halls in Europe and America. This exotic new invention, called the 'theremin' or 'thereminvox', caused a considerable stir. Part of the interest was its unusual sound (like a musical saw mated with a light soprano), but its most dramatic feature was that the performer never actually touched the instrument. He or she simply waved graceful hands near the two antennae (one set vertically, the other looped horizontally) to coax out seamless, melifluous melodies. The proximity of the right hand to the vertical antenna changed the ultrasonic electromagnetic field, thus changing the pitch over about a sixoctave range. The left hand (or sometimes a foot pedal) controlled the volume. By gently shaking the right hand at the antenna a vibrato could be achieved, giving performances a little more musical (not to mention choreographic) interest. Fashionable women dressed in long gowns seemed to be favourite photographic subjects of the period as performers, as well as the inventor himself, poised 'playing the rods' in full dress tails, arms outstretched like a great conductor -or perhaps sorcerer. Most of the other inventors from the early part of this century like Thaddeus Cahill, Maurice Martenot, Jorge Mager, and Laurens Hammond, are long dead. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I discovered 94-year-old Leon Theremin performing on the Stockholm Electronic Music Festival last autumn.1 He had just arrived from Moscow, and the gloomy Nordic night and darkened concert hall framed him like and old photograph. His Russian good looks much older, of course are still there, a decent head of greying black hair, and no hearing aid or walking stick. His gait was slow, but on stage he sparkled like a five-star salesman. His demonstration was in rusty English but slick, concise and intriguing; ending, to everyone's delight, with the old man waving his arms through a rendition of Midnight in Moscow. A wonderful moment indeed. His