The Sunday Magazine

Listener mail about the theremin

The theremin is that mysterious electronic instrument whose Bolshevik and Cold War history is as fascinating as the music it makes. Toronto thereminist Clara Venice makes popular music with it. And it has a starring role in Sean Michaels' Giller-award winning novel, Us Conductors, which recounts the love story between Lev Theremin - the instrument's inventor - and its most...
The theremin is that mysterious electronic instrument whose Bolshevik and Cold War history is as fascinating as the music it makes. Toronto thereminist Clara Venice makes popular music with it. And it has a starring role in Sean Michaels' Giller-award winning novel, Us Conductors, which recounts the love story between Lev Theremin - the instrument's inventor - and its most famous player - Clara Rockmore.

Last week, we broadcast  Out of Thin Air, a documentary about the theremin.

Paul Boissonnault sent this from Vancouver:

"I bought my theremin about five years ago and have become relatively proficient on it at an amateur level. It had been languishing in my basement music room until Sunday morning. I was so taken by both your guests and especially by Clara's performance, that I hurried downstairs, set everything up, and played and played and played.
    
What a delightful surprise it was to hear on Monday night, that Us Conductors was the winner of the Giller Prize.
    
I was in a PhD program in arts education when I discovered Aristotle's Harmony of the Spheres, in which he posited that music is something already existing which, in fact, is part of the cosmic force which makes the universe work.
     
As I began learning to play the theremin at age 64, it felt as though I were drawing the music from the air. It seemed to connect to Aristotle's theory.
    
Despite the still esoteric and obscure nature of the theremin, its invention was the seminal influence on the development of the synthesizer and other musical instruments created in the 20th century. It was the inspiration for Robert Moog to create his magical machines.
    
On a final note, your listeners might be interested to know that in the 1970s, during Theremin's imposed semi-reclusive years in Moscow, he kept building instruments, including one for a young grand-niece of his named Lydia Kavina. She went on to become, and still is, one of the leading thereminists, with an upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London  on December 12th."
   
From Ann Miller in Wolfville, N.S.:
    
"Thank you for your documentary. There is one reason many Canadians may already be familiar with the instrument's sound which was not mentioned.
   
The theremin is the primary instrument in the theme music of the BBC TV mystery series "Midsomer Murders", which has been broadcast since 1997.
   
The theremin is played by Celia Sheen, who died in 2011. There is a video online, showing Celia playing the theremin for the theme. It is uncanny to watch an instrument being played without touching it - the hand motions reminded me of playing the harp."

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