Theremin Themes

Ever since I first heard it, as a very young lad, I always wanted to get my hands on a theremin. Actually, I suppose the operative phrase is "hands off" – for the most part, the theremin is played without being touched. It’s also, I think, extraordinarily difficult to play well. I went in search of videos of theremin performances on YouTube, and the most reasonable one I could find is this rendering of Debussy’s Clair de Lune by Lydia Kavina. 

 

Some of the other theremin videos available on YouTube are pretty excruciating – so you have been warned.

 

However, worth watching, both for this explanation of the workings of theremin and his subsequent sly send-up song, is Bill Bailey’s demonstration. Let the shining shin of truth be our beacon of hope, indeed.

 

Next up: the Ondes Martenot.