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Slightly Less Than Amazing Grace

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News articles: The Scotsman

1927 August 9th
Electrical Tunes - Musical festival Surprise
"At the Frankfurt Musical Festival an almost magical demonstration of an entirely new form of music was given. Professor Leo Theremin, of Leningrad, played "electrical tunes" to his astounded audience..."
[ open article 48k ]

1927 December 12th
Sir O. Lodge Impressed
"There is nothing miraculous about it. It is a scientific application of known principles appled with great skill." Sir Oliver Lodge thus described the wonderful apparatus invented by Professor Leo Theremin for drawing music from the ether by the movement of the hands in space..."
[ open article 162k ]

1950 April 20th
The Theremin
"... On last night's showing, the theremin appeared to have less to commend it than the Ondes Martenot. Miss Rosen produced few sounds that could honestly be called beautiful and not many that could even be called pleasant..."
[ open article 38k ]

Sound samples: Etherwave
Please bear in mind that I am very new to this instrument (started playing May 2005), and you may wince freely...

Slightly Less Than Amazing Grace
On which I accompany myself with some banjo chords, and stick a bit of reverb on the Etherwave.
[ listen to recording 296k, recorded 30.5.05 ]
Above: Lucie Rosen (1890-1968)
plays the theremin.

This theremin page was written and designed by me, Garen Ewing, just to put up a few items of interest. I am a recent convert to this notoriously difficult instrument, though like most players of the theremin I have already become fascinated by its history, lore and practice.

Learn more about the theremin at:
Theremin World
Hypnotique
Peter Pringle
Theremin and Musical Performance

Other Garen sites: my illustration site, my comic strip, my Anglo-Afghan War site (my research for this got sidetracked leading to the discovery of the news articles presented here) and my blog.