Emulating a disembodied voice, the theremin s potential was soon realized in America s burgeoning film industry, where it was regularly employed to accompany the supernatural and extraterrestrial a flying saucer, a ray gun, an alien creature, and all sorts of other phenomena in black-and-white B movies of the 1950s. Beyond that niche, the theremin also found a place albeit marginally in classical and popular music.
Robert Moog was the first to mass-produce the theremin, which then inspired him to create his now iconic line of synthesizers. Moog died in 2005, but his company, Moog Music, continues producing synthesizers and theremins to this day.
100 Years Of The Theremin | Podcast Still Making Waves In The 21st Century
Left-right: Cyril Lance, Dorit Chrysler, Bruce Woolley and Katia Isakoff
Theremin at 100. A special podcast in honour of the 100th birthday. We speak to Cyril Lance (Chief Engineer, Moog), Dorit Chrysler (composer/New York Theremin Society), Bruce Woolley (songwriter/Radio Science Orchestra) and Katia Isakoff (singer/songwriter and producer).
Patch & Tweak With Moog book. 16:44 - Dorit Chrysler
Clara Rockmore 1932Photo: by Renato Toppo; courtesy of The Nadia Reisenberg/Clara Rockmore Foundation.
Clara (Reisenberg) Rockmore holds a unique place in music history as the star performer of the theremin. Born in Russia, in 1911, at four, she was accepted as the youngest ever violin student at the St. Petersburg Imperial Conservatory. As conditions deteriorated after the Revolution, the Reisenberg family left Russia and travelled across Europe for several years until 1921 when they succeeded in gaining