Léon Theremin
Léon Theremin was a pioneering inventor and musician, known primarily for creating the theremin, an electronic musical instrument that allows musicians to control pitch and volume through hand movements in proximity to its antennae. Born in Russia in 1896, Theremin had a dual passion for music and science, which led him to study both fields concurrently at St. Petersburg University and Conservatory. His groundbreaking work at the Petrograd Physics-Technical Institute in the early 1920s resulted in the invention of the theremin, showcased to notable figures like Vladimir Lenin. After a successful European and American tour in the late 1920s, the instrument gained some popularity but faced commercial challenges.
In addition to the theremin, Theremin invented the Rhythmicon, an early drum machine, and the Terpsitone, an interactive musical device for dancers. Despite his significant contributions to electronic music, much of Theremin's later life was spent working for the KGB, where he developed espionage technologies. Nonetheless, his influence endured through various composers and filmmakers who incorporated the theremin into their works, leaving a legacy that would inspire future electronic music developments, notably influencing Robert Moog, the synthesizer pioneer. Theremin's unique blend of artistry and technology continues to resonate in contemporary music.
Subject Terms
Léon Theremin
Russian classical instrumentalist and conductor
- Born: August 15, 1896
- Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
- Died: November 3, 1993
- Place of death: Moscow, Russia
Theremin invented a space-controlled monophonic instrument called the theremin, one of the first electronic instruments. Several composers wrote original concert works and film scores incorporating the theremin.
The Life
Léon Theremin (LAY-ohn THER-eh-mihn) was born to lawyer Sergei Theremin and his wife, Yevgenia Orzhinskaya. At a young age, Theremin was interested in both music and science, so in 1914 he entered St. Petersburg University to study astronomy and physics and St. Petersburg Conservatory to study cello. In 1917 Theremin graduated from both the university and the conservatory. In 1919 he began working in a laboratory at the Petrograd (originally St. Petersburg) Physics-Technical Institute, where he experimented on radio waves and human capacitance (ability to store energy). His work there led to the invention of an electronic instrument that he called the Etherphon; later it became known as the Thereminvox, or theremin. In 1927 he began a tour with his instrument that culminated in New York City, where he lived and worked until 1938. After that time, all traces of Theremin vanished, and most people believed that he had died. Later it was discovered that he worked for the KGB, the intelligence agency of the Soviet Union, first as a prisoner for nearly a decade and then voluntarily until 1964.
Theremin’s most famous invention for the KGB was a concealed listening device, the Buran, which went undetected for years at the U.S. embassy in Moscow. From the mid-1960’s until his death in 1993, he returned to his musical roots, working with electronic instruments, first at the Moscow Conservatory and later at Moscow State University.
The Music
Although Theremin spent roughly a third of his life working on nonmusical electronic devices, primarily for use by the Soviet state, his greatest achievements involved his work on electronic instruments. Theremin created several, three of which should be noted for their innovations. The first is the widely known theremin, the space-control instrument that bears his name. The second device, the Rhythmicon, created complex rhythm combinations. The third was a small stage that allowed a dancer to create music by bodily motion, much like the theremin, which he called the Terpsitone.
The Theremin. The instrument that bore the inventor’s name, the Thereminvox, later known as the theremin, came about because of a chance observation during a laboratory experiment. In 1920 at the Petrograd Physics-Technical Institute, Theremin created a device that measured changes in the density of gases under various conditions. His device included a pair of vacuum tubes used in radios that, when tuned properly, created a pitch. When he attached headphones, he noticed that, as his hand approached the device, it affected the frequency of the pitch. After simple experimentation, he realized that he could control the pitch and create monophonic (or single-voiced) melodies. In 1921 he refined the instrument, adding volume control, and registered a patent. In 1927, after demonstrating his creation to Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Soviet Union, Theremin embarked on a tour of Europe and the United States.
In 1929 RCA licensed and manufactured the instrument for the mass market. To use a theremin the musician stands in front of a box that has two antennae attached and waves his or her hands around the antennae, without touching them, creating electrical sound signals. One hand controls the pitch, and the other hand controls the volume. RCA’s instrument met with limited commercial success, and, in the wake of the Great Depression, RCA began losing money on the project and cancelled its license of the theremin in 1931.
In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the theremin attracted the attention of various musicians, who wanted to create new works for it. Some of these were thereminists Lucie Rosen and Clara Rockmore; composer Joseph Schillinger, who wrote the first composition to feature the theremin, the First Airphonic Suite, for RCA Theremin and Orchestra; and conductor Leopold Stokowski, who commissioned and used several variants of the theremin, including a fingerboard and a keyboard model.
The Rhythmicon. In 1931 Theremin received a commission from the New York Musicological Society to create an instrument that could perform complex rhythms. Working with him on the project were composers Schillinger and Henry Cowell. The instrument was the first of its kind, a predecessor to the drum machines that appeared in the later part of the twentieth century. Cowell proposed that the instrument, called the Rhythmicon, should perform rhythmic ratios inherent in the overtone series. When the performer played intervals on the keyboard attached to the instrument, he would hear eighth-note pulses with an octave, triplet eighth notes with a perfect fifth, three sixteenth notes for a perfect fourth, and so on. Upon completion of the instrument in 1932, Cowell composed the unpublished Concerto for Rhythmicon and Orchestra. The only known remaining Rhythmicon, which is no longer operational, is owned by the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C.
The Terpsitone. Theremin’s third innovative instrument was based on the principles of the theremin’s space control. Instead of a box with antennae for controlling pitch and volume, the Terpsitone consisted of a small dance platform under which a metal plate interacted with a dancer’s body to control pitch. Unlike the theremin, the Terpsitone required a second person to control the volume and vibrato. Although the instrument was created for a dancer to perform, Theremin could not find a dancer who could control the pitches enough to create a melody, and so thereminist Rockmore agreed to debut the instrument at Carnegie Hall in 1932. The Terpsitone was not as widely used as the theremin, but the inventor continued to develop and demonstrate the instrument after his retirement from the KGB.
Musical Legacy
Besides Schillinger and Cowell, composers Edgard Varèse, Percy Grainger, Bohuslav Martinů, and Alfred Schnittke wrote works incorporating Theremin’s instruments. In addition, Bernard Hermann and Miklós Rózsa used the theremin in prominent film scores. The eerie sounds of the theremin were used to great effect in films, including Spellbound (1945), The Lost Weekend (1945), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and The Ten Commandments (1956). Perhaps the best-known song featuring the instrument was the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations.” Although Theremin’s instrument is still being built and used in performances, his greatest influence was upon the work of the pioneer of synthesized sound, Robert Moog. As a teenager, Moog built and sold theremins from his parents’ home. Inspired by the concepts behind the theremin, Moog explored other ways of synthesizing sounds, creating the first synthesizers.
Principal Works
electronic/theremin performances:Music from the Ether, 1928; Edvard Hagerup Grieg: Aase’s Death, 1930; Wagner: Prelude to Lohengrin, 1930; Theremin Orchestra, 1932; “Let the Sun Shine Forever, Let Me Be Forever,” 1993 (as conductor).
Bibliography
Galeyev, Bulat M. “L. S. Termen: Faustus of the Twentieth Century.” Leonardo 24, no. 5 (1991): 573-579. A brief overview of Theremin’s life and works, including his life in Russia after 1938.
Galeyev, Bulat M., Leon S. Theremin, Natalia Nesturkh, et al. “Leon Theremin: Pioneer of Electronic Art.” Leonardo Music Journal 6 (1996): 45-83. This journal devoted a special section to Theremin’s life, work, and legacy to commemorate the centenary of his birth.
Glinsky, Albert. Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000. With a foreword by Moog, this thorough biography focuses on Theremin’s inventions and his espionage work during the Cold War.
Theremin, Leon. “Recollections.” Contemporary Music Review 18, no. 3 (1999): 5-8. Theremin recalls his musical life from his early years until the time when he was taken back to the Soviet Union in 1938.
Wierzbicki, James. “Weird Vibrations: How the Theremin Gave Musical Voice to Hollywood’s Extraterrestrial ’Others.’” Journal of Popular Film and Television 30, no. 3 (2002): 125-135. In addition to a discussion of the role of the theremin in film scores, this article presents a short history of Theremin and his instrument.