I'm just back (to the UK) from a weeks holiday in New York. I went to see the house Prof Theremin lived and worked - I'll send link to a photo when I have uploaded pics online.
Seems a shame there isn't a plaque on the house to commemorate the place where so much development work on the instrument was done. Maybe such a thing could be arranged...
I also went to Joe's Pub in the East Village to see thereminst Rob Schwimmer - he of the excellent Theremin Noir album.
He was performing this time as half of a hilarious duo called Polygraph Lounge http://www.polygraphlounge.com
who feature heaps of odd instruments and do crazy skits, soundscapes and silly songs - they did a halloween special - they were great. Rob played his theremin here and there and featured his Waltz For Clara from his Theremin Noir album - a piece written on the day of Clara Rockmore's passing.
He is an excellent player - quite a wide vibrato - backhand knuckle fingering.
The Theremin Noir album if you don't know mixes Bernard Hermann themes from films, some Schwimmer originals and some avant garde free improvisations with his bandmates on violin nd piano.
link to CD http://www.polygraphlounge.com/Rob/thereminnoir.html
The album has a dark feel but is accomplished - one might need to be open to free imrpov to enjoy all the album but I thought it was great.
Just having a jetlag weekend now...
Seems a shame there isn't a plaque on the house to commemorate the place where so much development work on the instrument was done. Maybe such a thing could be arranged...
I also went to Joe's Pub in the East Village to see thereminst Rob Schwimmer - he of the excellent Theremin Noir album.
He was performing this time as half of a hilarious duo called Polygraph Lounge http://www.polygraphlounge.com
who feature heaps of odd instruments and do crazy skits, soundscapes and silly songs - they did a halloween special - they were great. Rob played his theremin here and there and featured his Waltz For Clara from his Theremin Noir album - a piece written on the day of Clara Rockmore's passing.
He is an excellent player - quite a wide vibrato - backhand knuckle fingering.
The Theremin Noir album if you don't know mixes Bernard Hermann themes from films, some Schwimmer originals and some avant garde free improvisations with his bandmates on violin nd piano.
link to CD http://www.polygraphlounge.com/Rob/thereminnoir.html
The album has a dark feel but is accomplished - one might need to be open to free imrpov to enjoy all the album but I thought it was great.
Just having a jetlag weekend now...