Thanks for these questions!
>>By "Play along" you mean there are also accompanying tracks that the thereminist can play together with? A kind of "theremin Aebersold"?
Jamey! I don't provide the recordings, although if someone wants to use an existing (piano) accompaniment app (I know Apple has a good one), you might find all of these there (I haven't checked).
These are classical favorites that already exist in multiple versions, including those without a solo on youtube (and others). All of these have many available links. When practicing I learned that playing *along* with vocal melodies of any music (along with the score) was helpful, as was playing along with a recorded piano. Nevertheless almost all of the offerings in the "Theremin Play-along Book" are available in accompaniment-only versions.
One advantage of an accompaniment app would be the ability to pause the accompaniment during the two cadenzas in Liebestraume. I have only included wide-vibrato glissandi, but these cadenzas should be written out, or a collection of cadenzas by different player-composers included in an Appendix.
>>Interesting, could you explain a bit more how your arrangement differ from the original partiture?
I went to the "first score" for each arrangement. For Faure it was a two-piano version. For the opera pieces, it was the original opera score. At that point I claimed the main melody line for the Theremin, and leave it to the Thereminist to *remove* melody (i.e. take breaks) in case they perform it live.
Then I went to IMSLP,. Although I originally started by looking at the violin parts from subsequent violin/cello/flute+piano arrangements, in the end they were mostly not worth sequencing (there might be some mistakes).
But at the *end* of the process, I researched piano and soloist versions that were good matches with the 28 pieces. I didn't find them all, but a number were very good, and I included them by name (not link) in the introductory pages, with the assumption that a Thereminist wishing to play with a pianist or community orchestra would have a free source of parts.
Also:
1) I include a tiny note at the beginning of each score representing the lowest note in the upcoming piece (to easily adjust the pitch knob)
2) I include small-note cues so it is easy to hit the first note (in some compositions, the melody starts immediately and this is not possible), to help the player who may be playing these pieces for the first time, and to help the Thereminist maintain the mental urlinea.
3) In the case of the opera pieces (except Liebestod), I use the original vocal part, and include optional (dashed) ties, in case the player wants to elide notes rather than "vocalise."
4) For the Liebestod, I broke my rules, and ignored the singer. For this one I followed the firm theme through the orchestra so it can be played with the orchestral version (if the soloist cuts out a few bits). This melody (if you know it), infinitely ascends, and I sneak it down every once in a while (it nevertheless goes high, and some players may want to improvise another cheat)
5) There are no hand positions in the score.
6) In some cases, the addition of cues makes a piece go to 3 pages. For these I include a *second version* in which cues are removed completely (getting it down to two pages.
7) There is a mix of levels here. The introduction and some pieces are great for beginners. Most pieces are upper intermediate, and one or two are advanced.
>>Is the theremin "the main voice", like the solo violin in an orchestral piece, or the right-hand melody in a piano piece?
It sure is. In fact (see above) I included "too much" of it. All of the pieces are intended to be sung internally, and I find much of my Theremin "practice" comes just singing to myself.
>>Maybe a small preview, like a screenshot of a page, could help to give a better idea.
Here you go!
