Music Lecture & Performance: "The Theremin" by Art Harrison, accompanied by guitarist Michael Winters July 23, 2009

Invented around 1918 by Russian Leon Theremin, and bearing his name, the theremin is one of the earliest electronic musical instruments. While that fact alone is of interest, the method by which the theremin is played adds an incomparable mystique to this unusual instrument's qualities, virtues, and sometimes, detractions.

When Leon Theremin made his appearance on the American scene in 1927, he was greeted as a celebrity and creator of an instrument that was an incomparable novelty. Theremin attracted the interests and financial support of wealthy promoters, all the while operating under the clandestine auspices of Soviet Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennich Del, the secret espionage organization of the then-emerging Soviet Republic. His dual existence as an inventor of marvelous electronic instruments, but also as a loyal Soviet charged with a mission to glean secrets from the United States military and industrial complex, was the basis for his troubled and often burdensome existence.

Since its inception and original commercial production in 1929 by the Radio-Victor Corporation of America (RCA), the theremin has waxed and waned in the public eye, at times used by established composers such as Joseph Schillinger, Leopold Stokowski, Miklos Rosa, Henry Cowell, and Edgar Varese; and also often the subject of amateur experimentalists for odd noise-makers and school science projects.

Arthur Harrison will present the theremin as part of the Kensington Bookshop evening lecture series on Thursday, July 23, 2009. He will be accompanied by guitarist Michael Winters, and will offer examples of theremin performance, as well as a history and technical description of the instrument.

Official Website: http://www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com