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This is my theremin CD, MANY VOICES. There are three theremins featured on this recording: the 1929 RCA that once belonged to Dr. Samuel Hoffman, the RCA that was once the property of Julius Goldberg, and the modern Ethervox theremin made by Robert Moog. The CD also comes with a 16 page, illustrated insert booklet which includes a short essay by Pennsylvania thereminist and vintage theremin expert Howard Mossman. It is entitled:

THE THEREMIN IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Affectionately known as "Uncle Howie" to the small but growing world theremin community, Mr. Mossman, now retired, was a writer of technical manuals for RCA for 47 years and has been devoted to the theremin since he was a young man.

The total playing time of MANY VOICES is 66 minutes, 47 seconds. There are 18 selections on it, representing a wide variety of music from classical composers Bach and Handel to Ragtime, Salsa and Jazz. It was my intention with this CD to create a sort of "theremin sampler" that would contain some of the kinds of music that I enjoy myself, and that would demonstrate a few of the possibilities of the instrument.

The Hoffman theremin sat silent for many years following the death of Samuel Hoffman in 1969. Musical instruments of all kinds, whether they are acoustic or electronic, must be played and must be meticulously maintained as they get older. It has been a real adventure for me to get to know the Hoffman theremin, to work with it, and to give it a voice once again. For me, certain musical instruments seem to possess a soul and no person actually ever "owns" them. We are only their temporary custodians. The Hoffman theremin was singing before I was born and it is my hope that it will sing for generations to come.

I would like to tell you something about a few of the cuts on the CD and offer you a chance to hear a few mp3 samples of the recording. The theremin you hear, unless otherwise indicated, is the Hoffman RCA.

Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix The signature tune of the theremin for over 70 years has been THE SWAN by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens. It has been done so beautifully by other thereminists that I decided not to risk recording it and to offer instead, a different composition by the same composer. It is from his opera SAMSON AND DELILAH. As with most of the pieces on MANY VOICES, I have taken all sorts of liberties with the music. The theremin has a range much greater than the human voice and I have adapted melodies to show this.

Ellington On 54th Street This is one of my own compositions, arranged for a Duke Ellington style "Big Band" sound. 54th Street was the street in Manhattan where Leon Theremin had his electronics laboratory in the 1930's. Since the 30's was the era of the Big Band, I thought it might be interesting to explore the sound of the theremin in this context. The theremin here is a Moog Ethervox.

White Voices One of the characteristics of precision theremin playing is the ever-present vibrato. I wrote this piece to show melodic theremin playing without vibrato. In the upper register, the theremin played in this way sounds very much like the pure sound of the boy soprano (sometimes referred to as a "white voice"). I also used the MIDI Ethervox to "play" some of the other voices on the track.

La Rondine Around the same time Leon Theremin was conceiving the theremin (circa 1917) this beautiful piece of music, written by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, was having its debut. It is from his opera LA RONDINE and I think it is wonderfully appropriate for the theremin.

Gymnopedie # 1 This is perhaps the most familiar melody of the French composer Eric Satie (1866-1925). It is remarkably modern considering it was written in 1888, and it reflects some of the deep sadness and despair of the composer. Satie died in his fifties from complications of alcoholism. His music, however, endures and is more appreciated today than it was during the composer's lifetime. Originally written for piano, I have adapted it here for theremin and harp.

Funeral For A Tomcat I wrote this composition to demonstrate what is possible when the theremin is played through a "Wah-Wah pedal". This device was very popular in the 1970's with electric guitar players and it is my hope that it will appeal to cat lovers everywhere.

Orpheus This is an aria called CHE FARO SENZ' EURIDICE from one of the first real operas ever written - ORFEO by the 18th century composer, Christophe Willibald Gluck (1714-1787). This is what Orpheus sings when he realizes that he has lost the love of his life forever, the beautiful Euridice. The voice you hear is that of the Julius Goldberg theremin. I chose it for this particular piece because, to my ears, it has a very pure, clear, crystalline sound. At the time when this music was written, there were no female singers on the opera stage. All female roles were written to be sung by the male "castrati" and that is why the piece is pitched so high. The recent Italian film FARINELLI offers an interesting insight into this colorful period.

Poppy Blossoms This composition represents my attempt at a marriage between the classical music of India and the Ethervox theremin. I studied Indian music for many years, and play an instrument called the "surbahar" which can be heard on this sample (you can see the surbahar in the photos in the "Sound Studio" section of this site). It is very hard to squeeze Indian music into short Western formats and the composition, as it is on MANY VOICES, is nearly 5 minutes long.

Barcarolle This is the famous Barcarolle, O NUIT D'AMOUR (O, Night Of Love) from THE TALES OF HOFFMANN by the French composer Jacques Offenbach. This old operatic "warhorse" was recently used very successfully as a contrast to the horrors of a concentration camp in the Academy Award winning Italian film LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. There are two theremins heard on this recording: the Hoffman RCA and the Julius Goldberg RCA. Each has a slightly different tone and I felt they complemented each other. The higher part is the Hoffman RCA. Talk about THE TALES OF HOFFMANN!

Fright Night In Havana The theremin quickly found a popular "niche" in the 1940's and 50's as a suspense and science fiction film music effect. I have tried to have some fun with this in a Latin, "salsa" vein. I used every theremin I could find in the combination of voices, including the Moog "Etherwave" theremin which I built from a kit in 1996 and was the first theremin I ever played.