increasingly 'worn out' because of the composition diploma exam....I am preparing to reorganize my ideas in view of the final project (the symphonic piece in 15 days)...and so, thinking about an extraordinary instrumentation, the theremin came to mind....I know that Charles Ives used it in his 4th symphony.
and in this regard, if anyone could provide me with a link from which I can download the score, I would be very grateful...
could you indicate some other 'art' music composer who has used this instrument?
naturally, theoretical and/or practical advice from practicing thereminists is especially welcome!
thanks to everyone and good music!
E
Eagle
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Reply 2 by Eagle
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264
Good music to you too ScalaQuaranta, I think these are useful
the fact is that, based on the text I have, it really fits, I couldn't do otherwise (the text is titled "IL PIPISTRELLO"). the theremin is certainly NOT A stroke of genius nor particularly original....if nothing else it is LOGICAL...and precisely because it is an exam piece I would like to maintain a clear logic in my choices, perhaps occasionally stepping slightly outside the lines. reading here and there, it seems to me to understand
that there is a full re-evaluation of the instrument underway....in a high-brow context (analog...um...not electronic, in short!) and extra-high-brow
(see Vinicio Capossela, see increasingly numerous street artists - talented among them! - who are tackling this instrument).
thank you all for your contributions, certainly useful news but while reading them it seemed to me that the most important piece of data was missing:
the range! I don't know, for now I will write thinking of a range similar to the violin (not considering harmonics and a bit narrower).
The extension, obviously, is not predetermined, being a tool of a certain type: in practice, it depends on each one's construction profile.
Anyway, a particular but highly appealing pianist-composer, Alessandra Celletti, has dedicated some very recent works to piano and theremin. By getting in touch, you could resolve any doubts with her; she is a kind person and I am sure she would be very willing to help you. She has a website, which you can easily find by typing her name on Google. Bye.
The more extensive controls, introduced later, allow for varying the sensitivity of the volume antenna to obtain a more or less extended dynamic range, as well as varying the range of the instrument and the distance of the intervals (typically pitch control). There are also adjustments that vary the shapes of the generating waves (typically waveform control), thus allowing for significant variation in the timbre of the instrument as well.
thanks again for the interventions....but I would need (also with some urgency, since I have to deliver the 15-day piece in 4 days!) some clear 'parameters'. I understand that the range of the theremin is quite variable, depending on the electronic components used to assemble it....but, will there be standard parameters or not? I don't think it's very plausible that every theremin has unique and inimitable sound characteristics. There must also be a standard model, mass-produced.
technical notions, we have found many of them all together. but now who would know how to give me the following data:
The theremin has also been used in numerous film soundtracks, including James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, and Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still, and it is unforgettable in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, in the moving final scene. Other well-known examples are the opening theme of the Scooby Doo cartoons and the theme from the television series Inspector Barnaby. Among classical composers is Charles Ives, who used it in his fourth symphony.
At one point it also says:
This instrument is fundamentally composed of two antennas placed above and to the side of a container in which all the electronics are housed. Control is achieved by moving the hands away from and closer to the antennas: through the upper one (positioned vertically) the pitch is controlled, while the lateral one (placed horizontally) allows for the regulation of intensity. The sound can vary between that of a violin and a vocal sound. The instrument is considered very difficult to play precisely because it is played without touching it.
Read the entire page and related links carefully, there is also a list of some famous thereminists, just see what they have played. See:
i wouldn't want to sound pedantic, but to me, the statement:
"the sound can vary between that of a violin and a vocal one" makes me think more of a timbral context
rather than an extension.
I quote, but no one is going to give you the range. As I was saying, rely on the repertoire; if the piece has been performed, it means the ranges are real and not assumed.
Question: what does your teacher say about this matter? When I was doing my diploma, I had a teacher... surely you can give them a phone call... just because I'm curious?
Frequency range from approximately 40 to 2200 Hz (adjustable via potentiometer), which corresponds to an extension of 5 octaves around the A positioned in the second space of the staff, above middle C
Ohooo....finally a numerical datum in my favor! ;-D (extension of 5 octaves starting around middle C). thanks
deliberating on using this instrument, I spoke with my teacher and he agreed, but I believe he doesn't know it
that well. the sound of the theremin, I know it let's say reasonably well, due to the use made of it by Vinicio Capossela (of whom I am an ardent fan and have his entire discography) and also because I happened to listen to 2 thereminists performing on the street, in Turin.
i listened to them last year and the idea of using this instrument had not yet even crossed my mind.
effectively it is an instrument with which it is very difficult to achieve perfect intonation of sounds (since physically, the instrument is not touched). to write it in a score, I am using a conventional notation (as for the violin and/or for the voice) and I connect the various sounds to each other with a slightly wavy line (like a glissando, to be understood), so that the transitions between one sound and another are not audible.
i haven't been able to find any score in which the theremin is considered.
would someone be so kind as to indicate a link from which I could download, say, e.g. Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4?
the theremin is certainly NOT A stroke of genius nor particularly original....if nothing else it is LOGICAL...and precisely because it is a test, I would like to maintain a clear logic in my choices, perhaps occasionally stepping slightly out of line. reading here and there, it seems to me to understand
that there is a full revaluation of the instrument underway....in a high-culture context (analog...ehm...not electronic, in short!) and extra-high-culture
I believe that it had its points of interest also in electronic music in the sense that, by requiring a performer, it anticipated the concepts of live electronics a bit.
Consider that one of the weaknesses of early electroacoustic music works was precisely the fact that for every work there existed only and uniquely that version because everything was realized in the studio and written somewhat in stone, which is no longer the case today.
The Theremin went exactly to overcome this barrier ... for the rest, you have a river of documentation to study, a convenient method passed down from Xenakis that can give an idea of the type of writing and the technicalities that someone who wants to take an interest in this instrument as a performer must master.
