Zenaide Hanenfeldt was one of Leon Theremin’s first associates in the United States. She played a leading role, from 1929 to 1934, in the American adventure of Leon Theremin, appearing in some of the most important theremin events of the period and experiencing a brief period of intense and ephemeral celebrity as a theremin diva. Later, she almost disappeared into oblivion, confined to stingy annotations in the history of the theremin. Let’s find out a little more about her.
Side B of 22296 Victor record: “Love. Your Spell Is Everywhere”, performed by the Victor Salon Orchestra featuring Zenaide Hanenfeldt at the Victor Theremin.
Side A of 22296 Victor record: “I’m a Dreamer. Aren’t We All?”, performed by the Victor Salon Orchestra featuring Zenaide Hanenfeldt at the Victor Theremin.
Katica Illényi is an artist of many talents. She plays the violin, sings, tap dances, and plays the theremin. We had the pleasure of asking her some questions.
Although Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů does not enjoy the same fame as other composers of the same period, he certainly has a prominent place in twentieth-century music. He is also well known by theremin enthusiasts thanks to Fantasia for theremin, oboe, piano, and string quartet, the composition commissioned to him in 1944 by Lucie Bigelow Rosen. Let’s try to understand a little more about him and follow the path that led him from a Moravian village to Manhattan, where the fortuitous meeting took place.
“Fantasia for theremin, oboe, piano, and string quartet” by Bohuslav Martinů taken from the unpublished VHS cassette by Lydia Kavina “Concerto per Theremin. Live in Italy” (2000).
Theremin – Lydia Kavina
Violin – Roberto Mazzola*
Violin – Angela Ferrando*
Viola – Alessandro Ghè*
Cello – Giulio Glavina*
Oboe – Stefania Tedesco
Piano – Mauro Cavalieri D’Oro
* Columbus Orchestra (Italy)
Lydia Kavina’s Theremin made by Anthony J. Henk (U.K.)
Recorded live in Colletta di Castelbianco (SV), Italy, in 1998.
In this short movie, filmed and edited by Peter Pringle, Reid Welch demonstrates the “Stout” Theremin.
Theremin solo by Samuel Hoffman from the soundtrack of “Rocketship X-M” (1950.)
An interview with polystrumentist, singer and composer Shueh-li Ong. “Music From Another Land” is not the typical “theremin album” you’d expect from musicians like Lydia Kavina, Pamelia Kurstin or Peter Pringle, to name a few. Although there is a good amount of well-played theremin, it just doesn’t play the leading role. In fact, the feeling […]
“The Simpsons vs Star Trek” medley played on theremin, Rhodes electric piano and funnel by a “one man band” nicknamed “culture killer”.
