by Thom Holmes

You can’t make this stuff up. More than a few skeptics of the Theremin were probably uttering those words in 1930 when RCA Corp. introduced the first commercial model of the gesture-controlled electronic music instrument. It was an instrument that was played without touching it. Invented by Russian physicist León Theremin, the instrument was notoriously difficult to control but lauded by RCA as a “universal musical instrument” that anybody could play. As it turned out, producing sound on the Theremin was easy but mastering the technique was beyond the patience of most people. RCA only sold about 500 instruments.

The classic Theremin was not without its masters, however. Clara Rockmore (1911-98) is most recognized for having greatly advanced the artistry of Theremin performance. But we can also thank one of her contemporaries for supporting the inventor and expanding the original repertoire of the instrument into new musical territory. Lucie Bigelow Rosen (1890–1968), wife of prominent lawyer, banker, and art patron Walter Rosen, befriended the inventor Léon Theremin around 1930. Lucie and her husband became Theremin’s chief benefactors while he lived in New York. During the 1930s, they provided a townhouse for him at a low monthly rent next to their own on West 54th Street. Theremin had several productive years at this location as he took on commissions to construct a variety of electronic musical instruments. During this time he invented the Rhythmicon, an early form of drum machine using photoelectric principles and a keyboard; the keyboard Theremin, a primitive synthesizer designed to emulate other musical instruments; and the Terpsitone, a small space-controlled dance platform upon which the foot movements of a dancer would trigger the sounds of the Theremin.

While residing under the roof of the Rosens, Theremin hand-built two instruments for Lucie and taught her the basics of playing the gesture-controlled instrument. Under his tutelage, Rosen joined Clara Rockmore as one of the most skilled thereminists ever to play the original instrument. She was represented by a talent management agency and performed many concerts in the United States and Europe until the late 1940s.

Rosen was interested in exploring the new musical possibilities of the Theremin. She commissioned several prominent composers, including Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) and Isidor Achron (1892–1948), to write original works for her. These pieces explored the outer ranges of the Theremin’s pitches, dynamics, and timbres. Martinů’s work, the Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, Piano and Strings (1944) used the composer’s characteristically long melodic lines and blended the tonalities of the Theremin with the strings and oboe. The 15-minute piece is beyond the skills of the average thereminist, a tribute to Lucie Rosen’s virtuosity on the instrument. She premiered this work at Town Hall in New York in November 1945, along with a shorter work, Improvisation (1945) for piano and Theremin, by Achron.

Only one commercial recording is currently known of Rosen performing on the Theremin. In 1948 or 1949, near the end of her performing career, Rosen joined a recording session at Columbia Records produced by bandleader Elliot Lawrence. The piece they recorded was “Gigolette,” a dance number on which Lucie added the tones of the Theremin to a backup singing part. Some publicity photos from this session were recently unearthed along with three different releases of this 78 RPM track. One of these recordings is in my collection and its label is pictured with this article. The publicity photos and images of the two other known versions of this record can be found at the Theremin World web site along with an audio track of the recording. Theremin World contains a very nice account of the recording sessions and circumstances surrounding it. I note that the Theremin model shown in the photo at the site is that of Lucie’s portable model, the only one of her Theremin’s that still survives. Her other model was larger and resembled that owned by Clara Rockmore. It is pictured in the accompanying image of a promotional flyer for one of Rosen’s concerts.

Further documentary evidence of Lucie’s skills at the Theremin were recently unveiled as a result of my own research at her Caramoor estate in Katonah, New York. In 2002, while visiting Caramoor to examine Lucie’s one remaining Theremin, the museum’s facility manager Bill Bullock mentioned to me that there were several old disc recordings in one of the storage areas. The recordings consisted of twenty-one 78 rpm discs that Lucie Rosen had recorded privately in New York during the 1940s. Working with Caramoor, I undertook the digital restoration of the recordings.

The discs represent the only known recordings of Lucie Rosen playing the Theremin other than the Elliot Lawrence disc. The records consist primarily of practice sessions and rehearsals. With material ranging from her rendition of the popular song Danny Boy to adapted short classics by Grieg, Bizet, and Tchaikovsky, the full extent of her skill is apparent. At least two of the discs contain orchestral music only, recorded presumably so that Rosen could practice her Theremin part in preparation for a concert. One most impressive track, the title of which is unknown, displays Rosen’s most virtuosic Theremin techniques: a rapid series of notes played up and down the scale; sharp attacks; glissandi; and wide ranges in amplitude. After restoring the recordings in 2002, a few tracks were available for the public to hear as part of a temporary exhibit at the Caramoor estate. One of these recordings is available here for the first time anywhere. Just click on the icon on the right. It is from an untitled disc and was privately recorded in New York City around 1948. The disc was a 78 RPM glass master coated with acetate. Although this disc is undated, some of the other recordings date from 1946 and 1947.

Lucie Bigelow Rosen did much to advance the art of Theremin playing. She was among the first people to commission works solely for the instrument and through her frequent concertizing continued to keep the art of the Theremin alive into the 1940s. She was no slouch when it came to technical aspects of the instrument either and kept meticulous notes about its care and maintenance. Rosen was part musician and part patron, one of the first enthusiastic supporters of the art of electronic music. Summing up her sentiments about the Theremin for some concert notes, Rosen once wrote, “I do not think there is any other instrument so responsive as this to the artist when he has learned to control it, and that must be its eternal fascination.”

The accompanying photos show various views of the Rosen Theremin. Note the unusual vacuum tube that is visible on the top of the instrument (the music stand, if you will). I consulted Bob Moog about this several years ago. We both concluded that the tube appeared to be some type of preview device to pitch the instrument prior to lifting one’s hand from the volume antenna—this allowed Lucie to know what tone was going to play prior to making it audible, a very clever workaround that the inventor provided for her. In examining her technical notes more closely this year, I note that she explained the function of this tube as follows:

“To indicate correct pitch of the instrument before any sound is produced, a little neon lamp is used. Two stages of amplification are attached to the plate of the mixer tube. The second tube has in its grid circuit a choke and condenser in parallel, resonating on the frequency corresponding to the musical pitch "A". Exact tuning can be obtained by adjusting the value of this condenser to proper resonance with the frequency of "A.”

By using this adjustable pitch control, it would also have been possible to tune the Theremin to other instruments in an ensemble.

            The photo below shows the right half of the front control panel of the Rosen Theremin. The ten-position rotary switch affects tone color by changing the value of capacity in the plate circuits of the output tubes.  Rotation of the switch to the right connects larger capacitances and gradually eliminates high frequency harmonics, creating a purer tone. Unfortunately, the Rosen Theremin is not currently operational (photo: T. Holmes).

          Most of these lost Lucie Rosen recordings are of generally poor audio fidelity. The discs most likely represent practice sessions and were not professionally produced. Even so, Lucie’s skill on the instrument is evident on many of the tracks. These recordings represent a remarkable archive of the work of one of the first people to promote and provide financial support for the art of electronic music.

This blog is adapted from Electronic and Experimental Music by Thom Holmes (Routledge, 2008).