Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage (Music in American Life)

I haven't finished this yet but so far no dissapointment looms, the idea of a theremin ensemble is both intreuging and just slightly scary maybe oneday I to will own a vintage theremin.... but until then I shall keep on soldering on till my mini one is built!

One of the most thoroughly researched books on Theremin I have ever seen. Very impressive.

This biography is a truely gripping account of one man's incredible life. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, this is for everyone who cares about art, music, technology & innovation, and 20th century history.

Author Albert Glinsky has conducted magisterial research, and has written what must be the definitive account of the life of Russian inventor Lev Termen/Leon Theremin. Having just read Sean Michaels' intriguing fictionalization of Theremin's life-- an excellent novel, and the two books go well together-- I wanted to know more about the man himself. Glinsky not only describes every phase of Theremin's enormous life, he also situates his best-known invention, the theremin, in the overall development of electronic music. As the book shows so well, that instrument was just the tip of the iceberg of Theremin's inventions and proposed inventions; for many more decades, Theremin's mind was brimming with ideas, many of them realized; in his mid-90s, Theremin was considering how to develop a solution to such contemporary world problems as a scanner that would detect terrorists carrying bombs. Theremin's refusal to leave the Soviet Union as that conglomeration of nations fell apart during the 1980s, on the grounds that he had personally promised Lenin-- in 1922-- not to do so until his work was done certainly demonstrates a unique mind. Glinsky's account of the international accolades that showered down upon Theremin in his very last years-- he was still playing the theremin!--provides a wonderfully happy ending for a life that had so many chances of ending quite differently.

Libro molto dettagliato su vita, lavoro e idee di Lev Termen (Theremin), inventore del theremin, uomo d'affari, spia sovietica e personaggio complesso figlio di un'epoca molto particolare. Non scorrevole ma estremamente completo.

La vie et l'œuvre d'un savant, artiste et espion russe. Un récit sans complaisance qui casse le mythe du Thérémine victime du système soviétique.

Das Buch ist von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite spannend. Es erzählt die Geschichte eines russischen Erfinders und Hobbymusikers, dessen Vorfahren aus Frankreich stammen. Fast jeder hat schon einmal die Klänge seiner bedeutsamsten Erfindung, des Termenvox (auch Ätherwellengeige, auch Theremin genannt) gehört, sei es in alten Filmen oder im Konzert. Er erfand das erste praktisch anwendbare elektronische Musikinstrument. Es beruht auf der Überlagerung zweier hochfrequenter Schwingungen, von denen eine durch die Bewegung der Hand oder des Körpers beeinflusst wird. Als Lenin es hörte, schickte er Theremin damit auf Reisen. Zunächst ging es durch Russland, später Welttournee, Deutschland, Frankreich und dann USA, wo sein Instrument patentiert wurde. Zwischenzeitlich erfand er elektronische Diebstahlsicherungen und Fernsehüberwachungsanlagen, die aber sofort als geheim eingestuft und damit nicht bekannt wurden, sondern nur vom Geheimdienst verwendet. Hier baute er eine Produktion auf. Allerdings hatte er es schwer wegen der Wirtschaftskrise. 1938 wurde er in die UdSSR zurückbeordert. In einigen Biografien wird gesagt, er wäre vom KGB entführt und später umgebracht worden. Wahrscheinlicher ist, dass er vom Geheimdienst zurückbeordert wurde oder die USA wegen der schwierigen Lage verließ. Genaue Auskunft darüber gab er nicht. Aber er lebte. Richtig ist, dass er 1938 kurz nach seiner Rückkehr in der UdSSR verhaftet wurde und in ein Arbeitslager kam. Er erfand eine spezielle Schienenführung, die den Transport von geschürftem Material erleichterte. Später war er in einem Speziallager für Wissenschaftler und arbeitete an der Konstruktion eines Flugzeuges mit. Und dann entwickelte er die Wanze, für die er einen Stalinpreis erhielt. Er arbeitete für den Geheimdienst. In den 1960er Jahren, nachdem er in Rente ging, konnte er sich wieder der Musik widmen. Im Westen war man überrascht, dass er noch lebte. 1990 trat er, gerade noch rechtzeitig vor deren Auflösung, in die KPdSU ein (das hatte er einst Lenin versprochen). In hohem Alter ging er noch auf Reisen und wurde sehr verehrt. Es ist eine sehr widersprüchliche und faszinierende Biografie. Eine analoge russische bezeichnet ihn als den "sowjetischen Faust". Außerordentlich beeinflusst haben seine Erfindungen Robert Moog, der auch das Vorwort zu dem Buch schrieb. Wer etwas über das Leben von Theremin wissen will, kommt um zwei Bücher nicht herum: "Theremin: Ether Music and Espionage" von Glinski und "Sovjetskij Faust" von B. Galejew, das das ganze aus russischer Sicht zeigt.

At this date I am aware that Albert Glinsky's biography on Leon Theremin and his "Ether Wave" musical instrument, and on his involvement in Soviet espionage, has been subjected to quite an impressive number of reviews, including those here on Amazon. As a person who tried for over forty years to teach Americans about the Russian language, Russian literature, Russian (and Soviet) culture, I can attest that Glinsky's task was not an easy one. As you read, you encounter his constant attempts to provide us with explanations of Russian and Soviet history and politics, with arcane aspects of science and technology in radio wave generation and in television mechanics and electronics, and, of course, in music. As a teacher I can only admire Glinsky's constantly impressive ability to explain all these things so that the uninitiated reader can, at least with focused attention and effort at times, understand them and see how they give a context for Leon Theremin's accomplishments and his actions regarding them. When I was a graduate student in Russian Studies at Cornell University in the early 1970s I had occasion to meet and speak with Robert Moog, the "American Father of Electronic Music," who lived in proximity to Cornell outside Ithaca, New York. I remember that Moog was curious about how I, a non-Russian American from Montana, wound up studying Russian, and that was the topic of our brief conversation as I recall it. But, of course, he said nothing to me in that conversation about how it was a Russian, Lev Sergeevich Termin, who was essentially his inspiration and mentor in the creation of electronic devices to generate music. At that time I had never heard of Termen or the theremin. I could only recall this ephemeral contact when I read Moog's foreword to Glinsky's biography of Theremin (Termen). After reading the book, I went so far as to order a theremin of my own from an online source (not, I admit, a Moog theremin...though I may wind up getting one of those too). I equipped it with a used Fender guitar amplifier and set about to teach myself to play the theremin in my home office. I had Theremin's story of personally instructing Soviet founder Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in 1922 to play a well-known classical musical piece, and about how Lenin, at first guided by Theremin's hands from behind, took over on his own and successfully completed the playing of the piece. This story gave me hope. Theremin, in Glinsky's biography, tells people, most potential customers for the instrument I suspect, that "anyone can learn to play this instrument in a fortnight." I have to say that my own experience is contrary. Even availing myself of the online instruction ably given by such theremin virtuosi as Thomas Grillo and seeing the wonderful performances of others, I still, considerably beyond a fortnight, am making only embarrassing squeaks and squeals. I can't even play a recognizable "Happy Birthday," or "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." I don't think any musical group would welcome aboard what my theremin might contribute. I'll have to keep my day job. But only think...Glinsky's book made me give it a shot and I, alleged as an expert already, learned a great deal about Russia and the Soviet Union, and about Radio Waves, Television, Espionage, and even electronic music. The book is a wonder. You definitely should buy it. Highly Recommended.