Makin’ Music with Sheldon and Leon!

Sheldon and Leon are showing off their musical talents: they are both producing eerie sounds from an instrument called the theremin. First, listen to Sheldon: he’ll play the “Star Trek” theme and “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” on his modern theremin. Next, listen to Leon: he’ll perform “The Swan” on his classical theremin…the original! 

You might have heard this strange voice-like instrument before, maybe in movies like “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” or “The Lost Weekend,” or “Spellbound.” The theremin was the first electronic musical instrument, a 1919 creation by Russian inventor, Leon Theremin, who originally made it for classical music. 

When I was young, my grandfather, who played violin and saxophone, also played the theremin, and I was fascinated to watch him sweep his hands over the antennae, magically producing music! 

You can read more about Leon, his theremin, and its predecessors at Theremin World.

 

“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Friedrich Nietzsche (macro photo)

Andreas Mierswa, Bjoern Ewers, Der Berliner Philharmoniker photo

As someone who breathes music like air, I love this macro photo! It is a glimpse inside a delicate, stringed instrument. Can you imagine yourself tiny enough to stand under the sound hole (f-hole) and experience the music in the air as it vibrates from the inside out?   

This photo was used for an ad campaign poster, created by a team of two German photographers, Andreas Mierswa & Markus Klusk, along with another talented photographer, Bjoern Ewers. Click on their names to visit each website. The poster translation is: “Closer to the chamber music of the Berlin Philharmonic.”