Leon Theremin

The Theremin was invented by physicist and amateur cellist Lev Sergeyevich Termen (1896 – 1993), who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on 24 August 1896. His name was Westernized to Leon Theremin, by which is he more commonly known throughout Europe and North America. He was educated in physics, astronomy, and electrical engineering at the University of Petrograd and received conservatory training in music, later taking a teaching position at the Technical Institute in St. Petersburg. Originally linked to research he was conducting for the Russian government into proximity sensors and gas density, Theremin’s concept for the instrument was crystallized in October of 1920, following the construction of a prototype in 1919. A pivotal moment in his early career was when he was invited to the Kremlin in 1922 to give a demonstration of the instrument to Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader of the Russian Revolution, who had expressed sympathies toward his seemingly radical aesthetic idea. It was not until 1928, however, one year after he arrived in the United States following a highly publicized tour of the instrument around Russia and the European continent, that he obtained a US patent (No. 1 661 058). It was during this European tour that Theremin was also afforded the opportunity to demonstrate his instrument to physicist Albert Einstein in Berlin. Theremin came into a $100 000 production, manufacture, and licensing deal with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) on 12 March 1929, who released the first commercial version of his instrument in September of that year, despite having never previously mass-produced another electronic instrument. The instruments began appearing in music stores throughout the country in October of 1929, with the height of marketing occurring between 1929 and 1930. Throughout his time in the United States, Theremin established a private studio space and worked to train musicians in the performance of the instrument so as to help popularize its appeal, even performing with it himself with the New York Philharmonic and at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1928. His invention was met with critical acclaim throughout the country, with many hailing it as equivalent in importance to the development of radio technology. Shortly after settling in New York City, Theremin met the former violinist Clara Rockmore, with whom he would work closely over the next decade in order to develop and refine the instrument’s unique performance technique. Within that time, he also worked on several other commercially unsuccessful instrument designs, including the prototype for a drum machine called the Rhythmicon, which had been commissioned by composer Henry Cowell, and an instrument that could be used interactively with a dancer. In 1938, he married his second wife, a young ballet dancer named Lavinia Williams.

Theremin remained in his adopted home until 1938, and then seems to have somewhat mysteriously disappeared for approximately 30 years before resurfacing into the public sphere and, in 1991, back to the United States. There is much speculation circling Theremin’s hasty departure from the United States, with most sources claiming that he was forcefully removed by the KGB, and others claiming that he left willingly in light of surmounting debt and related financial problems. In any case, it has been reported that he received a prison sentence in the Soviet Union in 1939 for counter-revolutionary activity. Although initially sent to a Siberian work camp, or Gulag, he was returned to Moscow at the start of the Second World War, where he assisted the KGB and military in producing submarine tracking systems and audio surveillance devices. In 1947, he was secretly awarded the Stalin Prize for his contributions. Following his release in 1947, he remained in Moscow where he continued to work on aircraft technology for the government until 1966. Also in 1947, he married his third wife, Maria Guschina, with whom he had two children: Natalia and Lena. From 1964, Theremin taught acoustics at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was ultimately rediscovered by Western sources, and also briefly worked as a technician at the Moscow Polytechnic Institute. Throughout the 1970s, he held a post as professor of physics at the Moscow State University. RCA discontinued production of the Theremin in the early 1940s in order to focus on providing for the American war effort. Despite this, however, the instrument regained popularity in the United States throughout the 1940s with its rampant use in film music and some popular music. Theremin allegedly knew little of what had become of his instrument in the West after his return to the Soviet Union in 1938, and was not made aware of its success and recognition until he was invited to personally receive honours for his invention, first in France in June of 1989, and then at Stanford University in the United States in 1991. During this American visit, Theremin also returned to his former home of New York City, where he and Clara Rockmore reunited to give a series of concerts with the instrument. Theremin returned to Russia shortly after, and passed away in Moscow on 3 November 1993.