Theremin - "Mon Coeur S'ouvre à ta Voix" from "Samson & Delilah" by Saint Saëns

[whitepine29]

Wow that was beautiful, well done!

[Thereminstrel]

@whitepine29 Thank you for your kind comment. Apologies for the late reply; I am offline a lot presently.

[jonycuddlesgert]

Quite LOVELY, dear Thereminstrel... lovely, and completely emotionally gripping. I sit here very very happy that YOU and your talent are there, here. Always. Johnny.

[Thereminstrel]

@jonycuddlesgert - Thank you for your very kind comment. My time for playing music is, unfortunately, limited at the moment - but your words encourage me to keep on playing ... practicing whenever I can find a few spare minutes!

[oliveratto]

Love it!

This is amazing...

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you! The theremin is certainly an amazing instrument ... which is what makes it so much fun to play.

[swicker007]

awesome!

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you!

[ObediahFults]

Clara is smiling, I'm sure. That was beautiful.

[Thereminstrel]

Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Playing the theremin is a constant struggle; this was one of the few times that my ''performance'' turned out more-or-less as I'd hoped it would!

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you for your kind comment.

[gotsi]

TT--TT I love it!

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

[charmingemily]

how do you find a theremin teacher?

[Thereminstrel]

Finding a theremin teacher is very difficult - almost impossible. There are so few people who play 'classical' theremin, and even less who play well enough to teach. Most thereminists are self-taught, and many have played other instruments for years. The theremin is a particularly difficult first instrument to learn, especially without a solid grounding in music theory.

Youtube thereminist Thomas Grillo offers lessons via Skype, and has recently made a tutorial DVD which you may find helpful.

[teddyjo26]

Wow, this is lovely. I think it brings out the beauty of the tune.

[Thereminstrel]

Many thanks - I really appreciate your kind comment.

[yeapsystar]

Wow ;-)

Sounds nice! Just lightly but with some happiness going ;-)

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[yidneth]

ahh you keep on improving... i'm still dreaming to have a theremin

[Thereminstrel]

Thank you for following my progress. I *think* I'm improving steadily ... but it takes a lot of time and practice!

I hope you manage to get a theremin someday soon; I'm sure you would enjoy the unique challenge this instrument offers!

[ThomasGrillo]

Excelent work! I really enjoyed this one. Thanks. :)

[Thereminstrel]

Thanks, as always, for your kind comment! As you can probably tell, I really enjoy playing this piece!

[ThomasGrillo]

Indeed. :) I remember hearing a sample of this played by Peter Pringle when I first got a theremin 3 years ago, and I think it was this very piece that hooked me on the theremin. Very haunting melody.

[Thereminstrel]

Yes, I know the video ... it's long been one of my PP favourites too.

I think it's a fairly tricky melody for the theremin ... possibly because it seems to be an awkward combination of close runs of notes (often just a semi-tone apart), and big ''irregular'' jumps, (I say irregular because none are a straight-forward octave, and one is a semi-tone more than an octave!)  Still, as you observe, it's a very haunting piece - and certainly one I'll endeavour to keep in my repertoire from now on!

[ThomasGrillo]

Ah, yes. Saint Saens is notorious for those runs, and odd jumps. He did that in The Swan too. :)