THE INSTRUMENT THAT FEELS LIKE SINGING - LYDIA KAVINA ON THE THEREMIN
Sophie Hardie speaks to thereminist lydia Kavina ahead of her concert at pushkin house
It’s an unusual phenomenon - an instrument you play without touching, the kind of thing only a physicist would invent. And indeed, that is exactly how the theremin came into being. Ahead of Theremin Day at Pushkin House on 2 February - part of our inaugural Festival of Russian Music - we talk to musician and composer Lydia Kavina about how the theremin found her and what it is about the instrument that keeps her in its grasp.
Sophie Hardie: The theremin is a rather unusual phenomenon - an instrument played entirely without physical contact. First of all, could you tell us how it works?
Lydia Kavina: The theremin works using an electromagnetic field. The performer interacts with the field by moving their hands between two antennae, without touching anything. With these movements the performer changes the frequencies and the volume of the sound.
SH: How did you first become interested in the theremin? What is it about the theremin that compels you to keep playing?
“The feeling is something between balancing on a rope and swimming”
LK: The theremin was introduced to me by the inventor, Lev Theremin, who was a cousin of my grandfather. I was about 9 years old at that time, I played piano and composed music, then the theremin opened up the world of electronic sounds to me. It was the mid-1970s and I immediately started using it in my compositions. The instrument is so new and unlike any other musical instrument that every day it brings new discoveries, new possibilities. That is what most attracts me to it.
SH: What does it feel like to play? You also play the piano - how do these two instruments compare? Which do you prefer and why?
LK: The theremin and piano are very different, however they combine well in a duet. The closest thing that the theremin can be compared to is singing. The theremin is played by intuition; there is no physical or visual reference to find the note - just your musical ear. The feeling is something between balancing on a rope and swimming. It constantly needs your control and coordination, but it is free and meditative at the same time.
SH: What is the community of theremin players like? Is it concentrated in Russia or somewhere else, or spread all over the world?
LK: Interest in the theremin developed from the 1990s. In this period the number of theremin players grew to the hundreds, spread all over the world. Most thereminists are in the USA, Europe, Russia and Japan. It is often related to the economic development of a country, to the availability of information and whether musicians can afford to buy such new instruments.
SH: You not only play piano and theremin, but also compose music - do you compose music for both instruments? What is this process like and how does it differ between the two?
LK: I mostly compose for the theremin, combining it with other instruments. Normally, I compose a piece for a particular occasion – a concert or a recording project. I like how the theremin comes in wonderfully to any ensemble: with the piano, with electronic music, with an orchestra, and so on.
SH: Last year you founded a concert project together with Gabirel Prokofiev entitled ‘100 years of electronic music’ - how do you relate to electronic music in the conventional sense, do you see any parallels between classical music and electronic music?
LK: As a performer, I work with all kinds of music: classical, academic-contemporary, avant-garde, experimental, film, theatre, pop, jazz, electronic, improvisation. For me what’s important is the broad field of music in general. My professional knowledge enables me to adapt to new music and play in a large range of musical genres.
Lydia Kavina will be hosting two workshops, open to adults and children, on 2 February at 11am and 1pm. These will be followed by a concert at 4pm in which Lydia will perform on the theremin, accompanied by festival director Alexander Karpeyev on piano. Tickets for each event can be purchased separately or together via the Pushkin House event page. No knowledge of musical notation is required for the workshops, which will accessible to both Russian and English speakers.
We hope to see you there!
About the author
Sophie Hardie is a front-of-house and marketing assistant at Pushkin House. She also edits the Pushkin House blog.