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Henry Cowell

The Banshee
Intérpretes: Joan Cerveró, piano
Víctor Trescolí, piano strings
A major figure in the modernist movement of the twentieth century, American composer Henry Cowell is celebrated for his avant-garde style and tireless advocacy of contemporary music.
Even in his early compositions, Cowell did something entirely different—instructing the performer to play a range of neighboring notes all at once by holding down the hand or forearm, known as the “tone cluster.”

LEON THEREMIN

ליאון טרמין
레온 테레민
Лев Термен
théremin

he invented an electronic device known as the theremin, which was a unique musical instrument that could be played without physical contact. Rather than plucking strings or pressing keys, the musician need only move their hands around antennas located on the device.The device became a popular curiosity and he proceeded to tour Europe in order to demonstrate it. In 1928, he moved to New York City in the United States, where he played a theremin in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1928. In 1929, he was granted a patent for the device by the United States. He decided to give RCA the rights to manufacture and sell the theremin for a lump sum payment and a percentage of the sales.In the early 1930s, Theremin purchased a laboratory in New York that he used for experimenting with electronic musical instruments. One of the products of his lab was the Rhythmicon, which was purchased by Henry Cowell, a composer. In 1930, a group of ten “thereminists” performed at Carnegie Hall.Theremin also began researching a method to cause lights and sound to respond to the movement of dancers. His system became popular with ballet and dance clubs throughout the country.