A former violinist and Curtis student, Rockmore became the first, and arguably best, theremin virtuosa...
In October 1920 a young Russian physicist named Lev Termen inadvertently invented a new musical instrument while conducting government research on proximity sensors. Christened the Theremin, the instrument was completely novel in that it was not played through physical touch – rather performers controlled pitch and volume strictly through the movement of their hands near the instrument’s precisely placed antennas. The result is a synthesized, eerie pitch reminiscent of 1950s science fiction which – under the right hands – can be mesmerizingly beautiful.