Percy Grainger's MOOG Theremin

Object On display
Photograph by Egmont Contreras, ACMI

Cinema audiences were first introduced to the eerie vibrations of a theremin in the Soviet film Odna (Alone) (1931). During a snowstorm, composer Dimitri Shostakovish amps up the dread with the theremin’s high-pitched wail. Invented in 1920 by Russian physicist Léon Theremin, the instrument works by harnessing electricity and has been used in movies ever since, from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) to First Man (2018). In 1932, Australian composer Percy Grainger discovered the instrument (this one is signed by him) and used it to develop compositions that weren’t dictated by scales, rhythms or harmonies.

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Collection

Not in ACMI's collection

On display until

16 February 2031

ACMI: Gallery 1

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

193239

Curatorial section

The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Pictures → MI-05. Sound and Colour → MI-05-C02

Object Types

Audio equipment/Film and television equipment

Photographic print/Pictorial

Poster/Pictorial

Sound recordings - Album covers/Sound recording and reproducing

Collected

95275 times

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Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/121910--percy-graingers-moog-theremin/ |title=Percy Grainger's MOOG Theremin |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=24 December 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}