Croix Sonore, or a special kind of theremin project
2006-06-16 by Jessica Hummel
Hi all, Here's some information on a special kind of theremin happening. For the Holland Festival, Wilco Botermans and Lydia Kavina are part of a very special Nicolaj Oboechov and the Croix Sonore project, taking place on 17 and 18 June in Amsterdam. The Croix Sonore aka Sonourous Cross is a theremin-like instrument, which was developed for and used in the music of Paris based Russian composer Nicolaj Oboechov in 1929. You could regard it as a theremin clad in mysticism and symbolism. It had only one player, the concert pianist and Baha'i priestess Princess Marie Antoinette Aussenac de Broglie. The musée de L'Opéra in Paris had a Croix Sonore, but it got lost in 1980 when they shipped it to a museum in Berlin, Germany. Especially for the Holland Festival Wilco Botermans has built a modern replica of the Croix Sonore, largely based on the only known picture of the instrument and an article in the Grove musical dictionary. Little is known about the technical aspects of the original Croix Sonore, and there are no recordings of it. Wilco's replica is made of acrylic glass and contains a customised Moog Etherwave board. Volume is controlled by an infra red device, developped by George Pavlov. (Yesterday suddenly another old photograph of the Croix Sonore popped up, in which you can see the Princess controlling the volume by turning the knob on a little box that is clasped to her waist.) Lydia Kavina will play the new Croix Sonore in two concerts, Le troisième et dernier testament with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hymne Mondial with the Schönberg Ensemble. The concerts are also broadcasted on the internet. Pictures of the old and the new Croix Sonore: http://www.jeshum.com/levnet/croix-sonore-old.jpg http://www.jeshum.com/levnet/croix-sonore-new.jpg Read more about Oboechov and the Croix Sonore: http://www.aber.ac.uk/cla/archive/skria.html http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/la_croix_sonore/index.html Find information on the site of the Holland Festival: http://www.hollandfestival.nl/ Choose tab Practical and search for Nicolaj Oboechov Listen to the broadcasts: http://portal.omroep.nl/radio 4 (click the black button on the left) - Sat 17 June live broadcast, 2.02 am CET, Le troisième et dernier testament. Oboechov, Skrjabin and Prokofjev. Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv Reinbert de Leeuw, Lydia Kavina - Wednesday 28 June, evening concert from 18 June, 8.00 pm CET, Hymne Mondial. Oboechov and Skrjabin, Schönberg Ensemble and Lydia Kavina. greetings, Jessica PS. Yes, I posted this also on Levnet. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.9.0/366 - Release Date: 15-6-2006