Ever seen someone play a theremin? This video will astound you | CBC Music - Action News
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Ever seen someone play a theremin? This video will astound you

Watch Grgoire Blanc play music by Glire at the University of Montreal.

Watch Grgoire Blanc play music by Glire at the University of Montreal

French theremin virtuoso Grgoire Blanc spent some time in Montreal recentlyand while there, he met local clarinetist Jenny Maclay and pianist Julien LeBlanc and enlisted them to play an arrangement of Reinhold Glire'sConcerto for Coloratura and Orchestra, Op. 82, at l'UniversitdeMontral's Salle Serge-Garant.

The piece is a successor to Rachmaninoff's famous Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, in which a soprano's wordless lines intertwine with, and soar over, theorchestra. Because the theremin is so good at replicating the human voice, Glire's Concerto is a perfect fit for this unusual instrument whose inventor, Lon Theremin, was the protagonist of Sean Michael's Giller Prize-winning novel, Us Conductors.

Patented in 1928, the theremin has a small but devoted following of enthusiasts, but it remains a marginal instrument. With 25,000YouTube subscribers, Blancis determined to change that. If you've never seen someone play a theremin an electronic instrument that's controlled without any physical contact by the performer then Blanc's video will astound you. Watch above.