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A Baby is Born!
Clara Rockmore is known for being the first virtuoso on the theremin, the electronic instrument that lead to the rise of electronic music. Rockmore was born in Vilna, Lithuania. She inherited the family trait of perfect pitch and was able to recognize melodies at two. Link text -
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The Lifetime of Clara Rockmore
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Achievement Earned! Vioin Prodigy!
After studying violin, Clara Rockmore was the youngest musician to be invoked into the St. Petersburg Conservatory, at age four in 1915. Link text -
Revolution Strikes!
Conditions deteriorated in Russia, so Clara's family was forced to escape. The family was forced to cross many borders illegally and Clara played concerts along the way. In 1921, the family was finally able to gain passage for a steamboat heading for America. Link text -
Rockmore's Career takes a sharp turn
In 1927, Clara was studying violin with her professor, Leopold Auer, and gained severe tendonitis in her bowing arm, which lead to her fleeing from doctor to doctor to try to heal. Clara recalled when she told Auer, "When I came to Auer about my unbearable pain, it was the one time he was truly angry. I remember his voice - he spoke in English - 'How could you permit yourself?'" Link text -
A Turn of Fates
In 1928, Rockmore was invited by a friend to the Plaza Hotel, while the creator of the Theremin, Leon Theremin, was on a trip in America to demonstrate his creation. For her birthday that year, Leon Theremin presented Rockmore with a theremin model of her own. By 1932, Rockmore was committed to the instrument. Link text -
First Theremin Symphony!
On April 1, 1932, the Theremin Electronic Symphony Orchestra made its debut with instruments, such as several theremins, cello theremins, keyed theremins, and Rockmore playing the Tapistrone, which was an instrument that responded to a dancer's movements. During this time, she convinced Theremin to create a more precise instrument and the range changed from three to five octaves. Link text -
Marriage Ultimatum
Leon Theremin tried many times to get married with Rockmore, but she refused all proposals. In 1933, she finally made the decision to get married to distinguished entertainment lawyer, Robert Rockmore. She made this decision after she stated that she, "Would die in the gulag," if she stayed with Theremin. This led to Theremin cutting all ties with Rockmore. Leon Theremin went missing and Rockmore never saw him again. Link text -
Rockmore's First Release!
Through the 1930-40's, Rockmore continued performing at concerts. This changed 1977. Rockmore and the creator of a famous synthesizer company, Robert Moog, filmed the performances of Rockmore and her sister Nadia Reisenberg titled, "The Art of the Theremin." This commercial filmed Rockmore's most famous performance of Camille Saint-Saens song, "The Swan." Link text
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Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
After the release of her commercial with Robert Moog, Rockmore gained attention of being a world-renowned thereminist. In 1991, Steve Martin was fascinated with the instrument and embarked on creating the documentary called, "Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey," featuring the life of Leon Theremin and Clara Rockmore. This led to them being reunited at the premier of the movie with Leon at age 96. Link text -
Sickness and Death
In 1997, Rockmore fought a heart attack and Pneumonia with determination to see the birth of her grand-niece. In 1998, Fiona Sherman was born and Rockmore died in her Manhattan apartment two days later. Link text -
Clara Rockmore's 105th Birthday!
On March 9th 2016, Designer Alex Chen decided to launch the Chrome Music Lab and partnered with google to celebrate Clara Rockmore's 105th birthday. Even though she died, the Google developers decided to pay tribute to her death by creating a virtual theremin. Later that day, the virtual theremin was posted to the front page of google. This event was significant because many people discovered the theremin with this game. Link text
