Customer Reviews

Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman and the Theremin

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Be warned, most of your money spent on this so-called "box set" will be paying for the gatefold-style casing, paper disc sleeves and the accompanying 28-page booklet. Each of these albums clock in at under 20 minutes, combining for a total of only 54 minutes of music across all three discs. Nonetheless, this is truly vintage; embodying the rapid, dashing orchestral sounds of WWII movie previews and Warner Brothers cartoons. Whenever my wife's friends hear this music, they always get a crooked face and say, "This sounds like an old Disney movie."

The first two discs, "Music Out Of The Moon" and "Perfume Set To Music" (arranged by Les Baxter), sound like a game show orchestra tuning in some otherworldy sounds; Hoffman's theremin flirts alongside a piano, harp, strings, and even a vocal choir (not quite the Ray Conniff style if that irritates you). The great Billy May conducts the last disc, "Music For Peace Of Mind". The expressive song titles on this disc indicate the gentle mood that is intended, emphasized by wavy flutes and strings. The first track, "This Room Is My Castle Of Quiet", swallows my thoughts up and takes me away every time I hear this. Hoffman restrains himself with the theremin; most of the songs have small passages where he is buried deep within the orchestra or not heard at all.

The aforementioned booklet details the theremin's origin, as well as an explaination of Hoffman's induction into music (he was a chiropodist by trade). A couple of these tracks have appeared on Volume 3 of the Capitol Records Ultra-Lounge series, and I recommend buying that as well if this disc really excites you. I enjoy this box set but I would endorse it more for fans of lounge music than for fans of the theremin.

I will be the first to confess that this is not the type of music that I would generally listen to on my own accord. The theremin is a peculiar instrument and it is used to good effect here. A word of caution though, if you are looking for a CD showcasing the theremin for the "spooky sounds" it is capable of, do not buy this CD. This is very melodic theremin and vocal jazz from the 1950s. All three volumes are very structured and emphasize harmonies. This is a strangely absorbing CD set, and I bought it for a very quirky reason.

I am an airline and former Air Force pilot, and Neil Armstrong has been my hero since childhood. When he went to the moon on Apollo 11 he took with him a tape of "Music Out Of The Moon", which he played in the tape player he shared with Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins. He took it because it had long been a favorite of him and also his wife, Jan. He played some of the peculiar sounds over the NASA downlink at one point on the way home as a private message to Jan, much to the confusion of the flight controllers. Ever since I read the story I wanted to hear this recording and was not disappointed, although it isn't exactly what I expected, either. For more information, see "First On The Moon", by Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Since the time of these recordings many other artists have experimented with the theremin, including Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

If you like music from the 1950s you will like this. If you like experimental music you will like this. I only gave it four stars as a value statement: the set is rather expensive and contains three CDs, yet there is only about an hour of material total, which seems a bit excessive. A better package would have had all three volumes on one CD, but then nobody would pay thirty dollars for it I suppose.

Bottom line: give it a listen. If it's good enough for Neil, it's good enough for me.

In July 1969, Neil Armstrong requested two specific musical works to carry aboard Apollo 11. One was Dvorak's "Symphony From a New World". The other work was Hoffman's Music out of the Moon. Just thought prospective buyers of this box set would like to know that.

"Music for Peace of Mind" is my favorite CD in this set. It is interesting, and creative. "This Room is My Castle of Quiet" really caught my attention.
The other Two discs, "Perfume Set to Music" and "Music Out of the Moon", arranged by Les Baxter, have gotten better with each listening, at first, I didn't like them at all, now I do.
There is another early electronic musical instrument on these recordings. I find it fascinating also. It is the Hammond Novachord (probably the first synthesizer). You have to listen very close to find it in the music. The Novachord blends in very well.
I find the Theremin has a beautiful singing type voice, slightly out of tune, and very interesting.
If you love the Theremin, listen to this set.

Beautiful light orchestral compositions in the classic post-WW2 style, featuring the Theremin as a solo instrument. If you're looking for spooky sci-fi Theremin sound effects, this ain't it. (For that, check out the DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL soundtrack.) Discs 1 and 2 were orchestrated and conducted by the great Les Baxter, disc 3 by Billy May, when both were only in their late 20s. I bought this set to add to my extensive Les Baxter collection, and am very glad I did! As to why 3 discs when all the music could've fit onto one, I wondered that too until my set arrived in this morning's mail. Each disc comes in its own little sleeve that reproduces the cover art and liner notes from the original 78rpm album, plus an excellent accompanying booklet with more notes. A perfect collector's item!

Beautiful light orchestral compositions in the classic post-WW2 style, featuring the Theremin as a solo instrument. If you're looking for spooky sci-fi Theremin sound effects, this ain't it. (For that, check out the DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL soundtrack.) Discs 1 and 2 were orchestrated and conducted by the great Les Baxter, disc 3 by Billy May, when both were only in their late 20s. I bought this set to add to my extensive Les Baxter collection, and am very glad I did! As to why 3 discs when all the music could've fit onto one, I wondered that too until my set arrived in this morning's mail. Each disc comes in its own little sleeve that reproduces the cover art and liner notes from the original 78rpm album, plus an excellent accompanying booklet with more notes. A perfect collector's item!

For those of you who don't know what a Theremin is, I'll explain: Russian-born Leon Theremin (whose own life story was like something out of a 50s "scare" movie) invented this most unusual musical instrument. It operated on the principle of air waves, similar to the static produced when one brought their hands to adjust their radio. A box with a curved coil on one side, a vertical antenna on the other, it produced eerie, humming sounds, which were mistaken by listeners to be human voices. The instrument gained wide fame when utilized in Miklos Rosza's now-legendary score for Alfred Hitchcock's psychological mystery-thriller "Spellbound", as well as "The Lost Weekend", "The Spiral Staircase", and "The Day The Earth Stood Still". Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, who was a chiropodist, was the most famous Theremin player of his day. And now, listeners can relax in their living rooms with this delightful boxed-set reissue of three albums featuring Dr. Hoffman, recorded in the mid 1940s thru the early 1950s. The best of the 3 discs is "Music for Peace of Mind", which opens with "This Room is My Castle of Quiet", a number which raises the hairs on the back of my neck. It's soothing in a very eerie way. I thought to myself when listening to this, "WHAT did people think when this was first released? Visions of a Martian Lucy and Ricky relaxing in their living room listening to this stuff flashed through my mind! The other 2 discs, "Perfume Set to Music" and "Music Out of the Moon", arranged by the great Les Baxter, are amusing and unusual. "Perfume", a preposterous concept,is more heavy on a chorus and strings, music one would imagine Lypsinka gliding around opening refrigerator doors to, and "Moon" is a sort of jivey, "hep cat" disc-when the vibraphones play, I had a picture in my mind of a silver-lame space suited Lionel Hampton. The packaging on this set is wonderful-the discs are packaged in reproductions of the original album art covers, and there is an extremely informative booklet with information on Leon Theremin, Dr. Hoffman, and even features a list of films in which he was featured in the musical score. For lovers of the off-beat, this one's for you!

The is a wonderful collection of recordings, hilighting the incredible Theremin playing of Sam Hoffman, but the totally unique sound on this recording is due to the fascinating arrangements of master composer Les Baxter. Baxter changed the face of popular (and classical) music with his unique arrangements for Yma Sumac, Bas Sheva, Hoffman and Nat "King" Cole -- not to mention his own incredible series of Exotica recordings and his million selling pop songs. Baxter's recording of THE POOR PEOPLE OF PARIS was the largest selling single of the entire 1950s.

Finally, Baxter wrote well over 140 amazing film scores and many concert hall pieces as well Someday these compositions will make a lot of money for the company that has the guts to take a chance on releasing some of these amazing compositions.

Not only was the music beautiful and mysterious but for those who never heard the voice of the theremin you are in for a real treat. If you do not love this group of recordings, your soul is dead!!!!

I liked the third CD best - Music for Peace of Mind which did not feature a chorus. I thought the chorus on the other two discs tended to drown out the wonderful, ethereal sound of the theremin - which was my main reason for buying the set in the first place.