Therelympics ~ post submissions here :)

Hello there :)

I think this event deserves its own thread, yes?

Here is my submission:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEw5_jDr7sQ

O Canada! (yup, I am Canadian :)

I hope you enjoy !

That is superbly played!

Alas, I dont think that even Clara could make "god save the queen" sound interesting! ;-)

Fred.

English thereminists could play the unofficial English national anthem (we don't have an official one) used at the Commonwealth Games - Jerusalem.

Or my favourite as a Northerner - Hills Of The North Rejoice!

"Or my favourite as a Northerner - Hills Of The North Rejoice!" - GordonC

Yeah, I agree with that choice! - to my ears, it sounds extremely well suited to the theremin - lovely tune, and I think possible to play with a theremin (no expert on this - perhaps a musician can comment..)

Out of choices between "god save" and "Jerusalem" I certainly find this the most appealing by an extremely long way (the video, however, was god awful IMO).

Fred.

Yesterday I uploaded "Wilhelmus van Nassaue" (Dutch national anthem) via the SoundCloud dropbox ;-) ;-) ;-) I'm curious what you are going to do Thomas! And Amey, I love your "O Canada"!

http://soundcloud.com/yeapsystar/wilhelmus-van-nassaue-dutch/s-SAVsZ

Eeewwwh ... http://soundcloud.com/yeapsystar/wilhelmus-van-nassaue-dutch/s-SAVsZ

English thereminists could play the unofficial English national anthem (we don't have an official one) used at the Commonwealth Games - Jerusalem.

Or my favourite as a Northerner - Hills Of The North Rejoice!

I love this Gordon!

Marielle, I really enjoyed your theremin entry... It seems like a tough piece to play with all these quick note changes! You did very well on this! I love the ending especially!! ;)

...and Fred, thank you for the lovely comment! Thank you for watching and commenting :)

HILLS OF THE NORTH REJOICE would adapt beautifully to the theremin but you would have to find an accompaniment for it. So far, most people who have submitted theremin versions of national anthems seem to be playing on top of completed, rousing, commercial recordings in which the melody is already being played by some other instrument. 

Emotion, musicality, originality...everything has already been provided by whoever created the basic performance. All the thereminist is doing is getting in the way of someone else's work in an attempt to show that he or she can play a simple melody without going off key.

Playing on key should not be the goal of an artist. It should be the basic foundation on which something else is built.

I understand that some people are perhaps not able, or not equipped, to create their own "made to measure" accompaniment but playing along with someone else's completed performance puts them at a disadvantage. When there are two solo instruments both playing the same melody, you are locked into somebody else's interpretation and the sound you hear is not a solo theremin. It is a mix of theremin and whatever is already on the track. 

Thereminists who play over top of someone else's music often give the impression that they believe they are adding the crown jewel to the listening experience. Perhaps that is what they are feeling as they are playing.

In reality they do not enhance the work. They destroy it.