Konstantin Kowalski

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Konstantin Kowalski (Russian Константин Ковальский ; * 1890 in Ukraine ; † 1976 ) was a Russian musician. The trained violinist was one of the first theremin players. In total he played more than 3,000 solo concerts with the instrument over a period of 50 years.

After the Theremin was first demonstrated to the public in Moscow in 1921, Kowalski began to perform with the instrument as the second musician after the inventor Lew Termen . Kowalski had broken his hand and saw the Theremin, which was played without contact, as the ideal instrument to start playing again. Kowalski constructed his own instrument in which he varied the pitch with his right hand , but the volume with a pedal . With his left hand he operated a number of buttons that allowed further control over the music, allowing him to play stakkati or trills , for example . He played both the classical repertoire, which he adapted for the theremin, and newly composed pieces. He also played with terms several times.

He played the theremin parts for the film Komsomol - Promoter of Electrification , which Gavriil Popow provided with a soundtrack . Kowalski continued his concerts even at a time when any form of modernity in Soviet art was frowned upon. With the ensemble for electronic music of television and radio of the USSR he played as a solo musician. There he played popular music, Soviet political songs, and some popular pieces of classical music. After his death, Lydia Kavina took this position.

Kowalski played his adapted tube theremin for a long time, but over the years he designed it so that it could be played while sitting. In 1972, in an article by Lev Korolev , he discovered the newer and much more manageable transistor thermin. Together with Koroljew, Kowalski began to design a new theremin on this basis between 1971 and 1976, with the physicist Koroljew adapting his plans to the requirements of the musician. This built on Kowalski's older design, but also had, for example, an optical display for the notes played.

Kowalski, who feared the theremin's continued existence, tried to find new students, his best-known being Soja Ranewskaja , who performed in concert until at least the 1990s.

literature

  • Natalia Nesturkh: The Theremin and Its Inventor in Twentieth-Century Russia . In: Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 57-60

Remarks

  1. ^ Theremin Times. Konstantin Kovalsky. Константин Ковальский (Russian, viewed October 25, 2011)
  2. ^ Albert Glinsky: Theremin - Ether Music and Espionage . Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000, ISBN 0-252-02582-2 .0 p. 315
  3. ^ A b Albert Glinsky: Theremin - Ether Music and Espionage . Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000, ISBN 0-252-02582-2 .0 p. 33
  4. ↑ a b c d Nesturkh
  5. ^ A b c Albert Glinsky: Theremin - Ether Music and Espionage . Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000, ISBN 0-252-02582-2 .0 p. 317
personal data
SURNAME Kowalski, Konstantin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ковальский, Константин (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION soviet musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH 1976