What is that… THING?

Why, it’s the theremin!

This week on “Picture Perfect,” thrill to the distinctive extraterrestrial timbre of this whooping, whistling, wailing electronic instrument invented by Leon Theremin in 1928. The theremin may be unique of its kind in that it is played without actual physical contact. Pitch and volume are determined by the proximity of a player’s hands to two antennae. You won’t find any frets on this one!

That said, it can certainly generate fret. Brace yourself for eerie, at times otherworldly selections from “The Thing” by Dimitri Tiomkin (great music for cooking carrots), “Ed Wood” by Howard Shore (Tim Burton’s love letter to the director of “Plan 9 from Outer Space”), “Rocketship X-M” by Ferde Grofé (composer of the “Grand Canyon Suite”), and, one week after the death of Rhonda Fleming, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Spellbound” (with Academy Award winning music by Miklós Rózsa).

If you’ve got a THING for theremins, you’ll want to be on “hand” (or maybe not). I hope you’ll join me for madness, monsters, and Martians, on “Picture Perfect,” this Saturday evening at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PEOPLE OF EARTH: WWFM is in the midst of its fall fundraiser. If, like me, you find great film music to be out of this world, please consider supporting it. Your donation online at wwfm.org allows us to continue to bring you stellar specialty programs like “Picture Perfect.” Thank you for your part in maintaining quality film music on the astral airwaves!