Top page of cantelow.com

Ann Cantelow on Theremin -- Recorded on a Moog Etherwave Pro theremin, using GarageBand software on a Mac.
All sound files here are mp3 files.

My Own Compositions
Title Notes
City of Ghosts, multi-track theremin.
6.5Mb. 10/6/06. Time length: 5:24 minutes
This piece was created as a Halloween piece. It is meant to express compassion for the plight of storied ghosts, who suffer an eternity of regret about something that happened in the past, that they have no control over or power to change.
Ringtones!   (short mp3 files, about 300Kb each)

Ringtone of the day. This project of over 200 daily ringtones lasted from 7/25/09 to 5/28/10.

Some older ringtones:
Joe  13 seconds. 9/9/06.
Lucille  13 seconds. 9/16/06.
Rita  14 seconds. 9/9/06.
Sam  13 seconds. 9/10/06.
Sarah  12 seconds. 9/9/06.
Handcrafted multitrack theremin ringtones, made just for this purpose. These little miniature compositions are great fun to do. You are welcome to put them into your phone.

Not knowing what to call them, I decided to give them human-type names. The names are arbitrary, and do not refer to anyone I know. They are names I've thought I would name my own children if I had them.
BeaBen
4.3Mb, 3:33 minutes.   7/30/06.   24 theremin tracks.
Fading Into and Out of Focus
2.8Mb, 2:19 minutes.   3/8/06.   6 theremin and 2 percussion tracks.
Johnny Bumpkins
3.4Mb, 2:52 minutes.   3/17/06.   7 theremin tracks.
Aspartame
2.4Mb, 2:02 minutes. 2/21/06.   6 theremin tracks.
Ruby! Primavera
3.3Mb, 2:44 minutes.   3/4/06.   9 theremin and 3 percussion tracks.
Adobe Hat
2.5Mb, 2:02 minutes.   2/21/06.   5 theremin tracks.
Jerome
3.5Mb, 2:55 minutes.   5/22/06.   7 theremin tracks, 3 whispering voices, and 2 percussion tracks.
I wrote these pieces as an homage to David Gunn's essay stories that are at the beginning of every radio show from Kalvos and Damian's New Music Bazaar, which is a radio show celebrating New and Nonpop music and its composers and performers. Each piece is named after a recurring character or theme in the stories. Archives of the show are available online!

Note! My pieces here are an homage because I enjoy the stories, and are not affiliated with the show in any way.

Here is one of my favorites of these delightfully Lewis-Carroll-esque pun-filled stories in written form: Essay #493, The Sherlock Holmes Principle, from episode #493 in 2004.
Night Rain, for solo theremin and drone.
6.3Mb. 2/4/06. Time length: 5:13
Completed in June, 2005. This was written during a rainstorm that lasted a number of days and nights in Boulder. Such storms are rare here, so it had a magical feel to it that permeated what I was working on. I added the drone later, realizing I was thinking of the piece in that way harmonically (or an-harmonically). In this recording the drone is also from my theremin, multitracked.

Other Showcase Pieces
Title Source Notes
Two different Bach harmonizations of O Haupt Voll Blut Und Wunden:
One   1.7Mb. 1/7/06
Two   1.7Mb. 1/27/06
Book: Bach Riemenschneider 371 Harmonized Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies, numbers 74 and 89. Both harmonizations of this chorale appear in Bach's St Matthew Passion. The first one here is its best known harmonization, and the second is from the last time it appears in the Passion. To me, the the last harmonization has a very poignant and sweet mood.
Farewell to Sweet Llangyfelach
(Ffarwel Fo i Langyfelach Lon)
2.3Mb. 10/18/05
Learned from a CD, Celtic Tales and Tongues, where it was sung unaccompanied, by Julie Murphy and Annie Ebrel. From the liner notes on Celtic Tales: 'A young Welshman who has to join the "English fleet" bids goodbye to Llangyfelach and remembers the girl waiting for him in Wales.'
Ma Tovu round
2.3Mb. 12/3/05
The tune to this round is lovely and fun to sing. My sisters and I sang it often as children, not knowing then the depth of what the words meant. The tune of this round has been used with many different texts. The text that I know with this version is: Ma tovu ohaleicha Yaakov mishk'notecha Yisrael. --How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwelling places, O Israel.


A Few More Pieces on Theremin

Western Classical -- Serious traditional music from the European heritage.
Gounod/Bach's
Ave Maria
8Mb. 11/28/05
  This was my entry to the Thereminworld monthly contest in November, 05. The piano part is Bach's Prelude in C. Gounod added the lovely song to go with it.

From Other Cultures -- Of course, the originals will always be much better than imitations such as this from the outside. But, I want to pay homage to different types of music that I love.
Chhadra (part)
2.3Mb. 10/17/05
Learned during a brief time I was studying Sitar.
It can also be found in The Classical Music of North India by Ali Akbar Khan.
This is the first part of an Indian Song in Jhaptal, a 14-beat cycle. (I think actually the second half was not supposed to be repeated.)

Text:shashadhara tilaka bhale gange jatajala
kara dhara trishula rudra ke raje


With the moon as a mark on his forehead,
The Ganges in his matted hair,
And trident in hand
Stands radiant Rudra

Love of Sean Nos Style --Sean Nos is a style of singing from all Celtic/Gaelic traditions, where songs are sung unaccompanied.
Eamon An Chnoic
(Ned of the Hill)
2Mb. 10/21/05
Learned from the CD, The Road from Connemara, where it was sung unaccompanied by Joe Heaney. This is an excellent double-CD of unaccompanied Irish singing, all sung by Joe Heaney. The tempos of the songs are surprising and unhurried, and the songs take on a quality of great depth. This album taught me a lot about sean-nos singing style, brought it to life for me.
Skibbereen
1.6Mb. 10/21/05
Also from Joe Heaney's CD, The Road from Connemara.  
Aililiu Na Gamhna
1.6Mb. 10/21/05
Learned from the book, The Irish Song Tradition, by Sean O Boyle.  

Folk songs and rounds
Dona Nobis Pacem
3.5Mb. (Improved and re-uploaded, 12/2/05)
Another round from my childhood, sung in girl scout camp. It is an old round, sometimes attributed to Palestrina, but thought to be actually written later than in Palestrina's time due to its use of more modern harmonic intervals. The text of the song repeats the phrase, Dona Nobis Pacem, which means "Grant Us Peace."
Auld Lang Syne
4.4Mb. 12/26/05
Traditional folk song. Tune and text were taken by Robert Burns from an older folk tune and enhanced.

   More about Ann


Happy to be a Contributor to: