Originally posted by Ferretfancy
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I refer you to the following:
Ether Organ In the late 1920s Ives took interest in the original electronic instruments by Leon Theremin. Apparently inspired by their sonic possibilities, Ives annotated the MS scores to Three Places in New England, Orchestral Set No. 2, and the Fourth Symphony with optional doublings of various instruments by “Mr. Theremin’s Ether Organ.” It had long been assumed that this name was Ives’s colorful term for the space-controlled Theremin, the most popular and successful instrument invented by Leon Theremin. Recent research has revealed that the “Ether Organ” was actually the Keyboard Harmonium: a large, somewhat unwieldy keyboard instrument, each of whose keys operated a separate Theremin. Ives perhaps saw in the keyboard control of this instrument the possibility of precise pitch control as well, and perhaps then chose to reference it, not the space-controlled Theremin, when annotating his manuscripts. In the Fourth Symphony Ives suggests that the Ether Organ reinforce the Cornet part in the second movement (mm. 200–20, 213–216) and reinforce various instruments throughout the fourth movement (mm. 7–10, 27–28, 32– 34, 65–76). These appear in the full score and in a dedicated Ether Organ part. Notice that the Ether Organ in the Fourth Symphony is required to play quarter tones in measures 32 and 34 of the fourth movement. This is something that might be more accurately achieved on a standard space-controlled Theremin than the keyboard-controlled Keyboard Harmonium. However, using an Ondes Martenot would perhaps be the best solution for the Ether Organ part: It is keyboard operated, thus allowing for precise intonation (something often quite problematic for the standard space-controlled Theremin), and it can produce quarter tones through use of its slider and ribbon.
I think I would rather trust that source than last nights "experts". Bernas and Montague are both fine musicians, but hardly Ives experts in the Sinclair or Brodhead league. There again, there can never be a definitive version of the score. Ives played around with it too much, and was happy for others to also have a go. Ives heard a demonstration of the space controlled Theremin (by Leon Theremin himself) on April 29 1930. It is clear that the reference, in the score's annotations, to an ether organ, calls for the timbral qualities of the classic Theremin, though perhaps controlled more conveniently via a keyboard. The quarter-tone problem seems to remain with that convenience, however.
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