Samuel J. Hoffman

Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman was the most famous and influential exponent of the theremin, the eerily bewitching electronic instrument that ushered popular music into the space age. Born in New York City on July 23, 1903, Hoffman studied violin under Ovide Musin and at 14 was the youngest musician to play Loew's New York Roof Garden. He later led his own orchestra while studying medicine at Columbia, and received a degree in podiatry from Long Island University. Despite launching his own foot practice, Hoffman continued moonlighting as a violinist under the alias Hal Hope, appearing regularly at Manhattan's most popular nightspots. While playing in support of bandleader Jolly Coburn, he befriended Leon Theremin, the Russian-born inventor of the electronic instrument bearing his name. Hoffman soon acquired his own theremin from a fellow musician who owed him money. Essentially a box with two projecting radio antennas that requires no physical contact and merely necessitates that the player move his hands to generate strange, alien sounds, the sheer novelty of the theremin made it a hit with Manhattan's cultural elite, and it became the centerpiece of Hoffman's act. In 1936 Hoffman recruited musicians Charlie Paul and Bill Schuman to form Hal Hope's Electronic Trio. Also featuring an electric organ sans pipes and a rare cello-theremin (essentially a stringless cello played without a bow), the group served an extended residency at the Hotel Montclair's Casino-in-the-Air that brought the theremin to new heights of mainstream recognition. Hoffman relocated to Los Angeles in 1941, opening a podiatry practice inside a May Company department store. As Hal Hope, he continued moonlighting in nightclubs, regularly appearing at the Sunset Strip eatery Leone's. When composer Miklos Rozsa...