Music or Mars?

John Carter of Mars and Dejah Thoris (2009) by Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo


Since I'm in a bit of a rush today, we'll compress the celebration of Edgar Rice Burroughs' birth date (1875) and Johann Pachelbel's (1653) into one post. This may become the model for future days when I'm torn between two inspirations. Since Burroughs has plenty of illustrations to depict his work, but few quality videos, he'll have the front page. Meanwhile, Pachelbel has virtually no interesting images but many, many vids. So he'll come after the jump.

Today we'll focus on images of Burroughs' Barsoom. Why? Well, there is a John Carter of Mars movie coming out later this year. Second, Dejah Thoris, princess of the Martian city-state of Helium, is the original interplanetary super-hottie. Many an illustrator has been inspired by this Martian muse. ;-)


Cover art to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Princess of Mars by Frank Frazetta (1970)


If it's Tarzan or images of the Hollow Earth land of Pellucidar that you desire, then wait until next year or so.



Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium (2010) by Frank Cho


As regards Barsoom, Princess of Mars was published as a serial in 1912 and republished as a novel in 1917. The series spans 11 books. The success of this series created the Planetary Romance subgenre of Science Fiction.

Music for Aliens and Oddities

Flying Saucers from Mars Attacks! (1996)

We can't let the birth date of Leon Theremin pass without celebrating his great invention, the Theremin! An electronic instrument, the theremin is played without being touched by the performer. Here's Wikipedia's description of how it is played:

The theremin is almost unique among musical instruments in that it is played without physical contact. The musician stands in front of the instrument and moves his or her hands in the proximity of two metal antennas. The distance from one antenna determines frequency (pitch), and the distance from the other controls amplitude (volume). Most frequently, the right hand controls the pitch and the left controls the volume, although some performers reverse this arrangement. Some low-cost theremins use a conventional, knob operated volume control and have only the pitch antenna. While commonly called antennas, they are not used for receiving or broadcasting radio frequency, but act as plates in a capacitor.

The sound is weird and unearthly, yet with a distinct and authentic quality. It has been featured in science fiction soundtracks ever since the '50s, most notably in Bernard Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.



Leon Theremin demonstrating his electronic invention.


Let's listen to some examples.