Conus

Michael Rabin's fingerings of the Conus Violin Concerto

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• published: 25 Oct 2014
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♪♫♪ ♪♫♫♪ This score was scanned at the University of Michigan Library and once belonged to Michael Rabin. It contains his fingerings and corrections and if you look at the cover page you will see the signature of Heifetz but you will also see the name Michael Rabin written not in the same script handwriting. This score is currently available for download here: http://scottbos.imgur.com/ I think Heifetz gave him this score and Rabin edited it to his own liking. I learned about this score being stored at U of M from this page that was created as a result of a club I started at yahoo about Rabin around 1999. http://www.cremona.u-net.com/rabin.htm One day someone from the club sent me a scan of this score so now I have uploaded it with the Heifetz recording synched to the score. Note that The U of M library appears to have more Rabin scores, i made a list of them at this thread I created: http://www.violinist.com/discussion/response.cfm?ID=26211 I always wondered why Rabin only recorded from 56-59 and why no other recordings were made until his death in 1972. If you review even the most basic facts and stop to think about it, the answers seem obvious. He was a true prodigy, he started playing violin at age 7 and was on tv and the radio and touring the world by age 15, think about how much work that must have been. When other children were out playing and socializing and having fun and having romantic relationships and making friends, he was locked in a room practicing. As he got older, he was isolated and socially awkward and had difficulty developing and maintaing relationships in his love life and professional life. He became an adult that had no childhood. Later there were documented accounts of fainting, panic attacks, and a fear of falling off the stage to the point of standing between the conductor and the orchestra as a recult of stress and irrational phobias. And then came the pills (when he died, barbituates were found in his system as evidence of this). His excessive phobias I think lead to drug use which affected his playing and his reputation as a professional. In general I find that great suffering leads to great art, reality is a horrific place and art is their escape. When life becomes absurd, all that is left id their art. So I think the greatest artists are people loaners who don't fit in. Now consider most prodigies are forced by their parents to practice and many times when they become successful the parent becomes jealous of the child's success, Rabin's sister even said this according to the Rabin book as Michael had the career she always wanted. While his relationship with his mother was not physically abusive I have no doubt it was verbally and mentally abusive and it was clear she tried to control his life even after he became an adult. Keep in mind that many prodigies do become physically abused by their parents, have you ever seen the movie shine? Despite what was said in The Art of Violin documentary, he did not die of a drug overdose. His parquet kitchen floor was recently waxed and became slippery so he slipped and he hit his head on a chair when running to answer the phone. The barbituates found in his system may have caused dizzyness and likely contributed to his demise. Early in his teaching career, Heifetz once informed a group of his students: "I have tickets to see a 'real' violinist, Michael Rabin. It's a real tragedy Rabin did not record have official recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Vieuxtemps, Saint Saens, Lalo, the list goes on and on. For me, Rabin was the greatest violinist ever recorded, tied with Leonid Kogan and Henryk Szeryng. Rabin has been quoted as saying one day he would like to play as well as Heifetz and according to the bio written about him, he visited Heifetz at his home in Beverly Hills. I recommend the Rabin book to all fans of Rabin's great artistry. Special thanks to my friend ollavogala who prepared this file and for their wonderful channel responsible for introducing me to countless performers and music I have never heard before. ♪♫♪ ♪♫♫♪