Michael Rabin fingerings for the Conus Violin Concerto
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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. The score is currently available for download here:
Rabin's fingerings of Engel's Sea Shell is also available at this location.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJG2I9NE22Y
Special thanks to my friend ollavogala who prepared this file and for their wonderful youtube channel that is responsible for introducing me to countless performers and music I have never heard before.
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 "Michael Rabin, America's Virtuoso Violinist: The First Authorized Biography - Revised and Updated" written by Anthony Feinstein to all fans of Rabin's great artistry. Make sure you get the second edition of this book.
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Replies (12)
The recording with the score of Heifetz plaing is quite amazing! Not an easy concerto at all.
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Today I googled the u of m library and that led me here:
Apparently there is much much more, it appears there are Rabin scores with his fingerings most of us have and will never hear like the Sibelius, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, etc.
I find this interesting as it may be an indication of what he was practicing or performing at recitals but never recorded and also from a repertoire standpoint as there are several compositions I have never been aware of that I will be able to get to know intimately in the future. (Has anyone heard of Samuel Gardner?)
... I typed in Michael Rabin and this is what came up:
Whimsical whistler : for violin and piano / by Samuel Gardner.
Eighteenth variation, Rapsodie on a theme of Paganini / Rachmaninoff ; arranged by Fritz Kreisler for violin and piano.
Variations on a theme by Corelli / by Giuseppe Tartini ; transcribed by Zino Francescatti for violin solo with piano accompaniment.
24 Capricen, für Violine solo, Opus 1 / N. Paganini ; herausgegeben von Carl Flesch.
Banjo and fiddle / William Kroll.
Caprice viennois : for violin and piano / Fritz Kreisler.
Concerto for violin and piano, op. 35 / Tchaikovsky ; edited by Leopold Auer.
From the canebrake : for fiddle with piano : op. 5, no. 1 / by Samuel Gardner.
Fantasia appassionata : for violin and piano, op. 35 / H. Vieuxtemps.
Deuxieme sonate / Béla Bartók.
La folia : for violin and piano / Arcangelo Corelli ; [edited by] Fritz Kreisler.
Violin-Konzert, D-moll, op. 47 : Violine und Piano / von Jean Sibelius.
Perpetual motion = Moto perpetuo : for violin and piano, op. 11 / Niccolo Paganini ; [newly transcribed by] Fritz Kreisler.
24 caprices en forme d'études pour violon seul, dans les 24 tons de la gamme / par P. Rode ; revus par Ferd. David.
Tambourin chinois : for violin and piano / Fritz Kreisler.
Caprice basque : for violin and piano, op. 24 / by Pablo de Sarasate ; edited and fingered by Efrem Zimbalist.
Dragon fly : a study in arpeggios : solo for violin (piano accompaniment ad lib.) / Albert Spalding.
Schön Rosmarin : for violin and piano / Fritz Kreisler.
Largo, for violin (or viola) and piano / Veracini ; [transcribed by Mario Corti]
Tzigane : rhapsodie de concert pour violon et piano / Maurice Ravel.
Spanish dances. Nos. 1 and 2 (op. 21) combined / Pablo de Sarasate.
Zephyr : op. 30, no. 5 / Jenö Hubay.
From the canebrake : op. 5, no. 1 / Samuel Gardner.
La capricieuse : morceau de genre, op. 17 / Edward Elgar.
Zigeunerweisen = (Gipsy airs), op. 20 / Pablo de Sarasate ; edited by Gustav Saenger.
Sonata in G, violin solo / P. Ben-Haim ; ed. by Yehudi Menuhin.
Sonate Es dur für Violine und Klavier, Op. 11, Nr. 1 / von Paul Hindemith.
Konzert in C dur für Violine und Klavier / Joseph Haydn ; herrausgegeben und mit Kadenzen versehen von Carl Flesch ; Klavierauszug von Wilhelm Scholtz.
Polonaise brillante no. 2 in A : for violin and piano : op. 21 / H. Wieniawski ; revised and fingered by A. Pollitzer.
Alt-Wien : for violin and piano / L. Godowsky ; [arranged by] Jascha Heifetz.
March from the opera Love for three oranges : for violin and piano / Prokofieff ; [arr. by] Jascha Heifetz.
Suite in A minor, for violin and piano, op. 10 / Christian Sinding ; edited and fingered by Louis Svecenski.
Élégie for violin and piano, op. 10 / H.W.Ernst ; edited and fingered by Henry Schradieck.
Havanaise : op. 83 / C. Saint-Saëns ; edited by Theodore Spiering.
Meditation : op. 42 Nr. 1 : für Violine und Klavier / P. Tschaikowsky ; herausgegeben von Ludwig Schuster.
Concerto for violin and piano, op. 64 / F. Mendelssohn ; edited by Leopold Auer.
Concerto for violin and piano, op. 82 / A. Glazounow ; edited by Leopold Auer.
Celebrated air / J.S. Bach ; arr. by A. Wilhelmj ; edited by Henri Ernst.
Sea-shell / Carl Engel ; arranged by Efrem Zimbalist.
Vocalise, op. 34, no. 14 / S. Rachmaninoff.
Clair de lune : de la Suite bergamasque, pour violon et piano / Claude Debussy ; [transcription pour violon, ou flûte, ou alto et piano par A. Roelens].
Two romances : for violin and piano, opus 40 and opus 50 / by Ludwig van Beethoven ; edited and fingered by Henry Schradieck.
Rumanian folk dances : violin and piano / Béla Bartók.
Violin-Konzerte für Pianoforte u. Violine. No.2. Konzert E dur / von Joh. Seb. Bach ; herausgegeben von Gustav Schreck ; Violinstimme bezeichnet von Andreas Moser.
Concerto in D minor for violin, op. 31 / by H. Vieuxtemps ; revised and edited by Theodore Spiering ; the orchestral accompaniment arranged for piano.
La plus que lente : valse pour piano / Claude Debussy ; transcription violon et piano.
Larghetto for violin with piano accompaniment / Georg Friedrich Händel ; arranged by Jenö Hubay.
Berceuse = Cradle song / Gabriel Fauré.
Fantasia on Scottish folk-melodies : for violin and piano : op. 46 / Max Bruch ; edited by Theodore Spiering.
Prelude in C major for violin and piano, op. 14, no. 4 / Samuel Gardner.
Guitarre : op. 45, no. 2 / M. Moszkowski ; arranged by Pablo de Sarasate.
La?beille = The bee : bagatelle, op. 13, no. 9 / François Schubert ; revised and fingered by Gustav Saenger.
Sweet remembrance : from "Songs without words," op. 19, no. 1 : for violin and piano /Mendelssohn ; [arranged by] Jascha Heifetz.
Melódie, op. 42, no. 3 / P. Tschaikowsky ; edited by Leopold Auer.
Concerto no. 4, D dur = ré majeur = D major : violino principale / W.A. Mozart ; [edited by]Joseph Joachim & Ossip Schnirlin ; new concert version by Ossip Schnirlin.
Pièce en forme de habanera : for violin and piano / by M. Ravel ; [transcription pour flûte ou hautbois ou violon avec accompagnement de piano par Th. Doney]
Sonata in G minor for violin and piano / Tartini ; [violin part edited by] L. Auer.
Sicilienne / Maria-Theresia v. Paradis ; revised and edited by S. Dushkin.
Hebrew lullaby / J. Achron ; rearranged and revised by Leopold Auer.
Spanish dances. Habañera, op. 21, no. 2 / Pablo de Sarasate ; edited and fingered by Ariberti di Butera.
La fille aux cheveux de lin : extrait des Préludes pour piano / Claude Debussy ; transcription pour violon et piano par Arthur Hartmann.
Arioso / Johann Sebastian Bach ; transcribed for violin [or 'cello] and piano by Sam Franko.
Concerto no. 2 (D major) for violin and piano / W. A. Mozart ; edited and provided with original cadenzas by Leopold Auer ; [piano part arranged by William Strasser].
La folia : variations sérieuses pour le violon / par Corelli ; accompagnement de piano ou d'orchestre et cadenza par H. Leonard.
Nocturne in D flat, op. 27, no. 2 / Fr. Chopin ; transcribed in D major by A. Wilhelmj.
Perpetuum mobile : for violin and piano / Novácek.
Spanische Tänze : für Violine mit Begleitung des Pianoforte. Drittes Heft, Op. 23 / von Pablo de Sarasate.
École moderne : 10 études-caprices, opus 10, for violin solo / Wieniawski.
Second polonaise brillante : for violin and piano, op. 21 / Henri Wieniawski ; edited and fingered by Leopold Lichtenberg.
Sérénade mélancolique : op. 26 / P.Tschaikowsky ; edited by Gustav Saenger.
Sonata in A major, for violin (or viola) and piano / Vivaldi ; [edited by] F. David.
Zapateado : Spanish dance, op. 23 / Pablo deSarasate ; edited by Jascha Heifetz.
Concerto in D minor, op. 47, for violin and orchestra / Sibelius ; piano reduction of the orchestal score by Alexandre Gretchaninoff.
Sonata, op. 12, no. 1, in D major / Beethoven ; edited by Fritz Kreisler.
Fantaisie de concert on motifs from Bizet's Carmen : for violin and piano, op. 25 / Pablo de Sarasate ; edited by Gustav Saenger.
Zigeunerweisen = Gypsy airs : for violin with accompaniment of pianoforte, op. 20 / Pablo De Sarasate ; edited and fingered by Philipp Mittell.
Val's-skert?so : dli?a skripki s orkestrom : soch. 34 / P. Chaikovskii ; perelozhenie dli?a skripki s fortepiano V. Bezikirskogo.
(valse scherzo)by Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, 1840-1893.
Nocturne in C? minor, violin and piano / Chopin ; [transcribed by Nathan] Milstein.
Sicilienne and Rigaudon / François Francoeur [i.e. Fritz Kreisler]
Après un rêve = After a dream / Gabriel Faure ; from the Tuscan, by Romain Bussine ; English version by Henry G. Chapman.
Suite, Sonate, Fuge für Klavier und Violine / Joh. Seb. Bach.
Sonata, for violin and piano, op. 13 / by Gabriel Faure ; edited by Ch. M. Loeffler.
Sonatensatz = Sonata movement : scherzo : opus posthumous : for violin (or viola) and piano / Brahms.
Adagio in E major, K. 261, for violin and piano / Mozart ; [edited by] F. Hermann.
Rondo in C major, K. 373, for violin and piano / Mozart ; [edited by] F. Hermann.
Concerto in D minor : two violins and piano / Johann Sebastian Bach ; edited and fingered by Eduard Herrmann.
Jeunes filles au jardin = Maidens in the garden : from Scènes d'enfants / Frederic Mompou ; transcribed for violin and piano by Joseph Szigeti.
Saudades do Brazil / Darius Milhaud ; transcribed for violin and piano by Claude Lévy.
Melodie for violin and piano / Gluck ; [transcribed by] Fritz Kreisler.
Polonaise brillante : in D major, op. 4, for violin and orchestra / Henri Wieniawski ; the orchestra accompaniment arranged for the piano ; edited and fingered by Leopold...
Souvenir de Moscou : Airs russes : for violin and piano, op. 6 / H. Wieniawski.
Sonata in re maggiore per violino e basso / A. Vivaldi ; realizzazione per violino e pianoforte di Ottorino Respighi.
Sonata for violin and piano in A major, op. 100 / Brahms ; [edited by Franz] Kneisel [and Harold] Bauer.
Sonata in D for violin with figured bass / Pietro Nardini ; arranged for violin and piano by Ferdinand David ; edited and fingered by Henry Schradieck ; with biographical sketch...
Praeludium and Allegro : for violin and piano / Fritz Kreisler.
Etude in thirds / Scriabin ; with preparatory studies and an introductory note in English and French ; [transcribed] by Joseph Szigeti for violin and piano.
Konzert no. 5, in A Dur für Violine und Orchester = Concert en la majeur pour violon et orchestre =
Concerto in A major for violin and orchestra /Mozart ; Ausgabe für Violine...
Danse espagnole : from "La vida breve" / by Manuel de Falla ; transcribed for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler.
Ciaccona, for violin and piano / Vitali ; [arranged by Léopold Charlier ; ... newly revised for the concert stage by Leopold Auer].
Caprice, A minor, for violin and piano / Wieniawski ; [arranged by] Fritz Kreisler.
Konzert-Sonate für Violine und Klavier / F.M. Veracini ; durchgesehen und neu bezeichnet von Gustav Lenzewski.
Valse sentimentale : op. 51, no. 6 / P.I. Tchaikovsky ; transcription for violin [or viola] by David J. Grunes.
Sonata no. 10 (Köchel-Verzeichniss No.378) ;Sonata no. 11 (Köchel Verzeichniss No. 379) / W.A. Mozart.
Concerto no. IV in D major, K. 218, for violin and piano / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ; edited, fingered, and with cadenzas by Eduard Herrmann.
Six sonatas for violin and piano / G.F. Händel ; edited by Leop. Auer and Carl Friedberg.
Rondino (on a theme by Beethoven) : for violin and piano / Fritz Kreisler.
Concerto in G for violin and piano, K. 216 / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ; revision and cadenzas by Sam Franko.
New favorite encore folio : for violin and piano : fifteen selected works / edited and fingered by Jascha Heifetz.
Concerto no. 3, B minor, for violin and piano, op. 61 / C. Saint-Saëns ; edited by Henry Schradieck.
Concerto (E minor) for violin and piano / Jules Conus ; edited by Leopold Auer.
Célèbres sonates pour violin / par J. Tartini ; accompagnés d'une partie de piano par Friedrich Hermann.
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As an afterthought, I wanted to add a personal comment. 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, his mother taught him piano I think at age 5, he started playing violin at age 7, his first professional engagement was in Cuba in 1947, where he performed Weiniawski's Concerto No 1, he was not yet eleven. By early 1950, he had made his Carnagie Hall debut, with the Vieuxtemps Concerto No 5 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 maintaining 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 result 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, when reality is a horrific place art becomes an escape. When life becomes absurd, all that is left is art. So I think the greatest artists are loaners that 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 and resentful of the child's success, Rabin's sister even said this according to the Rabin book that Michael had the career his mother 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. Althought he was not physically abused, keep in mind that many prodigies are 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.
It's a real tragedy Rabin did not have official recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Sibelius, Vieuxtemps, Saint Saens, Lalo, the list goes on and on. The bio does briefly describe a glitch with his record company angel when it became emi that caused a break in his recording contract, a real tragedy.
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I love the Conehead -er Conus! - concerto! The beauty and intensity of Heifetz'recording are almost unbelievable! There are passages from this piece that sound like they could be in a Hollywood movie score from the 1940's (though it was written much earlier) - and I truly mean that as a compliment.
I have the 1st edition of the Feinstein book - how different is the 2nd edition? One thing I recall from the book re Rabin's hope of playing as well as Heifetz is that he really put his foot in his mouth once with that wish. He was introduced to Mischa Elman, who was very impressed and supportive of Rabin - until he asked him what his goals were. Without hesitating, Rabin indeed said "to play as well as Heifetz". Elman, who was always jealous of Heifetz, was insulted and became very icy to the young man!
After a cursory look, I'm pretty sure that the fingerings and bowings are Galamian's, having studied the piece with him. He was a big proponent of the piece. At the time, I think the only edition available was Auer's who made quite a few "revisions" to the original score. Galamian insisted on our pasting the original version (hand written on manuscript paper) over the Auer changes. There is now an International edition by Galamian which came out possibly in the 70's. By the way the spelling of his name now is Georgii Konius.
There's a good study edition by Bronstein. I played it for Glenn Dicterow who had never studied it, though he knew it as a listener. He sightread it much better than I played it after practicing it!
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I recently found an old article about Rabin from the NY Times from 71 and just uploaded it here:
Someone from the club sent me these a long time ago:
Unissued Radio Broadcast 1962 / Saint Saens Comcerto 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG1GTMQQEJY
Unissued Radio Broadcast May 1954 / Glazunov Concerto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orhKzQDG0KM
Unissued Radio Broadcasts 1950 - 1951
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gYCpbtz_A
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A few days ago I put up a radio broadcast from 1960 of Rabin playing the Beethoven Concerto, the grail of lost recordings. As most of you know he never formally recorded it:
John Barnett / National Orchestral Association
Carnegie Hall March 1960
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRmzw5_2rww
Happy new year everybody !!!
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This is the end of my exploration of Rabin, this chapter of my journey began about 10 years ago.
This one is about as rare and valuable as it gets, I first saw this double cd for sale about 10 years ago on some foreign website, I didn't even have any idea how to order it. A few years later I saw it for sale for a ridiculous amount of money. After that I found a used copy and was finally able to acquire a copy. It was manufactured by the French label Tahra and says not for sale in the USA on it. So yeah this one has been in the back of my mind for many years.
It has several rare photos and in the liner notes it said that Francescatti and Kreisler were fond of his playing and it is because of their suggestion he appeared on The Bell Telephone Hour radio program. This is the last of the Rabin recordings I know of other than the Testament and Doremi that are still in print. It's about time the rest of the world is finally able to hear them.
Disk 1
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kGFDD1VtN2c
Disk 2
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mKQkGsaqIcE
Very informative discussion!
I'm actually playing the Conus in San Jose this spring...but first time looking at the music in 15 years (a Galamian staple).
Terrific Perlman recording from the 70's.
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October 27, 2014 at 01:37 PM · How interesting, thanks a lot, Scott! Not to miss the humorous comments in the Sea Shell piano score: first lots of alcohol, then stomach problems :-)