Isaac Rabinovich

Isaac Solomonovich Rabinovich was a Soviet musicologist and pianist. He was born on 25 May 1897 in Pereyaslav and died on 25 May 1985 in Moscow.

He studied at the Kyiv Conservatory in the piano class of B. L. Yavorsky and also completed Yavorsky's course in composition theory between 1916 and 1920. From 1920 he performed both as a soloist and in ensemble.

In 1920-1922 Rabinovich taught piano at a music school in Kyiv. In 1922 he moved to Moscow, where he taught at the First Music Technicum and the N. K. Krupskaya Academy. In 1923 he began teaching at the Moscow State Conservatory, and from 1926 he served there as docent in piano pedagogy methodology. He founded an experimental demonstration piano school at the conservatory.

From 1933 he was head consultant for the pedagogical practice of pianists at the Moscow Conservatory. Between 1924 and 1970 he taught his own course on methods of teaching piano at the conservatory; he also delivered this course at the Tbilisi and Kharkiv conservatories and at the institute for advanced training of teachers. In 1927-1932 he was a researcher in the music section of the State Academy of Artistic Sciences.

In 1932-1934 he worked as editor and head of the repertoire-methodology department of Central Radio Broadcasting. In 1935-1936 he was artistic director of performing personnel at the Moscow Philharmonic, and in 1937-1940 artistic director of the Philharmonic Vocal Quartet. During 1943-1945 he was evacuated to Saratov together with the Moscow Conservatory collective.

In October 1945 he was transferred to the position of docent in the department of history and theory of piano performance, and from 1948 to 1979 he was professor at the Moscow State Conservatory. In 1945-1947 he also taught at the State Institute of Theatre Arts and the M. S. Shchepkin Theatre School. He was the author of piano arrangements of pedagogical repertoire for children and also published methodological writings on piano instruction and work on musical pieces and polyphony with students. He was buried at Donskoye Cemetery in Moscow.