Comments on "Einstein, the Violin, and the Theory of Relativity"

Every now and again, I get a message about this page that I want to share with the world. If the author agrees, I include their words on this page for you to read.

August 11, 1997

Hello, I'm a violist -----live in NYC. Enjoyed your page on Einstein but it doesn't show up clearly on my monitor. There are several possibliities re: his bowing. 1. It's an insider joke. Only the sufficiently musical would notice the difference. 2. Sometimes bow hair gives that appearance in photos.. He may be holding the bow correctly. I can't make out the frog, the shaft, or the tip of the bow clearly in the reproduction. Double check your original photograph. Look closely at the tip in particular. By the bye, he appears to have better hand positions, both left and right, than I expected. In fact, they look natural and correct. I can't help but recall that famous chamber music story about an exasperated Artur Rubinstein admonishing Einstein: "Count!! Count!!" However, if not an apocryphal story, he must have played at some reasonable level for a Rubenstein to have indulged him at all. Anyone know who his violin teacher was? As I think of this now, I remember that my late husband taught the Mozart Clarinet Concerto to Mitch Kapor. Enjoyed it. Thanks, EVELYN

October 28, 1997, Kenny writes:

It appears to me that Al is not holding the bow upside down. The bow tip, also known as the point, is slightly out of focus showing it is in motion. If the bow were held upside down you would see the hair run nearly to the point and, look closely, the hair at the tip is covered by the wood of the stick. The reason you see so much of the hair is that nearly all violinists tilt the bow stick toward the scroll to have only the edge of the hair make contact with the strings. This technique enables the violinist to play softer than would be possible with the hair making full contact. This is not to say that Al is the violinistic model of technical perfection. The bow should be parallel to the bridge and the violin itself must held level. Al's bow is also too close to the fingerboard. An interesting note, at least to me, is that fame made it possible for Einstein to play with some of histories great musicians. One day Einstein was playing Mozart piano and violin sonatas with the famous pianist Artur Schnabel when Schnabel stopped and turned to Einstein saying, "Albert you can't count." By the way, I am a classical violinist who happens to love science, and am trying to fully understand relativity.
--Kenny
QuinnP19@aol.com

© 1997, 1998, 1999 krhenry@sirius.com

March 16, 1999

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

LinkExchange Member

Free Home Pages at GeoCities