Lev Akimovych (Akivovych) Weintraub (born 15 April 1912, Berdychiv - 8 March 1985, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian pianist, music teacher, professor at the Kyiv Conservatory. Inventor in the field of piano mechanics.
Biography.
He was born into a family of employees. He received his primary education at home. At the age of 13, he entered the Kyiv Conservatory and graduated in 1929 (piano class of Arnold Yankelevych and Konstantin Mikhailov).
From March 1930 to September 1933, he worked as a designer and deputy mechanic at the Kyiv Confectionery Factory named after Karl Marx.
1934-1936 - completed postgraduate studies at the Kyiv and Moscow Conservatories (supervised by K. Mykhailov and K. Igumnov).
1934-1941 - soloist of the Ukrainian Touring Bureau.
1936-1985 - lecturer at the Kyiv Conservatory (from 1944 - associate professor, from 1963 - professor, 1963-1965; 1976-1980 - head of the department).
1941-1943 - worked in evacuation in Bashkiria (Ufa). 1943 - Associate Professor at the Conservatory in Sverdlovsk.
Candidate of Arts (1969). He defended his PhD thesis on "A New Piano Pedal and Its Possibilities".
Laureate of the II All-Union Competition of Performers (Leningrad, II prize), where he received a prize - a salon grand piano Blütner.
For more than 50 years of teaching, he has trained more than 70 piano students.[2] Among them are Victoria Goncharenko, Yurii Kot, Ihor Zubenko, Sofia Dobrzhanska, and Petro Pashkov.
Inventions.
A device for transmitting vibrations to vibrators, such as strings of a musical instrument - Copyright certificate No. 43256 for the invention dated 31 May 1935
Keyboard musical instrument - Copyright certificate No 69891 for the musical instrument dated 17 May 1947
Device for selective control of piano mufflers - Copyright certificate No 93675 for piano mufflers dated 20 May 1952
Device for selective control of piano mufflers - Copyright certificate No 220740 for piano mufflers dated 3 April 1968.
The invention of the selective control of the muffler was highly appreciated by D. Shostakovich, who wrote in a letter dated 20 July 1952:
"
During my stay in Kyiv, I was able to get acquainted with the invention of L. A. Weintraub. The invention consists in the fact that L. A. Weintraub managed, by means of a simple device, to achieve the fact that on the piano it is possible to delay individual sounds and entire chords without using the right pedal. In this case, the pianist uses only two pedals, unlike some Stanway instruments, where a third pedal is added for this purpose. On the Weintraub grand piano, it is possible to delay the sounds of the bass register without simultaneously delaying the middle and upper voices. L. A. Weintraub's invention leaves the Stanway system far behind, which is difficult and impractical to use. In addition, it is easy to learn how to use the Weintraub system. You just need to practice for 2-3 hours. The artistic effect is very important: it removes the dirt from works that contain long organ passages, when it is impossible to hold them because both hands are busy, for example: Bach's Organ Preludes and Fugues, Chopin's Prelude in A-flat major, Liszt's Funeral Procession, Glazunov's Sonata in B-flat minor. The list is endless. In addition, the invention of L. A. Weintraub opens up prospects for the creation of new musical works.
I believe that Weintraub's invention should be properly formalised and that serial production of pianos with his system should be started as soon as possible.
"
Bibliography
New pedal device for the piano and its possibilities // Scientific and methodical notes of the Kyiv Conservatory. Issue 2. - Kyiv, "Art." - 1964.
Methods of pianists' education in children's music schools and its coverage at pedagogical readings // "Education of a pianist in a children's music school." - K., "Art." - 1964
On the question of the difficulty of piano mechanics // Ukrainian musicology. - K., "Art." - 1964
