Schenker Correspondence Project

Diary entry by Schenker, dated January 28, 1916

28. i. 1916¹ [...] {118} Frau D.² legt mir Bankreverse zur Unterschrift vor, den Text des Hautpbriefes aber beanstande ich, da er einen Passus von ^nur jährlich auszufolgenden³ 3000 Mark enthält. Fr. D. will mich nun glauben machen, ich hätte in meinem Entwurf⁴ eben diesen Passus ja auch vorgesehen, bis ich sie endlich zugibt, ihn aus eigenem konstruiert zu haben u. ich setzte meine Unterschrift erst, nachdem der Text ausdrücklich die Korrektur dahin erfahren hat, daß nichtbehobene[?]⁵ Gelder zum nächstfälligen Betrag zugeschlagen werden. Nur auf diese Weise, ist ja das Erscheinen des 2. Halbbandes überhaupt ermöglicht, der ohne Zweifel mehr als 3000 Mark beanspruchen wird.

Frau D. im Gasthaus u. im Caféhaus, wo wir auch Frau Wally⁶ treffen, die eigene gekommen ist um Gevaert[?] für Fl.⁷ zu holen.
[...]

{120} An Frau Deutsch Brief mit Dank. –

© In the public domain.
© Transcription Ian Bent, 2006.

Diary entry by Schenker, dated January 28, 1916

January 28, 1916.¹ [...] {118} Mrs. Deutsch² presents me with bank letters of indemnity for signature; but I take exception to the text of the principal letter since it contains a passage [providing for] 3,000 Marks to be paid out^{3 only} annually. Mrs. Deutsch then tries to convince me that I actually drew up this very passage in my draft,⁴ until I she finally concedes that she devised it herself, and I inscribe my signature only after the text has expressly undergone correction to the effect that moneys not drawn upon⁵ will be added to the next sum to fall due. Only by this means is the appearance of the second half-volume made at all possible, for it will without doubt require more than 3,000 Marks.

Mrs. Deutsch in the guest-house and coffee-house, where we even run into Mrs. Wally⁶, who had come on her own in order to fetch ....[?] for Floritz.⁷

{120} Letter to Mrs. Deutsch, with thanks.

© Translation Ian Bent, 2006.

COMMENTARY:
Format: diary entry

FOOTNOTES:

¹ This entry is discussed by Federhofer in Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern ... (Hildesheim: Olms, 1985), p.38.

² Sofie Deutsch, pupil of S’s for 15 years, benefactress who, among other things, assisted in the publication of the second half-volume of Kontrapunkt by leaving him a legacy of 10,000 Marks to be withdrawn in annual installments of up to 3,000 Marks: see OJ 10/4, January 26, 1916, to which the action described here is presumably the sequel.

³ ausfolgen: Austrian usage for aushändigen and übergeben.

⁴ This implies presumably either that Mrs. Deutsch asked S to draft the terms of an agreement or that S volunteered such a draft.

⁵ nichtbehoben: beheben is Austrian for abheben, to withdraw (from a bank account).

⁶ Wally or Vally: perhaps Vally Pick (1894–1982), Austrian pianist and composer, who studied piano with Richard Robert, musicology with Guido Adler, and composition with Karl Weigl. She married the last of these in 1921, and the couple emigrated to the U.S.A. in the 1930s. (Wikipedia)

⁷ “Fl.” is S’s abbreviation for “Floriz”, i.e. his closest friend, Moriz Violin.

SUMMARY:
S refuses to sign letters re: his legacy from Sofie Deutsch until the terms are changed.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian Bent 2006.

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
Schenker, Heinrich; Deutsch, Sofie; Sophie; legacy; Kontrapunkt 2; Counterpoint 2; signature; Wally, Mrs
Diary entry by Schenker, dated January 28, 1916
OJ 1/15, p. 117-120
1916-01-28
2006-10-31
Schenker diary
Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorrespondence@mus.cam.ac.uk.
Schenker, Heinrich (1916-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1955)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1955-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)
IPR: in public domain; Image: University of California, Riverside; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian Bent.
Vienna
1916