Schenker Correspondence Project

Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated April 1, 1909

[UE letterhead]
Wien, 1. April 1909

Wohlgeboren / Herrn Professor Dr. Heinrich Schenker
W i e n.
-----------

Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor !

Bezugnehmend auf die heute gehabte Besprechung¹ bestätige ich Ihnen, dass wir bereit sind, Ihnen für die Uebernahme der Neuherausgabe derjenigen ⁽hauptsächlichen⁾ Kompositionen von Joh. Seb. Bach, die zur Vervollständigung unseres Kataloges noch fehlen u.z. insbesonders 30 Variationen,³ 4 Toccaten[,] Toccate^a,⁴ Präludium, Phantasie und Fuge⁵ ein Revisionshonorar von

K 6.– pro Druckplatte² zu bezahlen.

Wir erklären Ihnen überdies, dass wir im einen oder den^m anderen Falle, wenn die Herausgabe ganz besondere Mühe, oder Vorarbeiten, machen sollte, auch noch über dieses Honorar zu gehen bereit sind und würden wir dann im gemeinsamen Einverständnis die Berechnung für das betreffende Heft feststellen.⁶

Wir hoffen mit diesem Zugeständnis einen Beweis erbracht zu haben, welch grossen Wert wir auf Ihre werte Mitarbeiterschaft legen und wird es uns freuen, wenn Sie sich nach {2} Beendigung der Sie jetzt beschäftigenden grossen Arbeit⁷ den vorerwähnten Aufgaben widmen werden.

Mit den besten Empfehlungen
Ihr
hochachtungsvoll ergebener
[ sign’d: ] Emil Hertzka

© Universal Edition A.G., Wien.
© Transcription Ian D. Bent 2005.

Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated April 1, 1909

[UE letterhead]
Vienna, April 1, 1909

Professor Dr. Heinrich Schenker, Esq.,
V i e n n a
---------------

Dear Doctor,

With reference to the conversation that we had today,¹ I confirm that we are prepared to pay you an editorial honorarium of

6.– Kroner per printed plate²

for taking on the new edition of those (principal) compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach that are still lacking from our catalogue as we round it out, viz. in particular 30 Variations,³ 4 Toccatas[,] Toccata⁴, Prelude, Fantasy and Fugue.⁵

We moreover affirm that if, in any particular case, the editing should require wholly exceptional effort or preliminary studies, we are in fact prepared to go higher than this honorarium, and we would then adjust the calculation for the volume in question by mutual agreement.⁶

We hope that with this concession we have furnished evidence of how great a value we place on your esteemed collaboration, and shall be delighted if after {2} completion of the great work that is currently occupying you,⁷ you will devote yourself to the above-mentioned assignments.

With best wishes,
And kind regards,
Yours truly,
[ sign’d: ] Emil Hertzka

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2005.

COMMENTARY:
Format: 2-p letter, UE letterhead, typed message, holograph signature
Sender address:
Recipient address: Vienna

FOOTNOTES:

¹ as discussed in WSLB 37, March 28, and OC 52/36, March 29. This letter does not indicate whether the meeting took place at Dr. Brünauer’s, as proposed by S and agreed by H.

² “K 6.– pro Druckplatte” underlined in crayon by S. The reference to Revisionshonorar is significant, for in 1906 S had sought an increase in editing fee for the planned vol. 2 of his arrangement of Handel organ concertos, and was refused on the grounds that UE's editing fee was fixed: see OC 52/395, July 5, 1906.

³ i.e. the Goldberg Variations, Aria mit [30] verschiedenen Veraenderungen, BWV 988, which was still absent from the UE catalogue in 1916: OC Scores, No.30.

⁴ Toccata, corrected from Toccate.

⁵ Of these, the last is presumably the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, BWV 903, for which Hertzka writes in confirmation in OC 52/422, June 24, 1909, and which was published in 1910. It seems likely that this was the “particular proposal” that S indicated in WSLB 37. H is incorrect in that UE had had an edition of this work by Julius Röntgen in its catalogue since 1902. From the vagueness of this list, H may perhaps have been dictating from his rough notes of the meeting without being entirely clear to what they referred.

⁶ Schenker would have seen this paragraph as a major break-through for him, since he has been arguing his honoraria upward on just these grounds.

⁷ i.e. Kontrapunkt.

SUMMARY:
Reports on meeting of April 1, confirms agreed honorarium for editing various J. S. Bach compositions, affirms willingness to raise honorarium if exceptional work proves necessary.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2005

Bent, Ian
Hertzka, Emil
UE
Reports on meeting of April 1, confirms agreed honorarium for editing various J. S. Bach compositions, affirms willingness to raise honorarium if exceptional work proves necessary.
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
IPR: Universal Edition A.G., reproduced here by kind permission; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent 2005.
Hertzka, Emil; UE; Schenker, Heinrich; meeting; honorarium; Bach, J. S.; Goldberg Variations; toccatas; prelude; Fantasy & Fugue; concession; Kontrapunkt; Counterpoint
Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated April 1, 1909
letter
academic; musicology; music theory
OC 52/920
1909-04-01
2006-01-25
UE
Hertzka
email from Aygün Lausch (Universal Edition) to Ian Bent, 2004-09-09, confirming UE’s ownership of IPR and granting permission to post to pilot website.
UE letterhead; typed body of letter; holographic signature
Schenker, Heinrich (1909-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-1938)--Oster, Ernst (1938-c.1939)—New York Public Library (c.1939-)
IPR: Universal Edition, A.G.; Image: New York Public Library, New York; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent.
Vienna
1909