Schenker Correspondence Project

Handwritten letter from Josef Weinberger to Schenker, dated November 17, 1903

[Weinberger letterhead]
Wien/Leipzig am 17. November 1903

Wolgeboren
Herrn. Profesor Dr. Heinr. Schenker
Wien
______

Sehr geehrter Herr Professor !

Nachdem die Aufführung Ihrer ”Syrischen Tänze” bei Busoni bereits stattgefunden hat,¹ möchte ich Sie bitten mir über den Erfolg freundlichst zu berichten und mir eventuell Zeitungskritiken zukommen zu lassen.

Da ich den Versuch machen will noch eine anderweitige Aufführung der Tänze zu veranlassen und Herr Busoni das Orchestermaterial derselben { right } nun nicht mehr benötigt, würden Sie mich zu Dank verpflichten, wenn Sie die Stimmen von ihm zurückverbringen und mir baldigst zukommen lassen könnten.

Nachdem die seinerzeitige Correspondenz in dieser Sache ausschließlich durch Sie erfolgte, ist es wol das Richtigste, wenn das Material von Herrn Busoni durch Sie zurückverlangt wird.

Ihrer gesch. Rückäußerung mit Interesse entgegensehend, zeichne ich

hochachtungsvoll
[ sign/stamp(?): ] Josef Weinberger

© Josef Weinberger Ltd.
© Transcription Ian D. Bent 2004.

Handwritten letter from Josef Weinberger to Schenker, dated November 17, 1903

[Josef Weinberger letterhead]
Vienna/Leipzig, November 17, 1903

Profesor Heinr. Schenker, Esq.
Vienna
______

Dear Professor,

Now that the performance of your Syrian Dances by Busoni has taken place,¹ I should like to ask you very kindly to report to me on how it went and in due course to let me have newspaper reviews.

Since I shall be attempting to set up a further performance of the Dances, and Mr. Busoni { right } now no longer needs the orchestral material for this work, I should be greatly obliged if you could get the parts back from him and have them sent to me at the earliest opportunity.

Since all correspondence on this matter was effected through you, it seems right and proper that it should be you who reclaims the material from Mr. Busoni.

Looking forward with interest to your estd reply, I remain,

With kind regards,
[Yours truly,]
[ sign’d/stamp(?): ] Josef Weinberger

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2004.

COMMENTARY:
Format: 2-p letter, single sheet folded vertically, written left and right of fold; Weinberger printed letterhead, body of letter handwritten by stenographer, holograph(?) signature
Sender address: [Vienna] 1, Maximilianstrasse 11.
Recipient address: Vienna

FOOTNOTES:

¹ The first performance of Schenker’s Syrische Tänze, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg, by the [Berlin] Philharmonic Orchestra, took place on November 5, 1903 in the Beethovensaal, Berlin. The concert was arranged by Ferruccio Busoni, who apparently first proposed that Schoenberg be invited to orchestrate the work. Schenker’s Syrische Tänze, originally for piano four-hands, was first performed on January 26, 1900 in the Bösendorfer-Saal, Vienna. Concert programs for both events exist in OJ 35/5.

SUMMARY:
[Schenker: Syrische Tänze, orch. Schoenberg:] Asks how first performance went and requests copies of reviews; asks S to retrieve parts from Busoni for future performance.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2004.

Bent, Ian
Weinberger, Josef
Asks how first performance of Schenker's Syrische Tänze, orch. Schoenberg, went and requests copies of reviews; asks S to retrieve parts from Busoni for future performance.
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
IPR: Josef Weinberger Ltd, 12-14 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JJ, reproduced here by kind permission; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent 2004.
Weinberger, Josef; Busoni, Ferruccio; Schenker, Heinrich; Syrische Tänze; Syrian Dances; Schoenberg, Arnold; orchestration; orchestral parts; first performance, 1903-11-05 19:30; Beethovensaal; Berlin; Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Handwritten letter from Josef Weinberger to Schenker, dated November 17, 1903
letter
academic; musicology; music theory
OJ, 15/12, [6]
1903-11-17
2004-10-31
Weinberger
email from Sean Gray (Weinberger Ltd) to Ian Bent, 2004-09-24, granting permission to post to web without charge
Weinberger letterhead; handwritten stenographic letter; holograph signature
Schenker, Heinrich (1903-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1955)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1955-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)
IPR: Josef Weinberger Ltd, 12-14 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JJ; image: University of California, Riverside; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent.
Vienna; Berlin
1903