« OJ 11/35, 22 : 1-22-24 | Main | OC 12/10-12 : 2-6-24 »

OJ 15/31, [1] : 1-31-24

Handwritten letter from Hermann Wunsch to Schenker, dated January 31, 1924

Berlin W 30, den 31. 1. 24
Aschaffenburgerstr. 8

Sehr verehrter Herr Professor!1

Ich erhielt aus der „deutschen Nothilfe“2 Ihre Spende im Betrage von 2.000 000 österr. Kronen. Gestatten Sie mir, daß ich Ihnen meinen aufrichtigen Dank für Ihre hochherzige Spende ausspreche! Ich hoffe, daß ich recht bald die Freude erleben werde, mich auch vor Ihnen für die Annahme der Spende künstlerisch rechtfertigen zu können.

Ich habe mit der Propagirung meiner kompositorischen Arbeiten absichtlich gezögert, sodaß auch Sie sehr wahrscheinlich kaum meinen Namen kennen werden. Die Aufführung meiner II. Sinfonie in München (Hausegger|3) war eigentlich der erste Versuch, daß er so reiche Früchte trägt, wie es sich nun zeigt, freut mich und rechtfertigt meine Zurückhaltung gewissermaßen. Die Sinfonie kommt jetzt bereits am 11. Februar zu einer 2. Aufführung in Breslau, weitere Aufführungen sind vorgesehen.

Ich werde mir gestatten, Ihnen von Zeit zu Zeit Weiteres von mir mitzuteilen, wenn Sie es nicht übel aufnehmen würden.

Zur Zeit arbeite ich an meiner III. Sinfonie, und ich hoffe, daß es mir gelingen wird, auch einmal in Wien eine Aufführung möglich machen zu können, bei der ich anwesend sein möchte und sicherlich nicht versäumen würde, Ihnen meine Aufwartung zu machen.

Nochmals: ich danke Ihnen! und ich erbleibe

Mit achtungsvollstem Gruße
Ihr
[ sign’d: ] Hermann Wunsch

© Under investigation
© Transcription Ian Bent, 2006.

Handwritten letter from Hermann Wunsch to Schenker, dated January 31, 1924

Berlin W 30, January 31, 1924
Aschaffenburgerstraße 8

Dear Professor,1

From the “German Asistance,”2 I received your donation in the amount of 2,000,000 Austrian Kroner. Permit me to express my sincere thanks to you for your magnanimous benefaction! I hope very soon to have the pleasure of being able to justify myself to you in artistic terms for having accepted the donation.

I have intentionally hesitated to publicize my musical compositions, so even you may in all likelihood barely be acquainted with my name. The performance of my Second Symphony in Munich (Hausegger3) was really the first attempt; that it bore fruit so richly, as it now appears, delights me and justifies to some degree my reticence. The symphony will now receive its second performance as early as February 11 in Breslau; further performances are on the cards.

I will take the liberty of letting you have further news of myself from time to time, if you will not think ill of me for doing so.

At the moment, I am working on my Third Symphony, and I hope that it will be possible for me to have a performance some time in Vienna at which I might be present and would surely not neglect to pay you my respects to you.

Once more, my gratitude to you! I remain,

With kindest regards,
Yours,
[ sign’d: ] Hermann Wunsch

© Translation Ian Bent, 2006.

COMMENTARY:
Format: 1p letter, holograph message and signature
Sender address: Berlin W 30, Aschaffenburgerstraße 8
Recipient address: --

FOOTNOTES:

1 Hermann Wunsch (1884–1954), German composer, studied in Düsseldorf and Cologne, later at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he subsequently taught. He composed six symphonies, chamber operas, masses, three violin concertos, one piano concerto, and works for other forces. (Baker’s 1971). S awarded him a stipend from the fund allocated for his disposal by Sofie Deutsch (died January 5, 1917) in her will “for impecunious skilled composers and similarly qualified composition pupils.” See OJ 12/52, January 12, 1917 in which Fritz Mendl first set out its provisions. Wunsch seems to have been the second composer to whom S allocated such a stipend, the first being August Halm.

2 Deutsche Nothilfe: German organization founded in 1923 to assist people in need, but absorbed into the National Socialist NS-Volkswohlfahrt in 1933. According to Federhofer, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern ... (Hildesheim: Olms, 1985), p.38, n. 58, the money was paid to Wunsch via the German legation in Vienna of the Deutsche Nothilfe. Presumably, the proceeds of the Verein zur Speisung und Bekleidung hungernder Schulkinder in Wien, from which the funds for the composer stipends came, could not be disbursed outside Vienna, and a comparable German organization was used as an agency for transferring the stipend to Wunsch in Berlin.

3 Siegmund von Hausegger (1872–1948), Austrian conductor and composer. From 1920 to 1936 he was conductor of the Munich Konzertverein Orchestra (later the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra), with which among many things he conducted the first performances of Bruckner’s Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. He was Director and later President of the Akademie der Tonkunst, Munich (1920–34). (NGDM2)

SUMMARY:
W thanks S for his donation [i.e. Sofie Deutsch stipend], tells him of the performance of his Second Symphony, tells him what he is currently working on, and expresses the hope of meeting S before long.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian Bent 2006

Bent, Ian
Wunsch, Wilhelm
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
Wunsch, Wilhelm; Schenker, Heinrich; Deutsch, Sofie; Sophie; Deutsche Nothilfe; stipend; donation; symphony; Munich; Hausegger, Siegmund von; Breslau; Vienna
Handwritten letter from Wunsch to Schenker, dated January 31, 1924
OJ 15/31, [1]
1924-01-31
2006-10-16
Deutsch, Sofie
Wunsch, Wilhelm
This document is presumed to be in the public domain. 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 (1924-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1955)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1955-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)
IPR: In the public domain; Image: University of California, Riverside; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian Bent.
Berlin
1924

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 31, 1924 1:00 AM.

The previous post in this blog was OJ 11/35, 22 : 1-22-24.

The next post in this blog is OC 12/10-12 : 2-6-24.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Powered by
Movable Type 3.34