Handwritten letter from Schenker to Jonas, dated February 7, 1933 Geehrter, lieber Herr Dr Jonas! Mit bestem Dank stelle ich Ihnen die 4 Aufsätze zurück.1 Ich kann mir heute wohl ersparen, Ihre treffenden Darstellungen zu loben u. dgl. Jedenfalls haben Sie Recht darauf, daß Sie in Berlin viel mehr Möglichkeiten haben als in Wien. Wo könnten Sie das alles in Wien unterbringen, wo fänden Sie 4 Schüler eines Bertrams?2 Die Selbstanbetung, das Selbst-Genie der Wiener schafft unübersteigliche Geistes-Zellschranken. Nun aber ein sehr Wichtiges: Dr Salzer|3 sagte mir in der letzten Stunde, da ich von Ihnen sprach, er sei von unterrichteter Seite informiert worden, der Preis Ihrer “Einf.” sei zu hoch angesetzt oder ä[hnliches]. {2} Ich verstehe nichts davon, bin daher immer betrogen worden, möchte Soeben erleb Ihr © In the public domain. |
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Jonas, dated February 7, 1933 Dear Dr. Jonas, With many thanks I return the four essays1 to you. I can spare myself the time today to praise your excellent presentations etc. In any case you are right that in Berlin you have many more possibilities than in Vienna. Where could you accomplish all of that in Vienna—where would you find four students of a Bertram?2 The self-adulation, the egotism of the Viennese poses insurmountable narrowness of mind. But here is something very important: Dr. Salzer3 told me in the last lesson, as I spoke of you, that he had been advised by an informed source that the price of your Introduction was set too high or some such thing. {2} I don’t understand anything about that, have therefore always been deceived, but would like to recommend5 to you and your cousin4 that in your interest particular caution be used in dealing with Hoboken.6 Anybody who, like me, is instructed in how Hoboken always looks for phantoms of cupidity, and how he perceives the most deceitful hatred when he finds one, would have to warn you: because just as Dr. Salzer suddenly, from wherever, gets information of the foregoing sort, Hoboken too can get similar information. (Incidentally, he once already hinted as much to me in a very, very delicate way.) Thus, caution, caution! I have just learned that UE requires 70% for itself, but is in the end satisfied with 50%; naturally it is better commercial strategy to recoup the investment in a shorter time with a higher price, but Hoboken must be handled carefully. Didn’t Drei-Masken Verlag set the price of the first and second Jahrbuch7 at 18 S., but 10 S. is alright too (third Jahrbuch). That was Brahms’s continual complaint about Simrock, that he set the prices too high. Best [upside down in top margin: greetings and wishes from both of us, Yours, © Translation John Rothgeb 2006. |
COMMENTARY: FOOTNOTES: 1 Enclosed with OJ 12/6, [19], January 28, 1933. 2 Cf. OJ 12/6, [19] and [30], January 28, 1933 and March 16, 1934. 3 Click on: Felix Salzer 4 Dr. Fritz Ungar, proprietor of Saturn-Verlag. Cf. OJ 12/6, [13], [15], [37], and [43]. 5 "empfehlen": originally written before the three preceding words, then inserted by an arrow into the position given here. 6 Anthony van Hoboken [create biogfile and link]. 7 Schenker’s Das Meisterwerk in der Musik I and II (Munich: Drei Masken Verlag, 1925, 1926). SUMMARY: © Commentary, Footnotes, Summary John Rothgeb 2006.
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