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CA 121–122 : 9-10-10

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated September 10, 1910
= OJ 5/6, [5]|1

Wien, 10. 9. 1910

Sehr geehrter Herr !

Im2 letzten Brief an Sie,3 worin ich Sie um eine Unterredung in Stuttgart gebeten, mag ich vielleicht nicht genau meine Absicht ausgedrückt haben. Jedenfalls ist der Titel: “Handbibliothek,” der nur im Augenblick ein Ziel, nicht der eigentliche. Es handelt sich vielmehr um einen “Literaturanhang” zu dem von mir bereits mehrfach in der Vorrede zu I u. zu II/1|4 angekündigten III Bd. meiner “Th. u. Ph.,” dem „Niedergang der Kompositionskunst.”5 Folgerichtig ausgebaut müßte nämlich6 letzterer innerhalb der theoretischen Erörterungen wohl7 auch die wichtigsten Literaturbeispiele mit sich führen. Da indessen dort die Beispiele eben nur in allzu knappen Grenzen gehalten werden müßten, wodurch aber die Beweiskraft meiner Lehren leider8 geschmälert würde, halte ich es für durchaus notwendig, ganz hervorragende Erscheinungen in Form eben9 eines selbstständigen Literaturanhanges zu Bd. III in gesonderten Heften herauszugeben.10

Der Generaltitel könnte etwa lauten:11

{2} “Literaturanhang zum dritten, in Vorbereitung befindlichen Band der “N. m. Th. u. Ph.” (so oder ähnlich)12 das einzelne Heftchen aber wurde eine Nummer tragen, wie z. B.

I.

Beethoven: IX Symphonie

Das Heftchen würde auch einzeln zu haben sein, was sowohl für die Verbreitung der Lehre, als auch in geschäftlicher Hinsicht von großem Vorteil wäre !

Anderseits stellen diese Bändchen13 derart in sich14 abgeschlossene kleine Monographien dar, daß sie wohl auch ohne Kenntnis des III. Bd., also auch vor dessen Erscheinen mit Nutzen gelesen u. studiert15 werden können! Zu einer vorzeitigen Publikation bin ich außerdem bereits gezwungen (!)16 durch die Haltung meiner17 Vorrede zu II/1, die ich S. I–VIII nachzulesen bitte.18 Ich möchte dieser in ihrer Art wohl einzig dastehenden u.19 unerbittlichen Anklage_—vielleicht interessiert es Sie, in diesem Zusammenhange zwei Zuschriften20 des bekannten Professors u. _Senators der Kgl. Hochschule in Berlin, H. Ernst Rudorff|21 einzusehen—sobald als möglich entscheidende Beweise folgen {3} lassen, wodurch übrigens auch der Erfolg des II/1 in schöner Weise gestützt würde.

Ich schlage daher vor, Sie mögen mir Ihren geschätzten Verlag u. zw.22 wieder unter den für das Hauptwerk selbst vereinbarten Bedingungen auch23 für diese Heftchen, als organische Bestandteile desselber,24 zur Verfügung stellen, so daß schon in diesem Winter als erstes die bereits fertig gebrachte “IX Symph. von Beethoven25 (vielleicht das verkannteste Werk unserer Literatur!!) erscheinen könnte. Dieses Bändchen sowohl, als auch26 die nachfolgenden könnten dann selbstverständlich zu billigen Preisen (weil einzeln)27 verkauft werden. [28]

Das nun revidierte Mscpt zu II/2 der „Th. u. Ph.“ Sende ich alsbald nach !

In Erwartung einer baldigen höflichen Gegenäußerung zeichne ich

Hochachtungsvoll ergeben
[ sign’d: ] H Schenker
Wien, 10. 9. 1910

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

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated September 10, 1910
= OJ 5/6, [5]|1

Vienna, September 10, 1910

Dear Sir,

In my2 last letter to you,3 requesting a meeting in Stuttgart, I may perhaps not have expressed my intentions clearly. At any rate, the title is: “Reference Library”, which is only provisional for now, not definitive. It is, moreover, a “Music-Repertory Appendix” to vol. III of my New Musical Theories and Fantasies, already announced several times by me in the Foreword to vol. I and vol. II/1:4 the Decline of the Art of Composition.5 Logically expanded, this6 latter would certainly7 have to include in the course of its theoretical discussions the most important examples from the repertory. Since, however, the examples there [i.e. within Decline] would have to be kept within all-too-tight limits, and since the force of my teachings would unfortunately8 be severely restricted as a result, I consider it critically necessary {2} to publish10 overwhelmingly convincing evidence in the form specifically9 of an independent music-repertory appendix to vol. III in separate booklets.

The overarching title could perhaps read:11

{2} “Music-Repertory Appendix to the third volume of the New Musical Theories and Fantasies, currently in preparation.” (or something of the sort)

Each individual booklet would bear a number, as e.g.:

I.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

The booklet would also be obtainable singly, which would be of great advantage not only for the dissemination of my theory but also from the commercial point view.

On the other hand, these little booklets13 amount to self-contained short monographs, such that they can be profitably read and studied15 without the slightest knowledge of vol. III, hence even before the latter is out! Indeed, I am already committed (!)16 that they should be published beforehand by the point of view put forward in my17 Preface to II/1, of which I urge you to look up pp. I–VIII.18 I should like to furnish conclusive evidence {3} as soon as possible corroborating this implacable and totally unique19 charge—perhaps it might interest you in this connection to examine two letters19 of Mr. Ernst Rudorff, the well-known Professor and Senator of the Royal High School [for Music] in Berlin.21 The success of vol. II/1 would, by the way, be very nicely reinforced by this evidence.

I therefore suggest that you might make your esteemed press available to me again for these little booklets, which are organic constituents of that main work,24 and moreover22 under the conditions agreed for that work [i.e. NMTF] itself, so that the “Beethoven’s25 Ninth Symphony” (perhaps the most unappreciated work in our repertory!!), already completed, could appear as the first one as early as this Winter. This booklet, as well as those that will follow, could then of course be purchased (because individually)27 at low prices.28

I shall be sending the newly revised manuscript for II/2 of Theories and Fantasies shortly.

Looking forward to an early reply, I remain

Yours, with kind regards
[ sign'd: ] H. Schenker
Vienna, September 10, 1910

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2005.

COMMENTARY:
Format: Holograph message and signature, oblong format, 3pp
Sender address: --
Recipient address: --

FOOTNOTES:

1 OJ 5/6, [5] is a draft of the letter. Since draft and final letter are relatively similar, I have conflated the two. This transcription and translation presents the final version, and footnotes the variants in the draft. At the head of the draft there appears, in Schenker’s hand: “an Cotta” (To Cotta).

2 In meinem in draft.

3 CA 118, August 19, 1910, to which Cotta had replied discouragingly in OJ 9/31, [26], August 1910.

4 I/1 in draft.

5 Schenker had been planning to release his Der Niedergang der Kompositionskunst: eine technisch-kritische Untersuchung (The Decline of the Art of Composition: a technical-critical Inquiry), originally intended as the Nachwort (Afterword) to Harmonielehre (CA 5–6, November 22, 1905), but which had expanded such that it was subsequently detached and scheduled to appear six months after Harmonielehre (i.e. in May 1907: OJ 9/31, [9], June 5, 1906) as a separate "supplementary publication" (Harmonielehre, p.VII, trans. p. xxvi), presumably in the form of a pamphlet or booklet. S later reconceived it as vol. III of NMTP (CA 68, September 13, 1907) and the "capstone" (Pointe) of the entire work. In 1908 he was still speaking of it in these terms (CA 87, October 13, 1908). Here, he presents his Handbibliothek as a direct extension of that work, which was never published. Vol. III of -NMTP_ ultimately became Der freie Satz, published posthumously in 1935. The Niedergang essay survives as an annotated typescript, OC 31/28-153, and an edition with translation and accompanying article by William Drabkin appears in Music Analysis 25/1-2 (March-July 2005). The Handbibliothek never materialized as such: the planned first booklet eventually became the much larger monograph
Beethovens neunte Sinfonie, published in hardback by Universal-Edition
in 1912. Shortly after its publication, Schenker proposed to Universal a
similar series of analytical studies, provisionally entitled _Kleine
Bibliothek_ (Little Library); this proposal, after long wartime delay, was revitalized and became the Tonwille pamphlets (1921-24), which in turn transmuted into the the series of yearbooks Das Meisterwerk in der Musik (1925-1930).

6 nämlich not in draft.

7 wohl (certainly) not in draft.

8 leider (unfortunately) not in draft.

9 eben (specifically) appears four words later in draft, before zu.

10 herauszugeben: erschienen zu lassen in draft.

11 Draft read: Jedes dieser Heftchen würde etwa mit den Generaltitel [...]_versehen, u. z. B. mit: I “IX Symphonie von Beethoven” in Speziellen betitelt, ein solches Heftchen:_ (Each of these booklets, given the overarching title of perhaps [...] would be individually titled, e.g., I. Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, each such booklet would also ...).

12 Whole parenthesis not in draft.

13 Bändchen: in draft: Heftchen.

14 in sich not in draft.

15 und studiert (and studied) not in draft.

16 “(!)“ not in draft.

17 Draft has eigenen (own) at this point.

18 S’s Foreword includes reference at the opening to a “decline”, stating: “I plan to discuss more precisely in a later volume the decline and its causes. ...,” and again “I will prove this, as promised earlier, in as much detail as possible on another occasion,” and later criticizes existing “concert guides, program books, and analyses” for failing to “come to grips with music in purely artistic terms.” (trans. John Rothgeb and Jürgen Thym, 1987, Book I, pp.xvii, xviii, xxiv–xxv). [NB provide original page-numbers]

19 in ihrer Art wohl einzig dastehenden u. (totally unique) not in draft.

20 die Zuschrift (the letter) in draft.

21 The Hochschule für Musik was founded in 1869, and was part of the Akademie der Künste. Ernst Rudorff (1840–1916), German pianist, teacher, and composer; professor at the Hochschule in 1869–1910. (NGDM). S and Rudorff conducted a lively correspondence between 1908 and 1912 (OJ 5/35, 13/37, 59/15, and see Federhofer: Nach Tagebüchern, pp.199–210), and were in substantial agreement over many issues, including the position of Wagner.

22 u. zwar (and moreover) not in draft.

23 auch not in draft.

24 organische (organic) not in draft, and phrase not underlined.

25 von Beethoven not in draft.

26 auch not in draft.

27 weil and parentheses not in draft, and einzeln underlined, thus reading: “could then of course be purchased individually at low prices.”

28 Significantly, S removed from the final version a discrete paragraph that appears in the draft at this point: „Vielleicht würde es Ihnen einmal passen, auch andere Mitarbeiter zu dieser Handbibliothek heranzuziehen!“ (Pehaps you might even care to involve other contributors in this Reference Library!)

SUMMARY:
[ Handbibliothek:] Clarifies the proposal made in CA 118, August 19, 1910, and explains how it relates to other volumes of NMTP. Suggests overall series title, and gives sample title for the first monograph, on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Offers two letters from Ernst Rudorff. Discusses marketing and sales. --[ _Kontrapunkt II:] Promises shortly.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2005.

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
[ Handbibliothek:] Clarifies the proposal made in CA 118, August 19, 1910, and explains how it relates to other volumes of NMTP. Suggests overall series title, and gives sample title for the first monograph, on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Offers two letters from Ernst Rudorff. Discusses marketing and sales. --[ _Kontrapunkt II:] Promises shortly.
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
IPR: Heirs of Heinrich Schenker; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent 2005.
Schenker, Heinrich; Cotta, J. G.; Stuttgart; meeting; proposal; Handbibliothek; Reference Library; Music-Repertory Appendix; NMTP; vol.1; Harmonielehre; Harmony; vol.2/1; Kontrapunkt I; Counterpoint I; vol.2/2; Kontrapunkt II; Counterpoint II; vol.3; Niedgergang; Decline; monographs; marketing; pricing; title; Beethoven, Ludwig; Ninth Symphony; Rudorff, Ernst; Berlin; Hochschule für Musik;
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated September 10, 1910
letter
academic; musicology; music theory
CA 121-122
OJ 5/1, [5]
1910-09-10
2005-06-28
Cotta
All reasonable steps have been taken to locate the heirs of Heinrich Schenker. 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.
letter; holograph message and signature
J.G. Cotta’sche Nachfolger/Stuttgarter Zeitung (1910-c.1954); Cotta-Archiv, Schiller-Nationalmuseum, Marbach a. N., Germany (c.1954-)
IPR: Heirs of Heinrich Schenker; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent.
Vienna
Stuttgart
1910

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