Schenker Correspondence Project

Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Cube, dated July 6, 1929

{recto}
Postkarte

[top-left, picture captioned: Wien – Karlskirche]

[Absender:] Schenker
Galtür, Tirol

[An:] H [/] Prof. Felix v. Cube
Duisburg (Rhld)
Pulverweg [/] 41

[postmark:] || GALTÜR | -7.VII.[illeg] | [illeg] ||

[for message-continuation, see below]

{verso}
Lieber Herr Prof v. Cube!

H. Voß¹ schrieb mir, ich gab ihm meine Hausordnung bekannt u. erbat einer Verständig[ung] bis letzter Juniwoche. Mit einer kleinen Verspätung langte seine Antwort ein, worin er noch einmal auf seine idée fixe: “Kurse” zurückkam, er wolle ^aber zuguterletzt bei mir die Studien vervollkommnen. Ich riet ihm ab – er erbat von mir “Vorschläge” u. “umgehende Antwort” – u. meinte, er solle doch nicht, da er nun einmal sich an mich gewandt hat, nicht erst auf Umwegen[?] kommen, schade wäre es um seine Zeit, u. nun[?] bat ich um eine umgehende Antwort. Diese ist nun H. Voss sonderbarerweise überhaupt schuldig geblieben, nicht einmal dankte er für den erbetenen Brief. Sie sollen davon wissen, damit Sie etwaige anderslaufende[?] {recto} Aussagen beurteilen können.–²

Fertiggestellt ist für 1930 eine mittelgroße Monographie über die “Eroica” – endlich türmt sich der “freie Satz” auf.³

Mit besten Wünschen für den Sommer (wo?) von uns Beiden

Ihr
[ sign’d:] H Schenker
6.7.29

© In the public domain.
© Transcription William Drabkin, 2006.

Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Cube, dated July 6, 1929

{recto}
Postcard

[top-left, picture captioned: Wien – Karlskirche]

[From:] Schenker
Galtür, Tirol

[To:] Prof. Felix v. Cube
Duisburg (Rhineland),
Pulverweg 41

[postmark:] || GALTÜR | -7.VII.[illeg] | [illeg] ||

[for message-continuation, see below]

{verso}
Dear Professor von Cube,

Mr. Voß¹ wrote to me; I made him acquainted with my ground rules and asked him to make a decision by the last week of June. After a short delay his reply arrived, in which he returned once more to his idéee fixe of “courses”; ^but said that he wanted, after all, to perfect his studies with me. I advised against it—he requested of me “suggestions” and “immediate reply”—and thought that he should after all, as he did in fact turn to me, not come first indirectly, it would be a waste of his time, and now it was I who asked for an immediate reply. This is something that Mr. Voss, strangely enough, is still owing; he did not even thank me for the letter he asked of me. You ought to know about this, so that you can be in a position {recto} to judge statements that run in a different direction[?]²

For 1930 I have completed a medium-size monograph on the “Eroica”; finally Der freie Satz looms up before me.³

With best wishes for the summer (where?) from the two of us,

Yours,
[ sign’d: ] H. Schenker
July 6, 1929

© Translation by William Drabkin

COMMENTARY:
Format: printed picture postcard, holograph addresses, message-continuation and signature recto, holograph message-beginning verso
Sender address: Galtür, Tirol
Recipient address: Duisburg (Rhineland), Pulverweg 41

FOOTNOTES:

¹ Erich Voss: see OJ 9/34, [18], May 14, 1929; vC 23, May 15; vC 25, July 14; OJ 9/34, [19], July 18, 1929. Voss does not appear in S’s Lesson Books.

² anders laufende [läutende?] The last sentence is difficult to read, and to interpret. Schenker is evidently annoyed that a recommendation by Cube has caused him so much vexation, but he tempers his feelings by alerting Cube to the possibility that he himself, may encounter similar difficulties with prospective pupils.

³ Schenker entertained hopes of placing his analysis of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony with a major music publishing house in Germany; in the end, it was published by Drei Masken-Verlag in Munich as the third and final volume of the series Das Meisterwerk in der Musik (1930). His last work, Der freie Satz, had been an ongoing project for some time; as his theories continued to develop in the 1920s, it became increasingly hard for him to set it down in a definitive form.

SUMMARY:
S has heard again from Erich Voß about lessons and shows signs of annoyance. —Has completed his "Eroica" study, and Der freie Satz looms.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary William Drabkin 2006.

Drabkin, William
Schenker, Heinrich
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
Schenker, Heinrich; Cube, Felix-Eberhard von; Voß, Erich; Voss, Erich; lessons; courses; Beethoven; Eroica; Der Freie Satz; Free Composition; summer plans
Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Cube, dated July 6, 1929
vC 24
1929-07-06
2006-08-29
Cube
This document is deemed to be in the public domain as of January 1, 2006. Any claim to intellectual rights should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at [email protected].
Felix-Eberhard von Cube (1929-87)—Heirs of F.-E. von Cube (1987-present day)
IPR: In the public domain; Image: Heirs of Felix-Eberhard von Cube; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary William Drabkin.
Vienna
1929