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WSLB 199 : 1-7-14

Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 7, 1914

{recto}
[Absender:]
H Schenker
III Reisnerstr. 38
[ for continuation of message, see below ]

[An:]
H [/] Director Emil Hertzka
I., Reichsrathsstr. 9
„Universal-Edition“
[ postmarks both illegible ]

{verso}
Sehr geehrter Herr Direktor !

Die von Ihnen vorgeahnte Verspätung trägt an allem Schuld. S...[?] auch Ihre Absolution für unverschuldetes Ausbleiben haben Sie mir bereits gereicht.1 So bleibt mir nichts übrig, als Ihnen mitzuteilen, daß die Kleine Payne. Ausgabe2 sich für unsere Zwecke besser|3 als irgend eine große eignet. Ich habe vor, den Text festzustellen4, u. die Verbreitung des Textes geht wohl rascher durch Taschen—als durch große Ausgaben. Höchstens entschließe ich mich noch dazu, den Plan in Klammern einzutragen,5 aber gerade solche Eintragungen wirken in der kleinen Ausgabe übersichtlicher, als in einer großen. Im übrigen würde das Buch durch die Partitur eine Ergänzung u. umgekehrt die Part. durch das Buch [ corr ] die volle Verständlichkeit erreichen. Also wenn möglich — Payne! Doch stehe ich {verso} Samstag, wenn Sie mich no[ch] brauchen sollten, Abds wo u. wann Sie wollen, zur Verfügung! Donnerst. u. Freitag geht es leider später Schüler halber durchaus nicht.

Hauptsache ist Text, denn das Original zu lesen|6, war bisher außer Mendelssohn, Brahms leider noch keinem gegeben. Und das hat eine tiefe Ursache ... Man muß eben lesen können.

Mit besten Grüßen Ihr ergb
7. 1. 1914 Abds. [ sign’d: ] H Sch

© Heirs of Heinrich Schenker.
© Transcription Ian D. Bent 2004.

Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 7, 1914

{recto}
[Sender:]
H. Schenker
III Reisnerstraße 38
[ for continuation of message, see below ]

[To:]
Director Emil Hertzka
Vienna I, Reichsrathsstraße 9
Universal Edition
[ postmarks both illegible ]

{verso}
Dear Director,

It was the delay, as you suspected, that is entirely to blame. You have already in fact granted me your absolution for [my] unwitting failure to turn up.1 So there is nothing left for me other than to let you know that the Little Payne Edition|2 is better|3 suited for our purposes than any large[-format] one. I have in mind to establish the text|4, and then the dissemination of the text will go faster with pocket [editions] than with large[-format] editions. At most, I am still determined to enter the plan in [square] brackets,5 but precisely such interpolations look clearer in the small edition than in a large one. For the rest, the book would be amplified by the score, and vice versa the score would gain full comprehensibility through the book. So, if possible—Payne! I am definitely at your disposal on {verso} Saturday, should you still need me, in the evening wherever and at whatever time you want. Unfortunately, Thursday and Friday will not be possible later on account of late pupils.

The main thing is the [musical] text, for the ability to read|6 the original has hitherto been vouchsafed to no one other than Mendelssohn [and] Brahms. And there is a profound reason for that ... One just has to be able to read.

With best wishes, yours truly
January 7, 1914, in the evening [ sign’d: ] H. Schenker

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2004.

COMMENTARY:
Format: postcard, holograph addesses recto, holograph message and signature verso + ½ recto
Sender address: Vienna III, Reisnerstraße 38
Recipient address: Vienna I, Reichsrathsstraße 9

FOOTNOTES:

1 See WSLB 198, January 6, 1914. H’s telegraph to S saying when and where they would meet on Wednesday January 7 (= OC 52/139, January 7)arrived late, and S did not go to the meeting point. This letter must be in response to the belated telegraph. Hence S says that he is still available for a meeting on the Saturday evening.

2 Albert Payne's Musikverlag, Leipzig was the first company seriously to issue miniature scores with its Kleine Kammermusik Partiturausgabe begun in 1886. The series was sold to Eulenburg in the 1890s, and thereafter bore both the Eulenburg and the Payne imprints. S's remark is in response to H's statement in OC 52/138 that "I shall have a chance to negotiate with Eulenburg over the score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony." See possible further reference to this Beethoven IX score project: handwritten note (Schenker?) at end of OC 52/441, April 20, 1914.

3 besser: double underlined.

4 Text festzust-: double underlined.

5 In his Ninth Symphony monograph, S uses Plan to refer to each of the analytical diagrams which directly precede their corresponding chapters. Presumably, therefore, S is now planning to enter the section labels from those plans into the score in square brackets at the relevant point; e.g. in the first movement “I. Teil” (Part I) in m.1, “I. Gedanke: Vordersatz” (first idea: antecedent) in m.17, and so forth

6 lesen: double underlined.

SUMMARY: [Ninth Symphony score:]The Little Payne Edition is best; will enter structural plan into score. Offers Saturday evening as replacement for missed meeting of today.

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

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
[Ninth Symphony score:]The Little Payne Edition is best; will enter structural plan into score. Offers Saturday evening as replacement for missed meeting of today.
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
IPR: Heirs of Heinrich Schenker; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent 2004.
Schenker, Heinrich; Hertzka, Emil; UE; Beethoven; Ninth Symphony; monograph; score; Payne edition; Eulenburg; meeting; Mendelssohn; Brahms
Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 7, 1914
postcard
academic; musicology; music theory
WSLB 199
1914-01-07
2004-11-17
UE
Hertzka
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.
postcard; holograph addresses, message, and signature
Universal Edition Archive (1914-1976)—on permanent loan to the Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Wien (1976-)
IPR: Heirs of Heinrich Schenker; Image: Universal Edition, A.G.; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent.
Vienna
1914

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