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WSLB 209 : 4-30-14

Letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 30, 1914

Sehr geehrter Herr Direktor !

Ihr letzter Brief u. meine Sendung1 haben sich gekreuzt. So greife ich wieder zur Feder – bei dieser Gelegenheit noch einige gestern aufgearbeitete Fahnen 56–64, um auf Ihren Brief zu erwidern.

Sie mögen die Beobachtung gemacht haben, daß ich seit der “IX Sinf.” nur die jeweiligen Werke selbst, nicht aber auch die Manuscripte der “U. E.” zu dauerndem Eigentum überlasse. Und ich schrieb Ihnen schon einmal,2 daß die Mscp. ein persönliches Geschenk an mich sind, u. zw. in dem Sinne, daß die betreffende dritte Person3 war die Mühe des Stenogramms u. sämtliches noch dazugehöriges Niederschriften auf sich [left sidelined to end of page ] nimmt, wofür ich dann mindestens die letzte Niederschrift jener Person zum Eigentum über-{2}lasse. So ist es auch mit dem Mscpt. zur ”IX” u. zu “op. 109 “ geschehen. Wenn Sie bedenken, daß ich meine Gesundheit schon viel früher als es der Fall ist zu Grunde gerichtet hätte, wenn ich die “IX.” bezw. op. 109 u. 110 gar selbst hätte schreiben müssen (u. zw. 2–3 mal pro Werk), – wenn Sie ferner bedenken, daß ich einem Schreiber oder Kopisten von Beruf für die genannten Arbeiten sicher mehr zu bezahlen gehabt hätte, als ich selbst von Ihnen erhielt, so begreifen Sie’s, daß ich die Verträge gerade nur deshalb auf mich nehmen konnte, weil ich jene schriftlichen Arbeiten nicht zu bezahlen hatte. In diesem Sinne habe ich stets das Msc. der betreffenden Person reserviert.

Was natürlich nicht ausschließt, daß ich Ihnen neuerdings das Mscpt. zur Verfügung stelle, sofern Sie mir dasselbe zu retournieren zusichern.

Im Übrigen wüßte ich nicht, welchen Dienst {3} das Mscp. bei Berechnung der Korrekturen leisten soll. Deutlicher als aus dem Mspt. sind sie ja aus den Fahnen zu entnehmen u. ein Vergleich wurde sicher mehr Zeit u. Kosten verursachen, als die Korrekturen selbst. Wie Sie sich selbst überzeugen können, sind es ja keine “schweren” Korrekturen, vielmehr nur solche, die naturgemäß durch den neuen optischen Eindruck der Kolumnen u. Absätze, wie in jedem anderen Werk solchen Umfanges sich ergeben müssen, u. dazu noch menschliche Druckfehler, für die nicht einmal die Setzer verantwortlich zu machen sind, die auch ein gewisses Recht auf Fehler haben.

Hochachtungsvoll ergeben
I[h]r
[ sign'd: ] Dr. H Schenker
30. 4. 1914

[ para 2 overwritten: ] Erldg / 1 2 V4

© Heirs of Heinrich Schenker.
© Transcription Ian D. Bent 2005.

Letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 30, 1914

Dear Director,

Your letter and my packet1 have crossed. So I reach for my pen again—using the opportunity [of sending] a few more galleys, 56–64, polished off yesterday, to respond to your letter.

You may have observed that since the Ninth Symphony I confer long-term ownership to UE of only the relevant works themselves, and not the manuscripts as well. And I wrote to you once before2 that the manuscripts are a personal gift to me, specifically in that the relevant third person3 was takes on the burden of the dictation and all the other writing-down that is involved, [ rest of sentence left-sidelined ], for which I then confer ownership of at least the final copy to that person. {2} That is how it worked with the manuscript of the Ninth Symphony and Op. 109 as well. When you consider that I would have wrecked my health a great deal sooner than was actually the case if I had had to write out the Ninth Symphony as well as Opp. 109 and 110 respectively entirely on my own (twice or three times per work, into the bargain),—and when you moreover consider that I would certainly have had to pay a professional clerk or copyist more for these tasks than I myself was receiving from you, then you will understand that I was able to take on the contracts only because I did not have to pay for those clerical tasks. Seen in this light, I have always reserved the manuscript to the relevant person.

This does not, of course, rule out my sending you the manuscript again, so long as you guarantee to return it.

When all is said and done, I would not know what purpose {3} the manuscript is supposed to serve when reckoning up [the cost of] corrections. They are much easier to work out from the galley-proofs than from the manuscript, and a comparison would surely cost more time and money than the corrections themselves. As you can see for yourself, there are really no “major” corrections, merely the sort that inevitably arise, as in any other work of such scope, as a result of the new visual impact made by the columns and paragraphs, plus human errors, for which the typesetters, who even have a certain right to make errors, ought never to be held responsible.

With kind regards,
Yours [truly],
[ sign'd: ] Dr. H. Schenker
April 30, 1914

[ para. 2 overwritten: ] Dealt with May 1 2[4]

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2005.

COMMENTARY:
Format: 3-p letter, single sheet, oblong format; holograph message and signature.

FOOTNOTES:

1 i.e. OC 52/144, April 28, 1914; and WSLB 208, April 29, 1914.

2 i.e. WSLB 105, May 28, 1912, para.1: "As regards your wish to have the manuscript as well as the proofs, I am willing to comply so long as I—I will speak to you very plainly—receive the assurance in writing from you that the manuscript, which is very valuable purely for personal reasons and constitutes a gift, will be returned after it has been used for the second time! "

3 S is presumably referring to one of the students who helped him with his work, quite possibly in this case Jeanette Kornfeld, Schenker’s eventual wife (m. 11-10-19). (See later in WSLB 211, May 5, 1914, hiring a third person at 6 Kr. p.hr.)

4 i.e. OC 52/145, May 1, 1914.

SUMMARY:
[ LfS 110:] OC 52/144 and WSLB 208 packet have crossed.; replies again, enclosing galley-proofs 56–64; has not released MSS on long-term basis to UE for Ninth Symphony or Op. 109, but will send on promise of rapid return; reckoning up [cost of] corrections is easier from galleys: comparing MS with galleys would cost more than the corrections themselves.

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

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
[ LfS 110:] OC 52/144 and WSLB 208 packet have crossed.; replies again, enclosing galley-proofs 56–64; has not released MSS on long-term basis to UE for Ninth Symphony or Op. 109, but will send on promise of rapid return; reckoning up [cost of] corrections is easier from galleys: comparing MS with galleys would cost more than the corrections themselves.
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; Hertzka, Emil; UE; Beethoven; Die letzten fünf Sonaten ... 110; Beethoven; Die letzten fünf Sonaten ... 109; galley-proofs; Ninth Symphony; ownership of MS; dictation; copyist
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 30, 1914
letter
academic; musicology; music theory
WSLB 209
1914-04-30
2005-12-07
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.
letter; holograph 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

Comments (1)

Robert Snarrenberg:

Judging by one of the letters subsequent to this, which mentions "manuscript photography" and refers back to this earlier letter, the relevant third party might be Anthony von Hoboken.

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