Schenker Correspondence Project

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Emil Hertzka (UE), dated October 14, 1908

[ UE stamp: ] 8223

Sehr geehrter Herr Director!

Mein Stundenplan ist nun beiläufig fix geworden, u. da merke ich, daβ ich, an mein Musikatelier gefesselt von 10½ h Vorm., u. Nachmittag bis 6½ h. (auch länger), nicht leicht in die Lage kommen kann, Ihnen den versprochene Besuch zu machen, zumal Sie selbst spät ins Büreau kommen, u. die Distanz der Lokalität eine so grosse geworden ist, daβ ich über der Reise zu Ihnen u. zurück sicher eine Stunde Zeit versäumen müβte.¹

Wenn nicht der günstige Zufall einer Absage seitens eines Schülers zu Hilfe käme, wüβte ich nicht, wie ich es machen könnte, Sie aufzusuchen.

Pflichtschuldig gebe ich Ihnen diesen Sachverhalt bekannt, u. frage an, ob die Sache eine dringende sei, eine so dringende, daβ {verso} es in der nächsten Zeit geschehen müβte, u. daβ Sie es mit Ihrem Gewissen vereinbaren könnten, wenn ich so viel Zeit darüber verlieren sollte.

Betrifft es am Ende die Tabelle? Und sollte es nicht schriftlich gehen?

Mit ausgezeichneter Hochachtung
Ir ergeb.
[ sign'd: ] H Schenker
14.10.08

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

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Emil Hertzka (UE), dated October 14, 1908

[ UE stamp: ] 8223

Dear Director,

My lesson plan is now set. Now that I see myself tied to my music studio from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm (or even later), I cannot easily contrive to make the promised visit to you, especially since you yourself get to the office late, and since the distance to the location has become so great that I would inevitably lose an hour traveling to you and back.¹

Unless one of my pupils just happened propitiously to cancel, I don’t see how I could manage to call on you.

I spell out all these details dutifully for you: now let me ask whether the topic is urgent, so urgent that {verso} it has to happen in the immediate future, and that you could countenance my having to sacrifice so much time to it.

Is it by any chance about the [ Instrumentations- ] Tabelle? And could it not be dealt with in writing?

With kind regards,
Yours truly,
[ sign'd: ] H. Schenker
October 14, 1908

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2005.

COMMENTARY:
Format: oblong sheet folded vertically, holograph message and signature on pp.1 and 3, or 2-p letter, single sheet recto and verso[?]
Sender address: —
Recipient address: --

FOOTNOTES:

¹ Hertzka had perhaps moved his office from Maximilianstraße 11 (the headquarters of UE until 1914) to its administration building, Wipplingerstraße 32 ("Maximilianstraße" has been overprinted with "Wipplingerstraße" in the letterhead on recent correspondence). The latter was still in the Vienna I district, but some distance further north, and Schenker's apartment, Reisnerstraße 38, was quite close to Maximilianstraße.

SUMMARY:
S cannot call on H unless he has a lesson cancellation. Is the matter urgent? Is it about the Instrumentations-Tabelle?

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

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
S cannot call on H unless he has a lesson cancellation. Is the matter urgent? Is it about the Instrumentations-Tabelle?
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; appointment; ; music studio; Musikatelier; Niloff; Instrumentations-Tabelle
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Emil Hertzka (UE), dated October 14, 1908
letter
Hertzka, Emil
WSLB 23
1908-10-14
2005-03-10
UE
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 (1908-1976)—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
1908