Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 29, 1909 Eingetragen: ......................... Sehr geehrter Herr Direktor! Ich nehme an, daß Sie bereits zu Hause, u. bitte Sie, falls Niloffs Tabelle,1 die neu redigierte, bereits erschienen, mir davon 2 Exemplare zuschicken zu lassen : eines für mich selbst, u. ein zweites als Geburtstagscadeau für meinen ehemaligen langjährigen Schüler H. Baron Alphons v. Rothschild.2 Des letzteren Geburtstag ist Mitte Februar3 u. da möchte ich wohl noch Zeit gewinnen, das ihm zugedachte Exemplar schön binden zu lassen ; besitzt er doch als Erbe des Baron Nathaniel|4 eine der merkwürdigsten u. schönsten Instrumentensammlungen in Österreich.5 Ir hochachtungsvoll ergebener |
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 29, 1909 Received: ......................... Dear Director, I assume that you are back by now, and should like to ask if, in the event that Niloff’s Table,1 the new edition, is already out, you would arrange to have two copies of it sent to me: one for myself, and a second as a birthday present for my erstwhile student of many years’ standing, Baron Alphons von Rothschild.2 The latter’s birthday is middle of February,3 and I should like to have plenty of time to have the intended copy elegantly bound. As heir to Baron Nathaniel,4 he possesses one of the most remarkable and most beautiful collections of instruments in Austria.5 In thanking you most cordially in advance6 for your kindness, I remain With kind regards, Yours truly, © Translation Ian D. Bent 2005. |
COMMENTARY: FOOTNOTES: 1 i.e. Artur Niloff, Instrumentations-Tabelle (UE 1999), first released in a small trial edition distributed to schools on or just before October 29, 1908 (OC 52/398). UE’s intention to produce it in a longer print-run was communicated on November 23, 1908 (OC 52/29), but Schenker submitted too much supplementary material and the latter was eventually excluded by UE and the new edition (officially called the “first edition”) released on or about February 6, 1909. Schenker’s supplementary material was included in the subsequent edition, of 1912. 2 Click on: Alphons von Rothschild [insert biogfile] 3 Alphons’s birthday was February 15. 4 The lineage of Alphons is: Mayer Amschel (1744–1812)-->Salomon Mayer (1774–1855)-->Anselm Salomon (1803–74)-->Solomon Albert (1844–1911)-->Alphons Mayer. Nathaniel Mayer (1836–1905) (an uncle?) had no offspring, hence presumably Alphons was his heir. 5 For an inventory of Alphons’s collection comprising 3,444 items in all, see Sophie Lillie, Was einmal war: Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens (Vienna: Czernin, 2003). His instruments are listed on pp. 1,384–1,409. One wonders whether S was ever able to view the collection, and if so whether it had any impact on his interest in reviving use of Baroque and Classical instruments in live performance. 6 im Vorhinein: a particularly Austrian usage. SUMMARY: © Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2005.
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