Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 2, 1909 [ UE No. ] 2202 Sehr geehrter Herr Direktor! Ich beeile mich Ihnen ad personam meinen besten Dank für Ihre Zuschrift von heute1 [ sic ] zu danken [ sic ]. Möge die letztere endlich von guter Vorbedeutung sein [E]s ist in meinem eigenen Interesse gelegen, den II Bd.5 so rasch als möglich herauszubringen, u. dann gehöre ich den Bach-Arbeiten für Sie. So viel in Eile. Mit ausgezeichtneter Hochachtung Ir ergb © Heirs of Heinrich Schenker. |
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 2, 1909 [ UE No. ] 2202 Dear Director, I hasten to offer you my warmest thanks ad personam for your letter of today [ sic ].1 May the latter at last be a good omen for the relationship between a toiler of the mind and an indigenous publishing house, and may we at last see the removal of the stigma of our homeland, which has up to now preferred to pursue sell-off tactics (in politics: Bosnia2; in the realm of the sky: the aeroplane3; in the realm of music: Brahms, etc.4). It is very much in my own interests to publish vol. II5 as soon as possible, and then I shall commit myself to the Bach projects for you. In great haste. With kind regards, Yours truly, © Translation Ian D. Bent 2005. |
COMMENTARY: FOOTNOTES: 1 i.e. OC 52/920, April 1, 1909. Presumably S began this letter on April 1, but finished it the next day, the date appearing at the end. 2 A reference to the Bosnian crisis of the previous six months. On October 7, 1908, Austria had announced its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (they had been only “in the sphere of influence” of the Habsburg Empire by an agreement of 1881) to prevent Turkey from taking control of them. Serbia protested, demanding that part of the two countries be ceded to it, and Russia initially backed that demand precipitating a crisis that was resolved when Russia, under pressure from Germany, finally accepted the annexation in March 1909. ( Enc. Brit. ) It is unclear why S should speak of a “sell-off” immediately after that acceptance. 3 Wilhelm Kress (1836–1913) was one of the earliest pioneers of aircraft design; he built his first model for an airplane in 1877, constructed a piloted plane in 1898–1900, and was author of Aviatik: Wie der Vogel fliegt und wie der Mensch fliegen wird (1905) ( Der Grosse Brockhaus [1931]); but Austria did not develop an aircraft industry. Flight was a topical issue at the time of this letter: Wilbur Wright had made over one hundred flights in Europe by the end of 1908; Blériot was preparing to fly across the English Channel, which he did on 25 July 1909; the first international meeting of aviators was to take place in Reims in August 1909. 4 Cf. “If I do not turn to the Austrian Ministry with this request, it is for a sorry reason. Firstly, Austria has already sold the great majority [of its manuscripts] to foreigners . . . ” (WSLB 223, 21 July 1914). Elsewhere, S was critical of Austrian libraries for selling off its music manuscripts to foreign buyers; but S may also have beeen suggesting the Austrians gave less attention to Brahms than to Wager or more recent, including modern, composers. 5 of his Neue musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, i.e. Kontrapunkt. SUMMARY: © Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2005.
|
|