Schenker Correspondence Project

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated December 19, 1910

Sehrt geehrter Herr Direktor!¹

Unter dem Eindrucke einer plötzlich über mich hereingebrochenen vis major – meine nahezu 80-jährige Mutter² ist schwer erkrankt u. schafft mir schwere Sorgen, Mühe schwerere, als sie nicht bei mir zuhause ist–, bitte ich Sie mir à conto des ohnehin spätestens in 4 Wochen abzuliefernden Manuscriptes|³ vorläufig 250 Fl = 500 Kr. freundlichst zur Verfügung zu stellen. Nie tat ich dergleichen, da es meinem Wesentotal widerstrebt, aber ich muß augenblicklich sehr parat sein. Ich lege eine Bestätigung bei u. danke in Vorhinein für Ihre Liebenswürdigkeit.

Mit besten Grüßen
Ir ergeb
[ sign’d: ] H Schenker
19. Dez. 1910.

Sie dürfen den Betrag ohneweiters zu Händen des Überbringers, meines Hausbesorgers⁴ in einem Couvert|⁵ übersenden.

© In the public domain.
© Transcription Ian D. Bent 2006.

Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated December 19, 1910

Sehrt geehrter Herr Direktor!¹

Reeling under the impact of a mighty force that has suddenly overwhelmed me—my nearly 80-year-old mother² is gravely ill and causes me serious worries, burdens all the greater since she is not at home with me—. I ask you very kindly to make available to me in the interim 250 Florins = 500 Kroner on account of the manuscript, which is in any case due to be submitted in at most 4 weeks.³ I have never done such a thing, since it goes against my whole being, but I must be prepared for anything at the moment. I enclose an acknowledgment, and thank you in anticipation for your kindness.

With best wishes,
Yours truly,
[ sign’d: ] H. Schenker
December 19, 1910

You should send the payment over at once by the hand of the bearer, my caretaker,⁴ in an envelope.⁵

© Translation Ian D. Bent 2006.

COMMENTARY:
Format: 1-p letter, holograph message, signature, and PS
Sender address: --
Recipient address: --

FOOTNOTES

¹ From the PS, we see that S is sending this letter over to H by the the hand of the caretaker of his building, and requesting an immediate response by hand. There is no reply in OC.

² Julia Schenker (1827–1917), who had come from Galicia with her other children when her husband died in late 1887, since when Schenker had been responsible since then for their upkeep. See, e.g., S's letter to Halm, DLA 69.930/2, January 17, 1918.

³ i.e. the manuscript of the Ninth Symphony monograph, which was eventually handed over to UE on May 18, 1911 (OJ 1/10, p.126).

⁴ Hausbesorger: Austrian for Hausmeister, caretaker, janitor.

⁵ Couvert = Kuvert, Sout German and Austrian term.

SUMMARY
[ Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie:] S's mother is ill; S requests the first half honorarium in advance.

© Commentary, Footnotes, Summary Ian D. Bent 2006.

Bent, Ian
Schenker, Heinrich
[ Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie:] S's mother is ill; S requests the first half honorarium in advance.
DE
Cambridge University Faculty of Music-Ian Bent
IPR: in public domain; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent 2006.
Schenker, Heinrich; Hertzka, Emil; UE; Beethoven; Ninth Symphony; Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie; honorarium; advance
Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated December 19, 1910
letter
academic; musicology; music theory
WSLB 74
1910-12-19
2006-05-25
UE
Hertzka
This document is deemed to be in the public domain as of January 1, 2006. Any claim to intellectual rights should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorrespondence@mus.cam.ac.uk.
letter; holograph message, signature, and pS
Universal Edition Archive (1910-1976)—on permanent loan to the Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Wien (1976-)
IPR: In the public domain; Image: Universal Edition, A.G.; Transcription, Translation, Commentary, Footnotes, and Summary: Ian D. Bent.
Vienna
1910