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OC 18/29 - Typewritten letter from Frederick E. Auslander to Schenker, dated January 5, 1933
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[The originals of this envelope and letter are in
English]
[{Envelope:}] {recto} ⇧ F.E.A. ⇧ After 5 days, return to: SIDNEY L. AUSLANDER & ASSOCIATES, ⇧ 24 ⇧ West ⇧ 40⇧ th Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. ⇧ Dr. Heinrich Schenker Wien, 3 Keilgasser [sic] 8 Austreich Vienna, Austria [postmark:] || BROOKLYN, N.Y. | JAN 6 1230 AM | 1933 || [{Letter:}] ⇧ 1163-47th Street Brooklyn, New York January 5, 1933 Dr. Heinrich Schenker Wien, 3 Keilgasser [sic] 8 Austreich Dear Sir: 1 To introduce myself, permit me to state that I am privileged to study with your colleague, Dr. Weisse, in the Composers' Class which he directs at the David Mannes School of Music. It is through Dr. Weisse that the writer has become initiated, as it were, into the mysteries of your startling and quite revolutionary theory of music analysis. Imbued as I am with the most sincere enthusiasm for the intellectual enlightenment which your theory offers, I conferred with Dr. Weisse as to the possibility of my translating into English some of your works from the original German. He appeared more than pleased and assured me that he would be happy to assist me in a material way, especially in the problem of terminology. I should deem it a privilege to be the medium through which your works may be presented to the English-speaking world. On the other hand, I should like to receive your permission and the permission of your publishers to undertake this project so that I may feel assured that my work would not merely duplicate another's who may have already commenced along similar lines. 2 I should also like to inquire which of your many works you would prefer to have the writer translate at this time. Please accept my very heartiest congratulations on your brilliant work, and believe me to be © Transcription Robert Wason, 2007 |
© Translation |
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[The originals of this envelope and letter are in
English]
[{Envelope:}] {recto} ⇧ F.E.A. ⇧ After 5 days, return to: SIDNEY L. AUSLANDER & ASSOCIATES, ⇧ 24 ⇧ West ⇧ 40⇧ th Street, NEW YORK, N. Y. ⇧ Dr. Heinrich Schenker Wien, 3 Keilgasser [sic] 8 Austreich Vienna, Austria [postmark:] || BROOKLYN, N.Y. | JAN 6 1230 AM | 1933 || [{Letter:}] ⇧ 1163-47th Street Brooklyn, New York January 5, 1933 Dr. Heinrich Schenker Wien, 3 Keilgasser [sic] 8 Austreich Dear Sir: 1 To introduce myself, permit me to state that I am privileged to study with your colleague, Dr. Weisse, in the Composers' Class which he directs at the David Mannes School of Music. It is through Dr. Weisse that the writer has become initiated, as it were, into the mysteries of your startling and quite revolutionary theory of music analysis. Imbued as I am with the most sincere enthusiasm for the intellectual enlightenment which your theory offers, I conferred with Dr. Weisse as to the possibility of my translating into English some of your works from the original German. He appeared more than pleased and assured me that he would be happy to assist me in a material way, especially in the problem of terminology. I should deem it a privilege to be the medium through which your works may be presented to the English-speaking world. On the other hand, I should like to receive your permission and the permission of your publishers to undertake this project so that I may feel assured that my work would not merely duplicate another's who may have already commenced along similar lines. 2 I should also like to inquire which of your many works you would prefer to have the writer translate at this time. Please accept my very heartiest congratulations on your brilliant work, and believe me to be © Transcription Robert Wason, 2007 |
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© Translation |
Footnotes1 Receipt of this letter is recorded in Schenker's diary at OJ 4/6, p. 3804, January 16, 1933: "Von einem Herrn Auslander (Br. aus New York): Uebersetzungsantrag. [...] Von einem Herrn Ausländer (Br. aus New York): ein Uebersetzungvorschlag." ("From a Mr. Auslander (letter from New York): application [to make] a translation. [...] from a Mr. Ausländer (letter from New York): proposal for a translation."). Schenker discussed the matter with Otto Erich Deutsch, and eventually wrote a reply (not known to survive) to Auslander on January 28, as recorded in the diary on p. 3808: "An Ausländer Auslander (Br.): seine Wärme erwidere ich mit Vertrauen, mache Vorschläge." ("To foreigner Auslander (letter): I reply to his warm wishes with trust; I make suggestions."). (Schenker is making a pun on Auslander's name; whether this has anything to do with the double entry on January 16 is unclear.) 2 It seems that Auslander was not unaware of the interest in translating Schenker's Harmonielehre expressed by Arthur Waldeck to Schenker in a letter of September 22, 1932 (OC 18/34). In a letter to Schenker of February 15, 1933 (OJ 15/16, [89]), Hans Weisse voices skepticism regarding Auslander's ability to carry out the project, writing: "he will have to study for a good while before he will even be able to approach the translation of any of your works. I even have some doubt as to whether he has sufficient mastery of German that he will really be able to understand what you have written." |
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Commentary
Digital version created: 2018-10-25 |