Footnotes

¹ Receipt of this letter is recorded in Schenker's diary at OJ 4/5, p. 3718, April 6, 1932: "Von Furtwängler (Br.): dankt für das Geschenk, will Freitag kommen." (From Furtwängler (letter): He thanks [me] for the gift; would like to come on Friday.") — It was a response to an invitation from Schenker (not known to survive), the issuing of which is recorded at ibid, p. 3717, April 1: "An Furtwängler (Br.): lade ihn zum Abendessen ein; widme Brahms' Saul-Einrichtung als Geschenk; im Fluge einige Bemerkungen dazu." ("To Furtwängler (letter): I invite him to an evening meal; I shall give him Brahms's arrangement of Saul as a present; a few hasty remarks about the latter.") — Confirmation is recorded on ibid, April 7: "An Furtwängler (Br. expreß): erwarten ihn morgen zwischen 8‒½ 9^h. [...] Wir bringen statt der bestellten Gans eine junge Ente heim (zum Souper mit Furtwängler)." (To Furtwängler (express letter): We expect him tomorrow between 8 and 8.30. [...] We bring home a duckling instead of the goose that we had ordered (for supper with Furtwängler).").

² A copy of Brahms's arrangement of Handel's oratorio Saul, as promised in Schenker's invitation. Federhofer, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern und Briefen … (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1985), p. 128, assumes that the gift was a sign of gratitude for Furtwängler's funding of Meisterwerk III . Evidently, it was part of a plan to persuade Furtwängler to perform the work; the matter is discussed in a letter from Schenker to Oswald Jonas, OJ 5/18, 9, April 9, 1932, and OJ 5/18, 11, July 18, 1932.

³ The meeting is recorded in Schenker's diary at OJ 4/5, p. 3719, April 8: "½9‒12^h Furtwängler: der Abend verläuft sehr gemütlich, Lie-Liechens Tisch die schönste Ouvertüre! Allerhand Gespräch über Kunst u. Künstler, Haydn, Brahms, über Kritiker. Nach dem Essen übergebe ich das Geschenk u. erkläre es flüchtig. Schließlich eine kleine Haydn-Feier: ich zeige die Durchführung der Sonate in Es u. spiele kleine Stücke aus Sonaten. Zuletzt spreche ich von meinem Wunsch bezüglich des Generalbasses, zeige das Büchlein von S. Bach, von dem er keine Ahnung hat. Lieb war es, daß er seiner ersten Begegung mit mir in der „IX“ in Lübeck gedachte! Er tröstete mich über das Totschweigen, die Sache gehe ja doch durch die Welt; ohne zu ahnen, woher sie es haben, sprechen so viele mir nach, er selbst habe sich kürzlich in einem Beitrag für die Voss. Ztg. an einem Plagiat ertappt."
("8:30 p.m. to midnight: Furtwängler. The evening passes very congenially. The meal that Lie-Liechen provides [is] the most delightful overture! Lots of conversation about art and artists, Haydn, Brahms, about critics. After the meal, I present the gift and explain it concisely. Finally, a little Haydn celebration: I show [him] the development section of the Eę major sonata, and play little pieces from sonatas. Lastly, I speak of my wish regarding thoroughbass [and] show [him] the little book of J. S. Bach, of which he is completely unaware. It was nice that he reminisced about his first encounter with me in my Ninth Symphony in Lübeck! He consoled me over the absence of comment, [saying] that my cause is in fact spreading far and wide. So many people speak according to me without being aware of where they have got it from; he has recently caught himself committing plagiarism in an article for the Vossische Zeitung.").

Commentary

Format

1p letter, horizontal format, printed letterhead, typewritten date, salutations and message , holograph signature

Provenance

Schenker, Heinrich (document date-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935- c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1955)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1955-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)

Rights Holder

Heirs of Wilhelm Furtwängler, published here by kind permission

License

Heirs of Wilhelm Furtwängler, permission to publish granted my Mme Elisabeth Furtwängler on February 2, 2005. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorrespondence [at] mus (dot) cam (dot) ac (dot) uk.

Digital version created: 2015-01-23
Last updated: 2010-06-28