Footnotes

¹ Receipt of this letter is recorded in Schenker’s diary at January 13, 1917: “Von Fritz Mendl (Br.): ladet mich zu einen Besuch für Montag ein, teilt mir aber schon jetzt mit, daß seine Schwester ein Stipendium für mittellose Komponisten errichtet habe, dessen Verleihungsrecht sie nur mir allein übertragen habe, wie ferner, daß sie mir lebenslänglich eine jährliche Rente von 2000 Kronen in zwei Raten zahlbar nebst 5000 Kronen vermacht habe. Jenes Auftrages an den Bankverein ist in diesem Briefe aber nicht gedacht. Die jährliche Summe von 2000 Kronen ist nur das erste Geld, das ich ohne Federstrich erhalte, ein wohl später Ersatz für gar viel Arbeit an Stunden u. Werken die ich beinahe unentgeltlich geleistet habe!”
(“From Fritz Mendl (letter): invites me to visit him on Monday, but informs me at this stage that his sister has set up a stipend for destitute composers, the right to award which she has conferred upon me alone; and furthermore that she has left me an annual pension of 2,000 Kronen payable in two installments for as long as I live, as well as 5,000 Kronen. But instruction to the Bank Association to that effect is not covered in this letter. The annual sum of 2,000 Kronen is the very first money that I have received without a stroke of the pen, a very late recompense for the great amount of work that I have rendered in lessons and books virtually free and gratis!”).

² Cf. correspondence with August Halm: DLA 69.930/4, December 9, 1918, which describes the bequest and states that it is still held up in the courts, and offers Heinrich 1,600 Kronen; OJ 11/35, 10, December 14; DLA 69.930/6, December 28; OJ 11/35, [10a], December 31; OJ 11/35, 9d, January 12, 1919; DLA 69.930/13, October 6, 1924, indicating that disposition of the money has been ceded to the Vienna Conservatory.

³ Schenker’s diary for January 15, 1917 gives a report of this meeting: “ Um 12^h bei Fritz Mendl: wiederholt, was er schon schriftlich mitgeteilt hat, bekennt sich aber auch als Mitwisser jenes Auftrages, den Fr. D. an den Bankverein gegeben hat. Er meinte, ich sollte mich an D^r. Türkel wenden u. es würde sich die Sache unter dem Titel einer Interpretation wohl schon noch machen lassen. Mit Absicht erwähnte ich der Schwierigkeit, in die Wallmodengasse hinauszukommen, doch ließ sich M. nicht zu dem Einfall noch immer bequemen, uns das Automobil zur Rückreise zur Verfügung zu stellen ‒ desto besser für uns. Eingermaßen kleinlich war ja auch, daß er den Auftrag dessen Form er eingegeben, nicht sofort zu dem seinigen gemacht hat, wie wir denn auch sonst überrascht waren darüber, daß er daß uns zukommende Geld nicht gleich selbst zur Auszahlung brachte. Er erzählte uns wie er tags zuvor, Sonntag, sich dem Jagdvergnügen hingegeben, was speziell mir zur Lehre diente, den Trauerfall uns daher nicht näher gehen zu lassen, als er dem eigenen Bruder der Verstorbenen nahegieng.”
(“At 12 noon at Fritz Mendl's place: he repeats what he has already communicated in writing, but also confesses to having been in on the instruction that Mrs. Deutsch gave to the Bank Association. He suggested that I approach Dr. Türkel, and that it would still be possible to treat the issue as a matter of interpretation. I purposefully mentioned the difficulty of getting back from the Wallmodengasse, but it still did not occur to Mendl to place his automobile at our disposal for the return journey ‒ all the better for us. Also rather mean-minded was that the instruction, for which he submitted the paperwork, he did not deal with immediately; we were no less surprised by the fact that he did not himself immediately pay out the money due to us. He told us how the previous day ‒ Sunday ‒ he had given himself over to the pleasure of hunting, which was a lesson specifically to me that the death should therefore not be the cause of greater upset to us than it was to the brother of the deceased lady.”).

⁴ These provisions should be seen in conjunction with those awarded to Schenker by Sofie Deutsch on January 26, 1916 OJ 10/4, [1].

Commentary

Format

2p letter, oblong format, holograph salutation, message, valediction, and signature, in Sütterlinschrift, with names in Lateinschrift; annotation on p. 1 in Heinrich Schenker's hand

Provenance

Schenker, Heinrich (1916-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1945)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1945-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)

Rights Holder

Heirs of Sofie Deutsch; deemed to be in the public domain

License

This document is deemed to be in the public domain. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorresponden[at]mus(.)cam(.)ac(.)uk.

Digital version created: 2021-09-22
Last updated: 2011-03-05