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OJ 15/16, [69] - Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated March 19, 1931
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ich bitte um „pneumatische“ Erlaubnis, falls ich mit Furtwängler 2 zusammenkomme, ihm gegenüber die Angelegenheit, „Freier Satz“ zur Sprache bringen zu dürfen. Ich hatte immer schon die Absicht zu Ihnen zu kommen[,] war immer verhindert (hier war alles verschnüpft, die Moni 3 hat jetzt eine leichte Mittelohrenzündung.) Von Berlin habe ich gar nichts gehört; Violin 4 schrieb, er komme zu Ostern nach Wien. Ein Schüler brachte mir unlängst den Mozartbrief 5 abgeschrieben. Kommt Ihnen darin die eine Wendung: „Sack des Gehirns“ nicht auch ganz unmozartisch vor? Ich hätte gerne viel mit Ihnen über Bruckner zu sprechen[,] den ich jetzt ganz genau ansehe. © Transcription William Drabkin, 2008 |
May I ask for your permission, by pneumatic post, in case I should meet up with Furtwängler, 2 to speak to him about the matter concerning Der freie Satz . I had always intended to come to you first about this, but was always prevented from doing so. (Here, everyone had a cold; and now Monika 3 has a bit of infection in her middle ear.) I have heard absolutely nothing from Berlin; Violin 4 wrote to me that he would be coming to Vienna at Easter. A pupil of mine recently brought me the Mozart letter 5 copied out. Do you not also think that that one expression, "brain-bag," sounds entirely un-Mozartian? I would gladly like to speak with you at length about Bruckner, whom I am just now understanding quite precisely. © Translation William Drabkin, 2008 |
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ich bitte um „pneumatische“ Erlaubnis, falls ich mit Furtwängler 2 zusammenkomme, ihm gegenüber die Angelegenheit, „Freier Satz“ zur Sprache bringen zu dürfen. Ich hatte immer schon die Absicht zu Ihnen zu kommen[,] war immer verhindert (hier war alles verschnüpft, die Moni 3 hat jetzt eine leichte Mittelohrenzündung.) Von Berlin habe ich gar nichts gehört; Violin 4 schrieb, er komme zu Ostern nach Wien. Ein Schüler brachte mir unlängst den Mozartbrief 5 abgeschrieben. Kommt Ihnen darin die eine Wendung: „Sack des Gehirns“ nicht auch ganz unmozartisch vor? Ich hätte gerne viel mit Ihnen über Bruckner zu sprechen[,] den ich jetzt ganz genau ansehe. © Transcription William Drabkin, 2008 |
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May I ask for your permission, by pneumatic post, in case I should meet up with Furtwängler, 2 to speak to him about the matter concerning Der freie Satz . I had always intended to come to you first about this, but was always prevented from doing so. (Here, everyone had a cold; and now Monika 3 has a bit of infection in her middle ear.) I have heard absolutely nothing from Berlin; Violin 4 wrote to me that he would be coming to Vienna at Easter. A pupil of mine recently brought me the Mozart letter 5 copied out. Do you not also think that that one expression, "brain-bag," sounds entirely un-Mozartian? I would gladly like to speak with you at length about Bruckner, whom I am just now understanding quite precisely. © Translation William Drabkin, 2008 |
Footnotes1 Receipt of this express letter is recorded in Schenker's diary at OJ 4/4, p. 3598, March 19, 1931: "Von Weisse (Br. expreß): er will, wenn ich’s erlaube, Furtwängler wegen des Freien Satzesansprechen. „Ich hätte viel mit Ihnen über Bruckner zu sprechen, den ich jetzt genau ansehe.“ (!)" ("From Weisse (express letter): he would, with my permission, wish to speak to Furtwängler about Free Composition . "I would have much to discuss with you about Bruckner, whom I am just now understanding quite precisely." (!)"). 2 Schenker's reply is not known to survive. This letter is the first of a long series (running until June 1931) in which Weisse asks Schenker to let him negotiate directly with Furtwängler (and not to intervene, out of impatience) for subventions for the publication of Das Meisterwerk in der Musik, vol. III, and, looking to the future, Der freie Satz . 3 The Weisses' second daughter Monika. 4 Around this time, Violin was hoping to persuade Weisse to accept a position as theory teacher at the Schenker Institute in Hamburg. 5 This is the supposed letter to Baron Gottfried van Swieten in which Mozart claims that he hears a piece of music in an instant; this letter is mentioned several times in Weisse's communications to Schenker from the previous month. Weisse has evidently got hold of the entire (forgery) letter, not just the passages quoted in Richard Benz's article. |