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[envelope]
{recto}
[An:] H Prof. M. Violin
Hamburg
Haynstr. 13

[postmark:] || 3 WIEN 40 | 25.V.31 11 | * 4h * ||

[letter]

Fl! 1

In Wien begab sich kürzlich das Unerhörte, daß . . lies die Beilage! 2 Ich kenne den Namen des Schreibers nicht. Die paar Zeilen haben mir eine ernste Freude gemacht.

Dieses Ereignis wurde aber übertrümpft durch das erste Erscheinen meines Namens in der „N. fr. Presse“ – aus dem Munde Bruno Walter’s, das erste seit etwa 25 Jahren!

(S. N. fr. Pr. vom Pfingstsonntag 24. 5. Beilage, S. 33.) 3 J. Korngold {2} muß tief geschnarcht haben.

Ich schulde an Prof. v Cube Antwort, werde hoffentlich in den nächsten Tagen dazukommen. 4 Jetzt gilt es, vieles abzuschließen, Stunden vorzugeben, denn wir müssen Mitte Juni nach Galtür, um uns endlich auszuruhen. Der Winter war für uns Beide schwer.

Wie geht es dir, dem l. Karli, u. der l. Frau Vally? Das Frl. behauptet sich hoffentlich wie immer?


Viele, viele Grüße Euch allen
von uns Beiden
Dein
[signed:] H

24. 5. 31

© Transcription William Drabkin, 2015

[envelope]
{recto}
[To:] Prof. M. Violin
Hamburg
Haynstraße 13

[postmark:] || 3 VIENNA 40 | 25.V.31 11 | * 4h * ||

[letter]

Floriz, 1

In Vienna, the unimaginable recently occurred, namely … read the enclosure! 2 The name of the author is unknown to me. These few lines gave me a genuine sense of joy.

This event was, however, overtrumped by the first utterance of my name in the Neue freie Presse , from the mouth of Bruno Walter, the first for about 25 years!

(See the Neue freie Presse of Whit Monday, May 24, supplement, p. 33.) 3 J. Korngold {2} must have been snoring loudly.

I owe Prof. von Cube a reply; I hope that I shall get to it in the coming days. 4 For now, I must wind up many things, give lessons; then in mid-June we must get to Galtür, so that we can finally unwind. The winter was difficult, for both of us.

How are you, dear little Karl, and your dear wife Vally? And your little girl, I hope, asserts herself as ever?


Many, many greetings to you all
from the two of us,
Your
[signed:] H.

May 24, 1931

© Translation William Drabkin, 2015

[envelope]
{recto}
[An:] H Prof. M. Violin
Hamburg
Haynstr. 13

[postmark:] || 3 WIEN 40 | 25.V.31 11 | * 4h * ||

[letter]

Fl! 1

In Wien begab sich kürzlich das Unerhörte, daß . . lies die Beilage! 2 Ich kenne den Namen des Schreibers nicht. Die paar Zeilen haben mir eine ernste Freude gemacht.

Dieses Ereignis wurde aber übertrümpft durch das erste Erscheinen meines Namens in der „N. fr. Presse“ – aus dem Munde Bruno Walter’s, das erste seit etwa 25 Jahren!

(S. N. fr. Pr. vom Pfingstsonntag 24. 5. Beilage, S. 33.) 3 J. Korngold {2} muß tief geschnarcht haben.

Ich schulde an Prof. v Cube Antwort, werde hoffentlich in den nächsten Tagen dazukommen. 4 Jetzt gilt es, vieles abzuschließen, Stunden vorzugeben, denn wir müssen Mitte Juni nach Galtür, um uns endlich auszuruhen. Der Winter war für uns Beide schwer.

Wie geht es dir, dem l. Karli, u. der l. Frau Vally? Das Frl. behauptet sich hoffentlich wie immer?


Viele, viele Grüße Euch allen
von uns Beiden
Dein
[signed:] H

24. 5. 31

© Transcription William Drabkin, 2015

[envelope]
{recto}
[To:] Prof. M. Violin
Hamburg
Haynstraße 13

[postmark:] || 3 VIENNA 40 | 25.V.31 11 | * 4h * ||

[letter]

Floriz, 1

In Vienna, the unimaginable recently occurred, namely … read the enclosure! 2 The name of the author is unknown to me. These few lines gave me a genuine sense of joy.

This event was, however, overtrumped by the first utterance of my name in the Neue freie Presse , from the mouth of Bruno Walter, the first for about 25 years!

(See the Neue freie Presse of Whit Monday, May 24, supplement, p. 33.) 3 J. Korngold {2} must have been snoring loudly.

I owe Prof. von Cube a reply; I hope that I shall get to it in the coming days. 4 For now, I must wind up many things, give lessons; then in mid-June we must get to Galtür, so that we can finally unwind. The winter was difficult, for both of us.

How are you, dear little Karl, and your dear wife Vally? And your little girl, I hope, asserts herself as ever?


Many, many greetings to you all
from the two of us,
Your
[signed:] H.

May 24, 1931

© Translation William Drabkin, 2015

Footnotes

1 Writing of this letter is recorded in Schenker's diary for May 24, 1931: “Versendung der Besprechung aus der Volks-Zeitung an Deutsch, Baumgarten, Violin, Pairamall in Briefen” (“The review in the Volks-Zeitung sent to Deutsch, Baumgarten, Violin, Pairamall in letters”).

2 This was a review of Meisterwerk 3 by Balduin Bricht, which appeared in the Volks-Zeitung on May 18, 1931 with the byeline “B. B.-T.”; a clipping is preserved in the Schenker Scrapbook (OC 2), p. 82. Schenker learned much later that his pupil Robert Brünauer had given Dr. Bricht a copy of the book (diary entry of February 27, 1933).

3 A clipping of Bruno Walter’s article "Stehen wir an einem Wendepunkt?" is likewise preserved on p. 82 of the Scrapbook. In the first paragraph is the statement: “Alle musikalischen Laute müssen wir, entsprechend unserer Veranlagung, wofür es keine tiefere Begründung gibt als die des Wieners Schenker, auf „Tonalität“ bezeichnen.” (“We must designate all musical sounds, corresponding to our disposition, and there is no more profound basis for this than that of the Viennese Schenker, with the term ‘tonality’.”)

4 Schenker wrote a pro-tem postcard OJ 5/7a, [36] on June 6, and followed up with the promised detailed letter OJ 5/7a, [38], June 30, 1931.

Commentary

Format
2p letter, Bogen format, holograph salutation, message, valediction, and signature + envelope
Provenance
Violin, Moriz (document date-1956)--Heirs of Moriz Violin (1956-197?)--University of California, Riverside (197?--)
Rights Holder
Heirs of Heinrich Schenker, deemed to be in the public domain
License
All reasonable steps have been taken to identify the heirs of Heinrich Schenker. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Documents Online, at schenkercorrespondence(at)mus[dot]cam[dot]ac[dot]uk

Digital version created: 2022-03-02
Last updated: 2013-07-01