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OJ 9/27, [9] - Handwritten letter from Busoni to Schenker, undated [?November 7, 1899]
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In aller Eile ‒ zwischen Reise u. Reise ‒ sei Ihnen für die Übersendung der famosen, originellen, stimmungsvollen, sezessionistischen 2 Syrischen (?) Taenze gedankt, welche mir wirklichen Genuss bereiten. Unrecht ist es von Ihnen ‒ verzeihen Sie eine wohlgemeinte Hofmeisterei ‒ vieles als Praeludium {2} zu Spaeterem aufzufassen, da Alles was in der Gegenwart geschieht Hauptsache ist, und da nur von aus der Verwerthung dieser Auffassung, die rechte Benutzung der Gegenwart hervorgeht. So lehren meine Erfahrungen. Im Anfange wartet man auf besondere Ereignisse in der Vorstellung dass die diese sich durch besondere Kennzeichen ankündigen werden. Spaeter sieht nur das sich Ereignete als Ereignis an. Mehr davon schriftlich oder mündlich [in left margin:] in Berlin!![end marginalia] © Transcription Ian Bent, 2013, 2022 |
In great haste, between one trip and another, thank you for sending me the terrific, original, atmospheric, Secessionist 2 Syrian (?) Dances , which afford me real pleasure. It is wrong of you ‒ forgive me a bit of well-intended pedantry ‒ to construe much [of what you do] as a prelude {2} to something still to come, since everything that happens in the present is what matters, and since only application from this principle does the correct use of the present arise. This is what my experiences have taught me. At the beginning of our career we await special occurrences, in the expectation that these will announce themselves by special attributes. Later only that which has occurred appears as an occurrence. More in writing or in person [in left margin:] in Berlin!![end marginalia] © Translation Ian Bent, 2013, 2022 |
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In aller Eile ‒ zwischen Reise u. Reise ‒ sei Ihnen für die Übersendung der famosen, originellen, stimmungsvollen, sezessionistischen 2 Syrischen (?) Taenze gedankt, welche mir wirklichen Genuss bereiten. Unrecht ist es von Ihnen ‒ verzeihen Sie eine wohlgemeinte Hofmeisterei ‒ vieles als Praeludium {2} zu Spaeterem aufzufassen, da Alles was in der Gegenwart geschieht Hauptsache ist, und da nur von aus der Verwerthung dieser Auffassung, die rechte Benutzung der Gegenwart hervorgeht. So lehren meine Erfahrungen. Im Anfange wartet man auf besondere Ereignisse in der Vorstellung dass die diese sich durch besondere Kennzeichen ankündigen werden. Spaeter sieht nur das sich Ereignete als Ereignis an. Mehr davon schriftlich oder mündlich [in left margin:] in Berlin!![end marginalia] © Transcription Ian Bent, 2013, 2022 |
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In great haste, between one trip and another, thank you for sending me the terrific, original, atmospheric, Secessionist 2 Syrian (?) Dances , which afford me real pleasure. It is wrong of you ‒ forgive me a bit of well-intended pedantry ‒ to construe much [of what you do] as a prelude {2} to something still to come, since everything that happens in the present is what matters, and since only application from this principle does the correct use of the present arise. This is what my experiences have taught me. At the beginning of our career we await special occurrences, in the expectation that these will announce themselves by special attributes. Later only that which has occurred appears as an occurrence. More in writing or in person [in left margin:] in Berlin!![end marginalia] © Translation Ian Bent, 2013, 2022 |
Footnotes1 A copy of this item is preserved in Jeanette Kornfeld’s hand in the same folder. — Federhofer (1985), who reproduces this letter in full in German on pp. 81–82, dates it to “1898.” It is published in full in translation in Ian Bent, David Bretherton, and William Drabkin, eds., Heinrich Schenker: Selected Correspondence (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2014), p. 33. — Busoni does not make clear whether he is reacting to a manuscript copy or to the printed article. If the latter, it must date from at least October 1899, when the Dances were released (Hofmeisters Monatsbericht, p. 462). We have taken the perhaps risky view that the latter is the case, and that the remark about a “prelude” responds to Schenker’s letter of November 6, 1899. 2 The Vienna Secession movement (Sezesssion) had been founded by Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann and other artists in 1897, in which year the Secession Building was erected. |
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Digital version created: 2022-10-07 |