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Diary entry by Schenker March 15, 1899

[Neither of the following entries is dated as to day and month, the second not even as to year. The date arbitrarily assigned to them above is not intended to imply their having been written at that time, but only to maintain the order of the items in Series A. It is likely, from internal evidence, that both entries date from later years, the first perhaps from 1901 or 1902, the second perhaps from 1907 or 1908. See the footnotes for details.]

Ser. A, {8}d

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? ⇧ 1899 ⇧ Schnitzlers „Lebendige Stunden“ 1
Am hervorragendsten „Die Frau mit dem Dolche“. Ein trefflicher Zug der Technik die „Verwandlung“: indem nämlich diese die Ereignisse der Zukunft wiederspiegelt, (Pauline wird sich ergeben, weniger aus Liebe, als aus Neugier u. Bestimmung, wird aber zugleich gestehen ‒ Gottfried wird das Stück über das Schicksal schreiben u.s.w.) erspart sie dem Autor weitere 2‒3 Akte. Was also den Rahmen von mindestens 3 Akten nötig gehabt hätte, wird mit Zuhilfenahme der Verwandlung per abbreviationem nur in einem Akt erledigt.

‒ Genau so in den „Masken“, wo schon die Vorbereitung zum Geständnis an Weihgast allein das wirkliche Geständnis selbst dramatisch-technisch überflüssig macht. [draft in Heinrich's hand in Ser. B, p. 9]

*

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? Max Reger (Beiträge zur Modulationslehre. 2 ) Ein Werkchen, durch nichts in der Welt entschuldbar: hudlerisch-borniert; närrisch-selbstgefällig u. kindisch. Der Autor wurde dennoch aber zum Professor der Theorie an das Conservatorium in München berufen u. ist nunmehr sogar Universitätsmusikdirektor in Leipzig geworden . . .

*

© Transcription Ian Bent, 2017
[Neither of the following entries is dated as to day and month, the second not even as to year. The date arbitrarily assigned to them above is not intended to imply their having been written at that time, but only to maintain the order of the items in Series A. It is likely, from internal evidence, that both entries date from later years, the first perhaps from 1901 or 1902, the second perhaps from 1907 or 1908. See the footnotes for details.]

Ser. A, {8}d

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? ⇧ 1899 ⇧ Schnitzler's Living Hours 1
The most outstanding piece is The Woman with the Dagger. An excellent technical feat [is] the "transformation": namely, in that this reflects the events of the future (Pauline will yield herself, less out of love than out of curiosity and determination, but will at the same time confess ‒ Gottfried will write the play about fate, etc.) it saves the playwright two or three acts. Thus what would have necessitated the framework of at least three acts is with the aid of the transformation taken care of per abbreviationem in only one act.

‒ Precisely the same in Masks, where already the preparation for the confession to [Alexander] Weihgast in itself renders the actual confession dramatically and technically superfluous. [draft in Heinrich's hand in Ser. B, p. 9]

*

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? Max Reger (Contributions to the Theory of Modulation 2 ) A trivial work that nothing in the world can excuse: slipshod and limited; foolishly complacent and childish. And yet the author was appointed Professor of Theory at the Conservatory in Munich, and has even just now become Music Director at the University of Leipzig.

*

© Translation Ian Bent, 2017
[Neither of the following entries is dated as to day and month, the second not even as to year. The date arbitrarily assigned to them above is not intended to imply their having been written at that time, but only to maintain the order of the items in Series A. It is likely, from internal evidence, that both entries date from later years, the first perhaps from 1901 or 1902, the second perhaps from 1907 or 1908. See the footnotes for details.]

Ser. A, {8}d

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? ⇧ 1899 ⇧ Schnitzlers „Lebendige Stunden“ 1
Am hervorragendsten „Die Frau mit dem Dolche“. Ein trefflicher Zug der Technik die „Verwandlung“: indem nämlich diese die Ereignisse der Zukunft wiederspiegelt, (Pauline wird sich ergeben, weniger aus Liebe, als aus Neugier u. Bestimmung, wird aber zugleich gestehen ‒ Gottfried wird das Stück über das Schicksal schreiben u.s.w.) erspart sie dem Autor weitere 2‒3 Akte. Was also den Rahmen von mindestens 3 Akten nötig gehabt hätte, wird mit Zuhilfenahme der Verwandlung per abbreviationem nur in einem Akt erledigt.

‒ Genau so in den „Masken“, wo schon die Vorbereitung zum Geständnis an Weihgast allein das wirkliche Geständnis selbst dramatisch-technisch überflüssig macht. [draft in Heinrich's hand in Ser. B, p. 9]

*

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? Max Reger (Beiträge zur Modulationslehre. 2 ) Ein Werkchen, durch nichts in der Welt entschuldbar: hudlerisch-borniert; närrisch-selbstgefällig u. kindisch. Der Autor wurde dennoch aber zum Professor der Theorie an das Conservatorium in München berufen u. ist nunmehr sogar Universitätsmusikdirektor in Leipzig geworden . . .

*

© Transcription Ian Bent, 2017
[Neither of the following entries is dated as to day and month, the second not even as to year. The date arbitrarily assigned to them above is not intended to imply their having been written at that time, but only to maintain the order of the items in Series A. It is likely, from internal evidence, that both entries date from later years, the first perhaps from 1901 or 1902, the second perhaps from 1907 or 1908. See the footnotes for details.]

Ser. A, {8}d

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? ⇧ 1899 ⇧ Schnitzler's Living Hours 1
The most outstanding piece is The Woman with the Dagger. An excellent technical feat [is] the "transformation": namely, in that this reflects the events of the future (Pauline will yield herself, less out of love than out of curiosity and determination, but will at the same time confess ‒ Gottfried will write the play about fate, etc.) it saves the playwright two or three acts. Thus what would have necessitated the framework of at least three acts is with the aid of the transformation taken care of per abbreviationem in only one act.

‒ Precisely the same in Masks, where already the preparation for the confession to [Alexander] Weihgast in itself renders the actual confession dramatically and technically superfluous. [draft in Heinrich's hand in Ser. B, p. 9]

*

[in left margin:] ⇧ ? Max Reger (Contributions to the Theory of Modulation 2 ) A trivial work that nothing in the world can excuse: slipshod and limited; foolishly complacent and childish. And yet the author was appointed Professor of Theory at the Conservatory in Munich, and has even just now become Music Director at the University of Leipzig.

*

© Translation Ian Bent, 2017

Footnotes

1 This is a cycle of four one-act plays first published in book form in 1902, having been previously published in Neue Deutsche Rundschau, year 12, issue 12 (December 1901). It comprises: 1. Lebendige Stunden, 2. Die Frau mit dem Dolche, 3. Die letzten Masken, 4. Literatur. There is thus a serious question as to whether this diary entry dates from 1901 or 1902.

2 Max Reger, Beiträge zur Modulationslehre (Leipzig: C. F. Kahnt, 1903), transl. Fr. and Eng., 1904. Reger's appointment as Music Director at Leipzig occurred in 1907. Clearly, thus, this entry cannot belong to the 1899 diary; neither can it be transferred to the 1907 or 1908 diary, because it carries no date.