Example of a page from Schenker's lessonbooks
Lesson notes for Hans Weisse April 1 to June 3, 1924
Hans Weisse embarked on lessons in theory and composition with Schenker in 1908. His instruction is recorded in the lessonbooks from 1912 to 1927. Schenker noted down the content of Weisse's lessons in particular detail, sometimes including music examples and voice-leading graphs. The richness of these notes suggests that Weisse was a valued pupil (though Schenker often complained about him!) who asked penetrating questions and raised serious musical issues.
Jeanette Schenker's hand is upright, incisive, and clear ‒ a cursive hand unlike the older German handwriting that Heinrich mostly used. She wrote on pages scored with feint green lines. She left gaps for the musical notation, all of which is in Schenker's hand. One can imagine Schenker instructing his wife in how much space to leave while she was making the fair copy (Reinschrift). The two worked closely together as a team ‒ more perhaps than is generally realized.
This page contains notes on the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, Chopin Polonaise in C minor, C. P. E. Bach F-major Sonata, the Brahms Song of Destiny, and a Schubert Waltz. It shows that Weisse did homework prior to lessons, and that he and Schenker worked on voice-leading graphs during the lessons. Notable are Schenker's own markings in green and red crayon: underlinings, but also a marginal annotation, and markings over one of the small music examples
To see the Schenker Documents Online edition of this set of lesson notes, go to LB 23/24, p.14; the page shown here begins about three-quarters of the way through the entry, at "{14}aufgabe zur".