Die Tonkunst
The Art of Music
Documents associated with this entity:
Provisional title of a prospective monthly periodical (Monatsschrift), to be devoted to Schenker's theory, but which never came to fruition.
The plan for the journal was devised in late 1927 by Schenker's pupil Hans Weisse, the periodical to be edited by Felix Salzer and Oswald Jonas and published by Saturn-Verlag, Vienna, with the involvement of Anthony van Hoboken. At one point Schenker described its purpose as "to serve as a vehicle for my theory ... and to take up the struggle with opponents"; at a later point as "the cultivation and application of my theories." (OJ 5/7a, [13]: Feb 12, 1928). After initial enthusiasm, he expressed doubts, as did Hoboken.
Die Tonkunst had both a precursor and a successor:
In September 1926, at a time of crisis between Schenker and Drei Masken Verlag over Das Meisterwerk in der Musik, Otto Vrieslander and Anthony van Hoboken suggested creating a new periodical ("everything regarding Schenker would be put together so that, for example, even Dahms would not have to publish his Almanac" ‒ diary OJ 3/9, pp. 2988‒2989, Oct 10, 1926) to be edited by Otto Erich Deutsch. But as Schenker remarked "Drei Masken currently stands in the way; if they publish, then the need for a periodical disappears" (ibid). The proposal did not last beyond the November.
After Schenker's death, the idea of a periodical devoted to Schenker’s theory was revived, and in April 1937 the first issue of Der Dreiklang: Monatsschrift für Musik, jointly edited by Jonas and Salzer, was published by Krystall-Verlag, Vienna. It ran for seven months, April‒October, as a monthly periodical, but appearance of the final issue was long delayed (Heft 8/9: November 1937/February 1938), and thereafter it ceased publication.