The most influential musicologist in Vienna of Schenker's day.
Career Summary
Adler was co-founder of the Vierteljarhsschrift für
Musikwissenschaft in 1884 and editor for ten years, directed the Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich 1894-1938, appointed full Professor of
Musicology (Musikwissenschaftlicher Ordinarius) at Vienna University 1898-1927 and founder
of the Musikhistorisches Institut (Music-Historical Institute) in the University. He
taught generations of musicologists and composers, including several of Schenker's own
pupils, and is regarded by many as the "father" of modern musicology.
Adler and Schenker
Schenker was at first on good terms with Adler, but an estrangement took place around
1913, fueled perhaps in part by Hans Weisse's accounts of Adler's seminars in 1914-15,
which included the claim that Adler proscribed Schenker's publications from the library of
the Seminar (Federhofer, p. 51). In December 1916, Schenker declined a place on the jury
of the Rothschild Artists' Foundation, probably because he did not wish to serve alongside
Adler.
Correspondence
Correspondence from Schenker to Adler survives as OJ 5/3 (1 item, 1927), and that from
Adler to Schenker as OJ 9/3 (6 items, 1901–02, relating to the Vienna chapter of the
Internationale Musikgesellschaft, and 1926–27, relating to the 1927 Beethoven centenary
celebrations) and UG 32/5 (2 items, 1914 and 1933).
Bibliography
Heinrich Schenker: Selected Correspondence (Woodbridge:
Boydell Press, 2014), pp. 179‒86