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Sofie [Sophie] Deutsch (née Mendl)

born Vienna, June 22, 1858; died Vienna, January 5, 1917

Documents associated with this person:

Wealthy Viennese-Jewish widow, pupil of Heinrich Schenker from c. 1902 to 1917.

Life summary

Sofie Deutsch was the third daughter of Samuel Mendl (c. 1823–98) and Babette (née Bettelheim) (c. 1826–1909). Her siblings were Anna Mendl (Fried) (1853–1931), Heinrich Mendl (1855–1917), Ernestine Mendl (Figdor) (1857–1925), Emma Mendl (1862–65), and Fritz Mendl (1864–1925). Samuel Mendl was a dealer in agricultural produce; brothers Heinrich and Fritz were initially suppliers of alcoholic beverages, coffee, and tea, but in 1891 founded the Wiener Brot- u. Gebäck-Fabrik (Vienna bread and baked goods factory) with the brand name Ankerbrot (Anchor Bread), having numerous branches throughout Vienna.

She married Heinrich Deutsch (1850–99), a dealer in silk, velvet, and woollen goods, Head of Heinrich Deutsch & Comp. of Concordiaplatz 2 in Vienna’s First District, on September 18, 1881. The couple, who lived at Neuthorgasse 13 in central Vienna, had no children. At his death at the early age of 49, Heinrich's business was continued by his brother Simon, perhaps with involvement of Sofie herself. From 1903 to her death, Sofie lived at Albrechtsgasse 3, directly off the Opernring, almost opposite the Opera House – the apartment from which Schenker and others watched the funeral procession for Emperor Franz-Josef on December 30, 1916, as amply recorded in his diary (“At 2 p.m., the head of the cortege came in sight. We stood at the open window and the sun spread its glorious warmth over the powerful scene that now unfolded before our eyes. …”).

Piano lessons

Sofie Deutsch was a pupil of Schenker's apparently from c. 1902 until her death (when she is described by Schenker as having been "a pupil of 15 years' standing"), working mostly on solo piano repertory (Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms) and the keyboard parts of piano trios, quartets, and quintets, which she would play privately, and occasionally in public, with fellow musicians. While not being strictly a theory pupil of Schenker's, she nonetheless engaged in a great deal of formal analysis in and between lessons.

Patronage and personal acquaintance

She was also one of Schenker's principal patrons. Schenker was frequently to be seen having meals with her in the coffee-house, and spending evenings at her home with a circle of guests in elevated conversation (meticulously, sometimes scornfully, recorded in Schenker's diary) or playing chamber music. Schenker was always trying to improve her character, lecturing her on matters of morality, commending improving reading to her. He once described her as "An eternally restless person, sinking into the dirt over and over again, a genuine Hedda Gabler character" (diary, November 2, 1908).

The Bequests

In her will, she settled on Schenker an annual pension of 2,000 Kronen to be paid in half-yearly instalments (on the basis of which Schenker turned down an offer from Universal Edition of 200 Kronen a month for the future Kleine Bibliothek ), and an outright legacy of 5,000 Kronen (OJ 12/52, [1], January 12, 1917). Her benefaction was intended to make possible the publishing of Schenker's Kontrapunkt 2 . She also left money to provide stipends for "impecunious skilled composers and similarly qualified composition pupils," of which Schenker was to be the sole life-long arbiter, awarding two stipends per year. This money constituted a quarter of a sum willed to a charity in which she was involved, the Verein zur Speisung und Bekleidung hungernder Schulkinder in Wien (Association for the Feeding and Clothing of Hungry Schoolchildren in Vienna); after the Association was wound up in 1924, the stipends were transferred to the Vienna Akademie (Hochschule) für Musik und Darstellende Kunst as the "Sophie Deutsch Music Stipend” on the basis that the Akademie would present Schenker with a slate of three candidates per stipend on which he was to adjudicate; the transfer was hotly contested by Schenker, who preferred to allocate the stipends privately and on a secretive basis rather than publicly through an institution (OJ 5/24, [1] July 8, 1924). The Akademie conceded his case, but ultimately Schenker placed the adjudication of the stipends entirely in the hands of the Akademie in time for the award on January 6, 1928, arguing that the value of the stipends had, through hyperinflation, become incommensurate with the calibre of intended composer (OJ 5/4, [4], December 31, 1927).

Lesson Records and Correspondence

Details of her lessons are recorded in Schenker's lessonbooks 1912/13-1916/17 (OC 3/1-3 -- all now available on this site). Schenker's correspondence and encounters with her are extensively reported in the diaries from 1906 to her death. There is only one letter from her to Schenker (OJ 10/4, [1], January 26, 1916), in which she announces that she is settling on him 10,000 Marks in annual withdrawals of up to 3,000 Marks "for the purpose of publishing your future works," but there is much correspondence to and from Schenker with Fritz Mendl, and attorneys Siegfried Türkel (OJ 14/40; OC 1 B/23, 36; 10/6; 16/27-28, 30-31, 33, 36-40, 146), Ernst Lamberg (OJ 5/24, 12/31), and Hugo Friedmann (OC 1 B/19-20; 16/32).

It was at her house that Schenker first met Otto Erich Deutsch, who seems to have been unrelated to Sofie.

Sources

  • Federhofer, Hellmut, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern und Briefen ... (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1985), pp. 38, 97, et al
  • Eybl, Martin & Fink-Mennel, Evelyn, eds. Schenker-Traditionen (Vienna: Bohlau, 2006), p. 241
  • "Sofie Deutsch (Mendl)"

Contributor

  • Ian Bent

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Correspondence

Diaries

Lessonbooks