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Max Temming [Themming]

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German industrialist, patron of the arts.

Career Summary

Max Temming was the proprietor of the firm Peter Temming, a cotton bleachery, flax processing and papermaking plant founded in 1911 in Glückstadt near Hamburg. His private address in 1925 was Hamburg 37, Parkallee 65. Temming was also active as a patron of the arts in Hamburg, and in the summer of 1923 founded an ensemble modeled on Schoenberg's Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances, which had been founded in Vienna in 1918 and ceased activity in 1921). A letter from Schoenberg to Temming about the ensemble, which Schoenberg refers to as the "Hamburg project," and for which Josef Rufer was his contact, dates from June 28, 1923.

Temming, Schenker, and Moriz Violin

Moriz Violin, who was living in Hamburg at the time, became acquainted with Temming in 1923, and approached him on July 13 of that year with a view to his supporting the distribution of Schenker's Der Tonwille. Temming is mentioned in several of Violin's letters to Schenker (including OC 52/644, April 21, 1925). In December 1923, a plan was mooted in which Schenker would go to Hamburg and give a recital in Temming's house before invited musicians and critics, possibly linked to Furtwängler's presence (OJ 3/6, pp. 2610, 2614). Temming caused Albert J. Gutmann in December 1924 to send one copy of each of seven issues of Der Tonwille to music-historical seminars of the universities of Berlin, Bonn, Breslau, Freiburg, Leipzig, Königsberg, Halle, Göttingen, Munich, and Frankfurt at a cost of 355 Marks (OC 52/619), and later purchased copies of issues 7, 8/9, and 10 (OC 52/643).

Correspondence with Schenker

One letter from Temming to Schenker is known to survive (OC 52/621: February 17, 1925), and two relevant invoices also survive (OC 52/619 and 643: December 3, 1924, March 15, 1925). Schenker frequently spelt his name "Thömming," "Töning," and other variants.

Sources:

  • Möller, Reimer, Eine Küstenregion im politisch-sozialen Umbruch (1860–1933): Die Folgen der Industrialisierung im Landkreis Steinburg (Elbe) = Veröffentlichungen des Hamburger Arbeitskreises für Regionalgeschichte (Hamburg: Lit Verlag, 2007), pp. 264–65
  • Stein, Erwin, Arnold Schoenberg: Letters (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), pp. 96–97.
  • website: Sirius Ensemble

Contributors:

  • Marko Deisinger, with Ian Bent

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Correspondence

  • OJ 14/45, [23] Handwritten lettercard from Moriz Violin to Heinrich Schenker, dated July 12, 1923

    Violin writes approvingly of Schenker’s scheme to make Der Tonwille available by subscription, as a periodical publication, and has a plan in mind. He inquires about the cost of staying in Galtür.

  • OJ 14/45, [24] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Heinrich Schenker, dated July 14, 1923

    Violin has met an industrialist by the name of Max Temming who would be willing to help make Schenker’s work more widely accessible. Violin will probably not visit the Schenkers in Galtür this summer, as prices have gone up in Germany.

  • OJ 6/7, [6] Handwritten letter from Heinrich Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated July 20, 1923

    Schenker describes his efforts to make Der Tonwille more widely read, through its distribution by his pupils and its display in music shop windows. He needs more help from pupils and friends with the dissemination of his work, but complains that Hans Weisse has let him down on more than one occasion by not writing about his work. Finally, he asks Violin’s advice about whether he should accept an invitation to speak at a conference in Leipzig, or whether he should simply stay at home and continue to write.

  • OJ 6/7, [7] Handwritten letter from Heinrich Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated October 21, 1923

    In a wide-ranging letter, Schenker expresses his joy at Karl Violin’s improving health, and goes on to mention a number of personal successes he has lately had, including a visit from Paul von Klenau to take advice for a forthcoming performance of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. He has also had some unexpected support from his publisher, who wants to expand Der Tonwille to a quarterly publication. He is planning to take part in a series of charity concerts (three Haydn piano trios), and has heard that Clemens Kraus and Hans Knappertsbusch are overtaking Furtwängler as conductors in Vienna by accepting more modest fees.

  • OJ 14/45, [27] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Heinrich Schenker, dated December 11, 1923

    Violin reports the conversion to a new, stable currency in Germany; Hamburg has been among the first cities to benefit from this, as a result of which he is somewhat better off and the prospects for the future appear brighter. He plans to come to Vienna for Christmas, if only for a few days; this will give him an opportunity to discuss arrangements for the distribution of copies of Der Tonwille to libraries and schools.

  • OJ 14/45, [30] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated February 5, 1924

    Violin reports that Max Temming is keen to support his plan to promote Schenker's work. Following discussions with Schenker in Vienna, he makes some provisional calculations on how the gift of money would give Schenker more time to devote to his writings. He also thinks about the happy prospect of Schenker coming to Hamburg.

  • OJ 6/7, [8] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated February 14, 1924

    Schenker reports continuing trouble with Hertzka, especially over delays to the publication of Tonwille 5 and 6, which were supposed to appear the previous year, and is beginning to think about legal action. Hertzka has made his position so difficult that he feels obliged to turn down Max Temming's offer of direct financial support for his work. He asks Violin to help find a post in Hamburg for Carl Bamberger, a gifted pupil who, though he neglected his piano studies for a while, is keen to make up for lost time. Finally, he asks if Violin received any of the four volumes of the Beethoven piano sonata edition.

  • OJ 14/45, [31] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated March 16, 1924

    Violin acknowledges receipt of Tonwille 5 and the Beethoven sonata edition. In the former, he finds the graphs of the short preludes by Bach more difficult than anything that Schenker has previously done. He will write to Bamberger with the offer of help (in finding an accompanist post in Hamburg). In response to a question on the "Appassionata" Sonata from one of his pupils, he offers an explanation for the falling direction of the transitional theme (measures 24-30) and its reappearance in the development section (measures 94-100) in inverted, ascending form; he asks if this interpretation is sensible.

  • OJ 14/45, [107] Handwritten postcard from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated August 14, 1924

    Violin thanks Schenker for his recent postcard, and reports that he will resume negotiations with Max Temming concerning the distribution of copies of Der Tonwille when the latter return to Hamburg.

  • OJ 14/45, [33] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated August 29, 1924

    Violin reports on continued negotiations with Max Temming on the distribution of free copies of Der Tonwille, and gives a brief description of the Hamburger Fremdenblatt (in which something about Schenker's writings may have recently appeared). He expresses his embarrassment regarding the essay he had written at the behest of Otto Vrieslander on the occasion of Schenker's 50th birthday, but agrees to let him see it.

  • OJ 14/45, [34] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated October 8, 1924

    Violin has secured the agreement of Max Temming to subsidize 100 subscriptions to Der Tonwille, and asks for a list of names and addresses for the recipients. With money growing scarce, he has raised his fees, as a result of which several have left; but he has also gained some new ones.

  • OJ 14/45, [35] Handwritten draft letter to Max Temming, in Schenker’s hand, dated October 10, 1924, sent to Moriz Violin

    In this draft letter to Max Temming, Schenker expresses his thanks for the industrialist's financial support for the dissemination of Der Tonwille to university music departments.

  • OJ 6/7, [9] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated October 16, 1924

    After thanking Violin for his touching fiftieth-birthday tribute of 1918, Schenker outlines plans for sending out copies of Der Tonwille: he has drawn up a list, which Violin is free to edit. Like Violin, he has lost pupils recently, and so wants to concentrate more on the dissemination of Der Tonwille, with a new publisher.

  • OJ 14/45, [36] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated October 22, 1924

    In the process of arranging for copies of Der Tonwille to be distributed, Violin discovers that a pupil of his paid twice as much for one issue as the marked price in Austria. He has made some inquiries into this matter, and asks Schenker what an issue currently costs in Austria. There are no respectable music institutions in Hamburg, so Violin will distribute copies there personally.

  • OJ 14/45, [37] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated November 23, 1924

    Violin sends thanks to Jeanette for copying out the article he wrote in 1918. He has sent off ten letters [re distribution of copies of Der Tonwille] and placed the order with UE. He reports on Buxbaum and Pollak, and also Blüthner.

  • OJ 6/7, [10] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated October 26, 1924

    Schenker names ten universities that should receive complimentary copies of Der Tonwille, explaining that university music departments (Seminare) are more suitable recipients than conservatories and other types of music schools. With 1924 coming to an end, he will resign from UE and shift publication of Der Tonwille to Piper or Drei-Masken Verlag in Munich. The latter have agreed to publish his study of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 106

  • OJ 6/7, [11] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated November 6, 1924

    Schenker has received a photographic reproduction of the opening chorus of Bach's St Matthew Passion. — Gives account of delays to the publication of Tonwille 8/9 and 10, blaming Hertzka for being slow to send work to the engraver, and has written to him with a request to dissolve the Tonwille contract with UE. — Refers to a recent review by (Julius) Korngold, and recounts a long story about his piano dealer, Bernhard Kohn.

  • OJ 14/45, [41] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated January 19, 1925

    Violin reports on a successful concert in which he performed both as a soloist and with the Klingler String Quartet. He thanks Schenker for Tonwille 10. He has received a copy of Hans Weisse’s recent vocal quartets, and is puzzled by how a limited talent can write such good music. He is going to see Max Temming, and has received four courteous letters of acknowledgement from university music departments for copies of Der Tonwille.

  • OJ 14/45, [42] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated January 30, 1925

    Violin lends Schenker the letters sent by university music departments acknowledging receipt of their copies of Der Tonwille. The reviews of his recent concert were cooler than the audience’s reception, and the concert suffered a financial loss; nonetheless he hopes to persevere with public performances as a pianist. Finally, he wishes Schenker luck with his new publisher, Drei Masken Verlag.

  • OJ 6/7, [17] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated February 2, 1925

    Schenker, repeating some of the points made in earlier letters, continues to give an account of Hertzka's dishonest dealings with him over Der Tonwille and asks Violin to give him an accurate count of the subscriptions that Max Temming paid for in the distribution of free copies of the journal to university music departments. He asks if Violin suspects that anti-Semitism lurks behind some of the critical notices of his recent concert. Finally, he mentions an article in Die Musik by Paul Bekker that numbers Schenker among the hermeneutists; the same issue contains a review of Der Tonwille, by Max Broesicke-Schon, disputing the supreme genius of the canonic composers.

  • OC 52/647 Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated February 5, 1925

    Violin explains why, and how, the number of free copies of Der Tonwille distributed to German university music departments was reduced from 10 per university to 7. He has seen Paul Bekker's recent book, which includes a survey of recent trends in music theory.

  • OJ 6/7, [19] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated April 10, 1925

    Continuing the story of the ongoing financial battle against Hertzka and Universal Edition, Schenker thanks Violin for providing confirmation of the subscriptions paid for by Max Temming, then recounts that, at a meeting with Hertzka and his bookkeeper, the order-book for Der Tonwille had several pages torn out. Schenker is upset that his lawyer Dr. Baumgarten, though an old friend, is not fully supportive of his position and would prefer seek a compromise with Hertzka; this, Schenker feels, would rob him of much of his hard-earned royalties, especially from the Beethoven sonata edition. He now asks Violin to find a contact – outside Hamburg – who would be willing to order nine copies of Tonwille 1, as evidence that this issue is still in demand, despite Hertzka's claims to the contrary. He has attended a performance of Hans Weisse's Sextet, of which he found the variation movement and the trio section of the scherzo to be the most satisfactory parts.

  • OC 52/644 Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated April 21, 1925

    Violin has had the order for nine copies of Tonwille 1 placed in Berlin, and has collected the receipts. He has not heard from Weisse, but attended a performance of his String Sextet and, like Schenker, found the variations and the trio section of the scherzo the most successful.

  • OJ 6/7, [21] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated May 16, 1925

    Making preparations with his solicitor for the legal action against Universal Edition, Schenker asks Violin to find out whether Max Temming paid for the additional subscriptions to Der Tonwille directly through Albert Gutmann in Vienna, or through the firm of Hofmeister in Leipzig. He is nearing completion of the contents of the first Meisterwerk yearbook and asks Violin whether he has yet made summer plans and whether these might include a trip to Galtür.

  • OC 52/618 Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schenker, dated May 26, 1925

    Dealing at the same time with a family matter, Violin sends Schenker the receipt for Max Temming's purchase of subscriptions to Der Tonwille and confirms that the money for this was sent to the Leipzig office of Universal Edition. He is not planning any summer holiday this year.

  • OJ 6/7, [23] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated July 26, 1925

    Two weeks after arriving in Galtür for the summer holidays, Schenker reports that he has caught up on his sleep and has already dictated an essay on Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme of J. S. Bach, Op. 81. He will not allow the legal wrangle with Universal Edition to interfere with his holiday, but he is annoyed about not having been paid by Drei Masken Verlag for the manuscript of Meisterwerk 1. He has responded to a critique of his Erläuterungsausgabe of Op. 110, in an essay in Meisterwerk 1, but will not pursue other attacks upon his work and those of his pupils. The Schenker medallion designed by Alfred Rothberger is going to a second impression; but the mezzotint portrait by Viktor Hammer, which Jeanette finds a superior work, has not yet been printed. Throughout the letter, Schenker urges Violin to bring his family to Galtür sometime during the summer.

  • OJ 6/8, [1] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Violin, dated January 9, 1931

    In this long and wide-ranging two-part letter, which includes a graphic analysis of J. S. Bach’s Two-part Invention in E-flat major, Schenker praises the work of Hans Weisse, who has recently returned from lecturing in Berlin and may be offered a post there (on Furtwängler’s recommendation), emigrate to America (with the help of Gerald Warburg), or even found an institute that would give employment to Felix Salzer and other Schenkerian disciples under one roof. — A letter from Violin, which has just arrived in the morning post, speaks of Violin’s own intention to establish a Schenker Institute in Hamburg. For this, Schenker recommends Felix-Eberhard von Cube (in preference to Reinhard Oppel) and Otto Vrieslander as possible theory teachers, if not Weisse himself. — The letter concludes with a tirade against those who have caused him financial misery (including his brother Mozio), culminating in a cynical passage in which Schenker advises his friend to look after himself and engage some dull pedagog to teach conventional theory. In the end, he wishes Violin luck with the enterprise, and thanks him for having helped rescue him from Hertzka’s clutches.

  • LC ASC 27/45, [3] Handwritten letter from Moriz Violin to Schoenberg, dated April 17, 1938

    Violin tells Schoenberg he expects to obtain an affidavit to emigrate to the USA, and ask if Schoenberg could write a letter of recommendation for work in San Francisco, and advise him on possibilities there.

Diaries