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OJ 8/3, [58] Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated April 13, 1918
Schenker reports on Kufferath's article in the Gazette de Lausanne discussing the
polemical materials in Die letzten fünf Sonaten ... op. 111, and on the treasonous stance of the
Arbeiterzeitung.
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OJ 6/6, [8] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated November 9, 1918
Schenker reports news from Russia, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland, and comments
on the current political situation.
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OC 1 B/35-40 Handwritten draft letter, in Jeanette Kornfeld/Schenker's hand, from Schenker to
Hertzka (UE), undated [June 10, 1919]
Schenker promises to send Hans Weisse to see Hertzka. In reacting unfavorably to
Hertzka's suggestions that the Foreword to Die letzten fünf Sonaten von Beethoven ... op. 111 be
discarded for its second edition, Schenker puts up a stout defense of his use of polemic in his
writings, contending that art and all manifestations of human life are inextricably
interconnected. He claims that his pronouncements on politics now will prove correct in the long
run. His sole concern is with the truth; he is not interested in pandering to his readers.
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WSLB 303 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated June 12, 1919
Schenker promises to send Hans Weisse to see Hertzka. In reacting unfavorably to
Hertzka's suggestions that the Foreword to Die letzten fünf Sonaten von Beethoven, Op. 111 be
discarded for its second edition, Schenker puts up a stout defense of his use of polemic in his
writings, contending that art, life, and politics are inextricably interconnected. He claims
that his pronouncements on politics now will prove correct in the long run. His sole concern is
with the truth; he is not interested in pandering to his readers.
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DLA 69.930/8 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Halm, dated October 27, 1919
Schenker writes of the deteriorating intellectual conditions in Germany and
Austria with respect to other nations, and of the devastating political and psychological
consequences. Schenker praises Halm's Klavierübung for its sensitivity to voice leading, and
speaks of it as an antidote to the decline of musical literacy. He hopes to talk with Halm about
these matters when he moves to Germany.
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OC 52/517 Typed contract from between UE and Schenker for the Kleine Bibliothek, dated July 10,
1920
Contract between UE and Schenker for the Kleine Bibliothek.
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OJ 10/1, [72] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated October 28, 1922
Dahms chooses to remain in Italy in view of the "moral and physical devastation"
that he hears reported from Germany. — He is committed to Schust & Loeffler for a Haydn
biography. He reports on a review of his book "Offenbarung."
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OJ 10/1, [74] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated February 9, 1923
Dahms reports change of address and explains circumstances; has sent a
prospectus to UE; progress on subscriptions to his de luxe edition and a new American
contact; synopsis of his planned Bel Canto book. — He praises the "Miscellanea" in Tonwille
3, and comments on Schenker's understanding of democracy.
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OJ 11/2, [1] Handwritten letter from Emma Fischer to Schenker, dated February 15, 1923
Baroness Fischer responds to Schenker's plan for distribution of issues of Der
Tonwille by suggesting contacts in the Vienna music schools and professional
association.
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OJ 10/1, [79] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated November 1, 1923
Dahms has devoted a chapter of his Musik des Südens to "genius" in which he
asserts its absoluteness and the gulf between genius and mediocrity. — He concurs with
Hertzka's judgement of Furtwängler as a "coward"; In his quest for success, the latter has
compromised his belief in genius by pandering to Schoenberg. The Korngolds are coming to
Rome in August.
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OJ 10/1, [84] Typewritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated March 5, 1924
Dahms thanks Schenker for information about Castiglione. The Deutsche
Verlagsanstalt is being difficult. He is again writing for German newspapers. Tonwille 5 has
excited him. He quotes a passage from the Musical Courier [which Schenker later quotes in
Das Meisterwerk 1]. Ludendorff's exposure of intrigues by the papacy has evoked a strong
reaction outside Germany.
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OJ 15/15, [19] Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated October 7, 1925
Weisse asks Schenker to look at some suitable frames for Hammer's portrait of
him. He reports that several autograph manuscripts of Brahms are being put up for sale, of
which that of the cadenzas Brahms wrote for Beethoven's Fourth Concerto are particularly
interesting. He quotes from a letter by Gerald Warburg, indicating that Schenker's latest
theoretical concepts are being taught at Damrosch's music school in New
York.
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OJ 15/15, [21] Handwritten postcard from Weisse to Schenker, dated January 21, 1927
Weisse provides Schenker with Gerald Warburg's address in New York City. He
also asks a question about Schenker's fingerings for the trills in the second movement of
Beethoven's Op. 111.
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OJ 5/44, [1] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Arthur Waldeck, dated September 23, 1929
Schenker encourages Waldeck to spread his (Schenker's) ideas in America, and
apprises him of Dunn's translation of Kontrapunkt and his own recent and forthcoming
publications.
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OJ 15/16, [74] Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated April 15, 1931
Weisse thanks Schenker for a letter of reference [for his teaching post at the
Mannes School of Music], and asks for some modifications. — He has not heard from
Furtwängler, whom he has also asked for a reference, and urges Schenker to be patient with
Furtwängler, too. — He is completing a set of three-voice piano pieces and wishes to
dedicate them to Schenker on the occasion of his leaving Vienna.
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OJ 15/16, [76] Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated April 24, 1931
Under increasing pressure from Schenker, Weisse assures his teacher that
Furtwängler will not be long in making up his mind to seek financial support for Schenker’s
publications. He asks to see Schenker.
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OJ 9/34, [27] Handwritten letter from Cube to Schenker, dated September 8, 1931
Line drawing of Moriz Violin. Cube reports on health of Violin's son; discusses his
relationship with Violin, and the prospects of the Schenker Institute in Hamburg; Cube will be assisting at
a lecture given by Hans Weisse.
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OJ 5/11, [1b] Second draft of a handwritten letter from Schenker to Furtwängler in Jeanette and
Heinrich Schenker’s hand, dated November 11‒16, 1931
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OJ 15/16, [86] Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Schenker, dated June 21, 1932
Weisse acknowledges receipt of two letters from Schenker, but has been
burdened by visa problems at the American consulate in Vienna. He will reply at greater
length when he arrives in Grundlsee, in a few days’ time.
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OJ 11/16, [11] Handwritten letter from Furtwängler to Schenker, dated August 2, 1932
Furtwängler thanks Schenker for his letter and for sending Urlinie graphs;
praises Schenker's "fight ... for genius"; he is unable to visit now, but hopes to later;
inquires about Weisse.
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NYnscl MP.0008.01/1/1, 2 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Arthur Waldeck, dated November 8,
1932
Schenker stipulates the conditions for granting publication rights for a
translation of his Harmonielehre, and asks which other Schenkerians in the U.S. Waldeck is
acquainted with.
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OC 30/18-30 Draft letter from Schenker to Albert Einstein, undated [November 20,
1932]
In this unsent letter, Schenker tells Einstein about his works and the
difficulties he has encountered in promoting them, and calls upon the physicist for help in
gaining financial support for the publication of Free Composition.
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OC 18/32-33 Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated November 28, 1932
Weisse is uneasy about disparity among translations of Schenker's writings
into English, and suggests that he work with potential translators to arrive at an agreed
set of technical terms. He has renewed contact with Vrieslander, who has sent him a copy of
his recently published songs and Ländler. His work in New York is going well and his family
is thriving, but he sees and hears about a great deal of suffering, on account of the
economic collapse in America.
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OJ 15/16, [90] Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Schenker, dated March 17, 1933
Weisse reports the success of his lecture on the C minor prelude from the
Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. — He is currently giving two lectures on a Haydn's sonata. —
He inquires about the possibility of having Schenker's foreground graphs for the "Eroica"
Symphony printed separately and sold to his pupils, for a series of lectures planned for the
following year; the profits entirely to Schenker. — He sees little prospect visiting Europe
in the summer, as his financial situation has worsened: the Mannes School has been forced to
reduce his teaching for the next season. — He expresses his doubts about Vrieslander's
ability to reshape Schenker's Harmonielehre as a school textbook, and about the value of
Harmonielehre itself in the light of his teacher's most advanced theoretical
ideas.
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OJ 15/16, [91] Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Schenker, dated March 30, 1933
In this long letter, Weisse expresses his bitter regret about Otto
Vrieslander's reaction to his criticism of a recently published collection of his
(Vrieslander's) songs, and to Schenker's exaggerated claims of their worth. Weisse defends
his critical stance on the grounds that objective discussions are the only worthwhile ones,
and that he took the trouble to write about the songs in a 14-page letter to Vrieslander
only for the sake of art (in the Schenkerian sense) and feels hurt both by Vrieslander's
personal reaction to Weisse's criticism and by Schenker's defence of the older pupil. — In
the final paragraph, he inquires again about gaining permission to make multiple copies of
Schenker's foreground graph of the "Eroica" Symphony.
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OJ 5/18, 32 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Jonas, dated December 13, 1933
The music examples in Das Meisterwerk were engraved; Schenker draws attention
to and commends an article [by Israel Citkowitz].
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OJ 5/18, 33 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Jonas, dated December 21, 1933
Schenker sends article [by Citkowitz]. — In response to Jonas's quoting from a
Jewish lexikon, he refers to the sermons by Cardinal Faulhaber, and writes of his pride in
being Jewish but in having assimilated thoroughly enough to establish favorable relations
with the Catholic church, antisemites, and the news media. — Implying a parallel between
himself and Jesus, he offers his "monotheistic theory of music" as "a new message to the
world from the Jews." — He has no copy of his Syrische Tänze; — writes of the work's
history.
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OJ 15/16, [94] Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Schenker, dated March 15, 1934
Weisse apologizes for long silence, largely on account of depression at the
lack of enrollment at Mannes and of enthusiasm for his recently published Violin Sonata. —
At Mannes he lectures about his own work, because it is important to show how Schenkerian
theory can have a practical application for composers; his pupil Israel Citkowitz is the
only cause for optimism. — At Columbia University, where he "smuggles" Schenkerian theory
into his lectures, enrolment continues to be large. — He sends a copy of his Violin Sonata,
and promises his Variations on a Popular American Song. — He is not coming to Europe this
summer. — Universal Edition is going ahead with a schools' version of Schenker's
Harmonielehre, but he is surprised that Alfred Kalmus expects him to be involved in an
American edition of this.
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OJ 5/18, 41 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Jonas, dated April 23, 1934
Free Composition is completed. Schenker is pleased that Hoboken has come
round; — he gives Weisse's address; — Schenker has ordered five copies of Jonas's book; — he
reports that Salzer has completed a new book; — questions Jonas about his new plan, but
welcomes it; — Goos may not realize that Schenker is a Jew.
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OC 44/41 Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Schenker, dated June 2, 1934
Weisse will send Schenker his Variations and Fugue for 2 pianos when copies
are ready; he is glad to learn that Oswald Jonas's book will soon be published. He describes
the beauty of Tenants Harbor, Maine, where his family is spending the summer
vacation.
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OJ 5/34, [2] Handwritten revised draft letter from Schenker to Alphons Rothschild, in Jeanette
Schenker's hand, undated [August 3‒6, 1934]
Draft accompanying letter for a copy of Oswald Jonas's Das Wesen ... —
Schenker reiterates his gratitude for previous financial support, and reports that he now
has 11 published works, many articles, and entries on him in several general encyclopedias.
— Only in Vienna is he unrecognized. — He describes Wilhelm Furtwängler's faith in his
theories and the support he has given him. — He mentions his earlier proposal for a
Rothschild orchestra.
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OJ 12/6, [48] Handwritten postcard from Jonas to Jeanette Schenker, dated February 17,
1938
Jonas reports on a meeting at UE re: the prospects for a proposed Schenker
edition series and an English translation, and for prospects in the USA.
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OJ 71/21a, [2] Typewritten letter from Tomáš Kornfeld to Heinrich Schenker, dated June 7,
1988
Tomáš Kornfeld gives information about his grandmother Jenny Kornfeld (=
Schenker), his grandfather (Emil), father (Felix) and uncle (Erich), in particular contacts
between his grandmother and father.