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BNba Frimmel Nachl, [1] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Frimmel, dated March 13, 1905
Schenker sends a copy of his Handel Organ Concertos as a memento of past
music-making with Frimmel, and tells him of his work on his Harmonielehre.
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OC 52/443 Typewritten letter from Weinberger (UE) to Schenker, dated October 21,
1905
UE is prepared to look at Harmonielehre.
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CA 1-2 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated November 8, 1905
This is Schenker's initial approach to Cotta: he asks the firm to consider
publishing volume I of his Neue Musikalische Theorien und Phantasien, explains his
anonymity, points out the book's attacks of certain composers, explains his choice of
preferred publisher.
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OJ 9/31, [8] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated May 31,
1906
Cotta advises against splitting Harmonielehre into two volumes, and recommends
restriction of the size of the Nachwort.
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CA 44 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated October 6, 1906
Schenker accepts Cotta's case that his "Nachwort" should not be included
within Harmonielehre, promises to enable the book to be published on time, and plans to have
the "Nachwort" follow by the time of the Easter book fair.
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CA 68 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated September 13, 1907
Schenker expects the press to be enthusiastic about Harmonielehre. — He
comments of the "Riemann school."
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CA 74 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Cotta, dated January 16, 1908
Schenker asks for a copy of his Harmonielehre to be sent to
Busoni.
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OJ 5/15, [1] Incomplete handwritten draft letter from Schenker to Grunsky, dated January 21,
1908
Schenker has not responded to Grunsky's invitation because of pressure of work
with Kontrapunkt. — He thanks Grunsky for his review of Harmonielehre; justifies favoring
the piano repertory there; remarks on Strauss and Reger with respect to "good" and "bad." —
He refers to his Formenlehre as vol. III of his Neue musikalische Theorien und
Phantasien.
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CA 76 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated April 24, 1908
Schenker asks for a copy of his Harmonielehre to be sent to the Gesellschaft
der Musikfreunde; — He seeks advice regarding Theodor Frimmel and the Beethoven-Jahrbuch,
explaining the delay on Kontrapunkt I.
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WSLB 9 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated June 23, 1908
Schenker promises a list of people in German to receive complimentary copies of
Ornamentik, and a new proposal.
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OJ 9/32, [25] Sales Report from Cotta, dated September 9, 1907
1907 sales report for Harmonielehre
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OJ 12/27, [7] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated September 18,
1908
Cotta looks forward to receiving Kontrapunkt, and has sent copies of
Harmonielehre to Sophie Guttmann and Ernst Rudorff.
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OJ 5/15, [5] Handwritten incomplete draft of a letter from Schenker to Grunsky, undated
[?mid-late September 1908?]
Ecstasy is an end in itself in Bruckner's music, producing artificiality. Cf.
Beethoven, Brahms. — Cites instances in Bruckner's Seventh Symphony; his music is
technically backward. — Posterity will see both Bruckner and Berlioz as of lower status than
Haydn, Brahms, and other masters.
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OJ 5/15, [6] Fragmentary handwritten draft letter from Schenker to Grunsky, undated [? mid‒late
September 1908?]
Discusses Bruckner's compositional technique, content, and "eccentric" form:
highly fragmentary document.
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CA 85 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated October 8, 1908
Schenker proposed that Kontrapunkt be divided into two
half-volumes.
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CA 89 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated October 17, 1908
Schenker confirms the terms of the Harmonielehre contract as applying to
Kontrapunkt.
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WSLB 24 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated October 31, 1908
The prospect of an English translation of Beitrag zur Ornamentik pleases
Schenker. — He wants to guide UE toward being a global enterprise. — Proofs of Counterpoint
[I] have started arriving from Cotta.
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OC 52/444 Typewritten letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated November 7, 1908
Hertzka details the distribution of first copies of the
Instrumentations-Tabelle. — He makes a bid to publish Kontrapunkt.
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OJ 9/31, [21] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated December 30,
1908
Cotta urge Schenker to return galley-proofs of Kontrapunkt.
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WSLB 35 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), January 8, 1909
In a letter "ironic in tone" Schenker offers alternative editors for WTC Bk
II. He outlines the work that he has in hand, and regrets his unhappy experience with UE
over Beitrag zur Ornamentik.
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OJ 9/31, [23] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated June 1,
1909
Cotta accedes to splitting Kontrapunkt into two half-volumes, and proposes a
publication schedule for the first half-volume.
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WSLB-Hds 94475 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Seligmann, undated [probably early July
1909]
Schenker asks Seligmann to read an essay on Byron’s Manfred and, if he thinks
it worthy of publication, to send a letter of reference to one or other Viennese newspaper.
He also expresses his satisfaction at how his career is shaping: he has requested and
received generous fees for the editions he has prepared for Universal Edition, and his
theoretical writings for Cotta are also moving along.
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WSLB-Hds 94476 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Seligmann, dated July 17, 1909
Schenker thanks Seligmann for helping him to get a friend’s essay on Byron’s
Manfred published in a Viennese newspaper. He then asks whether it would be possible to make
a judgment about painters, and paintings, on purely objective grounds, as he (Schenker) has
been aiming to do with composers and musical works.
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CA 112 Carbon copy of stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated June
16, 1910
Cotta asks Schenker for manuscript of the prelims and any supplements for
Kontrapunkt I, and for a publicity blurb.
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OJ 9/31, [25] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated June 27,
1910
Cotta reiterates the requests made in CA 112.
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CA 118 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated August 19, 1910
A fire at his hotel causes Schenker to ask whether Cotta has sent him final
proofs recently. — He inquires whether he might travel to Stuttgart to present his plan for
the Handbibliothek in person.
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CA 121-122 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Cotta, dated September 10, 1910
Schenker explains the basis for his "Handbibliothek," suggests an overarching
title and a separate title for the proposed first booklet, on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He
promises to return the manuscript of vol. II/1.
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OJ 12/27, [12] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated September 14,
1910
In response to Schenker's outline of his prospective Handbibliothek, Cotta
advise against its publication before that of vol. III [Niedergang]; and would not be able
to entertain the project until after publication of vol. III.
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OJ 12/27, [13] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated September 21,
1910
Cotta reasserts its unwillingness to consider publication of the
[Handbibliothek] project until after publication of vol. III.
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OJ 9/31, [27] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated October 4,
1910
Publication of Kontrapunkt 1 having taken place this day, Cotta confirms the
orders of complimentary and review copies to Jenny Kornfeld, Ernst Rudorff, Ludwig Karpath,
and Schenker himself.
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CA 139 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Cotta, dated October 25, 1910
Schenker asks for a copy of his Harmonielehre to be sent to Prof. Robert Fuchs
at the Vienna Academy.
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OJ 9/31, [30] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated October 26,
1910
Cotta has sent a review copy [of Kontrapunkt 1] to Max Graf and welcomes a
recent favorable notice of that work.
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OJ 12/27, [14] Stenographically handwritten postcard from Cotta to Schenker, dated October 27,
1910
Cotta has sent a complimentary copy of Harmonielehre to Robert
Fuchs.
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OJ 9/32, [26] Stenographically handwritten sales report from Cotta, dated [?December 31],
1910
1910 sales report for Kontrapunkt 1
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OJ 5/34, [1] Handwritten draft letter from Schenker to Alphons Rothschild, incompletely dated
[March 2, 1911]
Highly rhetorical letter in which Schenker thanks Alphons Rothschild for the
financial support for his first two volumes, and notifies him of the forthcoming monograph
on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
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OJ 15/16, [12] Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated December 18, 1912
Diatribe by Weisse against Otto Vrieslander's plan to produce a simplified
version of Schenker's Harmonielehre, impugning Vrieslander's motives.
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OJ 10/1, [1] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated November 9, 1913
Dahms acknowledges receipt of Schenker's letter of September 27 and the
Erläuterungsausgabe of Op. 109, is reading other work of Schenker's, and is glad to be
disseminating his work.
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OJ 10/1, [2] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated March 27, 1914
Dahms wishes to start his musical studies afresh in Schenker's "shool," asks
whether there is anyone in Berlin who can teach him, also explores the possibility of coming to
Vienna.
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OJ 10/1, [4] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated June 2, 1914
Dahms says he is not well liked in some Berlin quarters for opposing "fashionable
music." — He plans to study Schenker's theory autodidactically in Berlin, then come to Vienna in
the winter.
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OJ 10/1, [14] Handwritten field postcard from Dahms to Schenker, dated January 8, 1916
Dahms is able to do some work, longs for peace, looks forward to Op.
111.
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OJ 10/1, [25] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated November 26, 1916
Dahms reports on his situation, and seeks Schenker's interest in a forthcoming
lecture in Vienna by Willi von Möllendorf.
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OJ 10/1, [26] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated March 2, 1917
Dahms's nerves are bad and he has difficulty doing any serious reading. —
Moellendorf has sent a review of the quarter-tone harmonium, and Dahms
comments.
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OC 1 B/23 Handwritten draft letter from Schenker to Siegfried Türkel, dated March 17,
1917
Schenker encloses a letter from Dr. Hugo Friedmann and comments on it,
ridiculing the lack of sophistication of the wealthy, and asserting his own indifference to
money.
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OJ 10/1, [27] Handwritten letter from Dahms to Schenker, dated March 18, 1917
Dahms reacts to Schenker's suggestion of a stipendium for study in
Vienna.
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OJ 15/5, [1] Handwritten letter from Eberhard von Waechter to Schenker, dated August 21,
1918
Waechter asks for a copy of Schenker's Kontrapunkt 2, because he is making a
critique of the Neue Musuikalische Theorien und Phantasien; he requests an article for Das Neue
Oesterreich from Schenker, and hopes for regular contributions in future.
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OJ 9/32, [37] Printed and handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated September 1,
1918
Payment advice note for sales 1917.
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OJ 12/62, [2] Stenographically handwritten letter from Cotta to Schenker, dated September 1,
1919
[NMTP I and II/1:] Cotta encloses sales report for 1918 and a check for M.
346.92.
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OC 52/239-240 Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated December 18, 1920
Hertzka and Schenker will discuss the Niloff Instrumentations-Tabelle; Hertzka
offers two alternative solutions to UE's taking over of Kontrapunkt 2.
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OC 52/244 Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated January 12, 1921
Hertzka sends contracts for NMTP and Kontrapunkt 2, and discusses the take-over
from Cotta, requesting Schenker's estimate of remaining stocks, and asking whether changes would
be required in a second edition of Kontrapunkt I.
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OJ 6/7, [1] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated June 13, 1921
Schenker gives an account of the move into Keilgasse 8 and describes his study in
the apartment. He outlines his holiday plans, and explains how he is raising the fees for
lessons in the autumn.
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JOB 94-3, [2] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hammer dated May 25, 1922
Schenker sends a sketch of Mendelssohn's "Altdeutsches Lied"; — justifies an
instance of his fingering questioned by Hammer; — complains about Hertzka; — promises to
read Fiedler and Hildebrand.
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DLA 69.930/10 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Halm, dated September 25, 1922
Acknowledges OJ 11/35, 20 and composition; expects to be able to comment on
Halm's Klavierübung in Tonwille 4; reports Leipzig University's decision not to appoint him;
speculates on the impact of Kontrapunkt 2 and Der freie Satz; public difficulty in accepting
Urgesetze. — Aristide Briand: The importance of being well-read on a topic before commenting in
public: Schoenberg and Reger; newspapers. — Maximilian Harden: although faithful to Schenker,
Harden had not mastered the topics on which he wrote. — National Govenment: Schenker's
publishing plans, including "The Future of Humanity": man's anthropomorphic thinking is a
delusion, he needs to adapt to nature, to return to a primitive state, to abandon "development"
and "progress" and return to primordial laws; inferior man wants to "govern" (bowel wants to
become brain); Schenker deplores "artifice" (French) as against nature (German). — Things
French: praises German superiority over French in its joy of work. — Higher Plane: the German
should not abase himself before the Frenchman.
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JOB 94-3, [10] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hammer dated March 12, 1925
Wherever Hammer may travel, Schenker declares, he will never lose his
Germanness. Schenker asserts the superiority post-WWI of the German nation over those of the
west. -- He describes his own pianism: his "fingers are like musical brains." -- He gives an
account of the dispute with Universal Edition and the outcome of negotiations with Drei
Masken Verlag.
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WSLB 370 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hugo Winter (UE), dated July 12, 1926
Schenker requests final account for the series Musikalische Theorien und
Phantasien.
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WSLB 373 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hugo Winter (UE), dated December 30,
1926
Schenker requests continuation of half-yearly statements for the Musikalische
Theorien und Phantasien.
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WSLB 394 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Winter (UE), dated January 11, 1928
Schenker asks for settlement of royalties.
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OJ 10/3, [89] Typewritten letter from Deutsch to Schenker, dated June 17, 1928
Deutsch sends Schenker birthday greetings; he hopes that the last volume of
his “great work” [i.e. Der freie Satz] will bring satisfaction to him and comfort to the
world.
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WSLB-Hds 191.563 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Deutsch, dated June 22, 1928
Schenker thanks Deutsch for his birthday greetings, explaining that,
although he feels alienated from the musical world of the present day, he is
convinced that his work will have a lasting effect on future
generations.
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OJ 9/34, [13] Handwritten letter from Cube to Schenker, dated July 6, 1928
Cube reports on Scheuermann exhibit, and consequent interest and sales, encloses
associated newspaper article; also on recent lecturing and composition activity. He is unlikely
to visit Schenker this year; recalls people at Galtür.
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WSLB 405 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated January 9, 1929
Schenker sets deadline for decision on publishing "Eroica" monograph; stresses
urgency.
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OC 52/849 Typed letter from Hertzka (UE) to Schenker, dated January 15, 1929
Hertzka asks for Schenker's deadline for the "Eroica" monograph decision to be
put off to the end of 1929.
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WSLB 407 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hugo Winter (UE), dated January 24,
1929
Schenker reminds Winter to send him his half-yearly
statement.
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WSLB 411 Handwritten picture postcard from Schenker to UE, dated July 19, 1929
Requests half-yearly statement of account.
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OC 52/856 Typed postcard from Ernst Roth (UE) to Reinhard Oppel, dated September 25,
1929
Schenker's Harmonielehre is currently out-of-print, with no reprint
date.
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WSLB 420 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hugo Winter (UE), dated January 17,
1930
Schenker reminds Winter to send him his [half-yearly]
statement.
-
WSLB 421 Handwritten postcard from Schenker to Hugo Winter (UE), dated July 23,
1930
Schenker reminds Winter to send him his [half-yearly]
statement.
-
WSLB 422 Handwritten letter from Schenker to UE, dated October 13, 1930
Schenker inquires as to the likely costs of an unrevised second edition of
Harmonielehre.
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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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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 15/16, [100] Handwritten letter from Hans Weisse to Jeanette Schenker, dated September 18,
1935
Weisse thanks Jeanette for sending a photograph of her late husband’s
death-mask, and other photographs. — He offers her advice about what to do with Heinrich's
library of books, and with his sketches and other unpublished analyses. The bulk of the
letter is a critique of Der freie Satz, about which he has serious misgivings, partly
concerning the title and subtitle, partly concerning its status as a textbook
(Lehrbuch).
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OJ 11/16, [17] Typewritten letter from Furtwängler to Jeanette Schenker, dated January 15,
1936
Furtwängler thanks Jeanette Schenker for the gift of Der freie
Satz.