Der Tonwille, Heft 2 (1922)
The Will of the Tone, issue 2 (1922)
Documents associated with this entity:
The second issue of Schenker's periodical Der Tonwille (1921–24).
Contents
Issue 2, 48 pages in length (thus contractually 16 pages oversize) comprises three short articles on theoretical matters followed by two extended articles on single complete works. Notable is the absence of any "Miscellanea."
The article on Beethoven Op. 2 No. 1 follows the now established template: analysis of each of the movements (in this case in direct succession) – source study – performance – survey of secondary literature. The analysis of each movement is interspersed with diagrams and musical examples (what Schenker called "Klischées"), as is the secondary literature survey, and the whole is summarized by the fold-out Urlinie-Tafel at the back of the issue. In the Mozart article, source study and performance are replaced by an essay on synthesis and genius.
The Mozart and Beethoven studies constitute the first two thirds of a trilogy (though Schenker does not characterize them as such) representing the masters of the Viennese classical period, the study of Haydn's E-flat major Sonata in issue 3 being the final third.
Publication History
It was with issue 2 that Schenker's sharpest period of dissension with Emil Hertzka, Universal Edition's director, began. On April 9, 1921, Hertzka had summoned Schenker to his office to express embarrassment at what Schenker had written about his friend Paul Bekker in the Erläuterungsausgabe for Op. 101, which was then at proof stage. The material was promptly withdrawn, but Schenker submitted a new version for Tonwille issue 2 under the title "Music Criticism" (also called "Bekker contra Schenker" – OC 52/563). On May 2, 1922, Hertzka wrote expressing his concern about issue 2 (OC 52/564-565): firstly it was over-length, secondly the "Miscellanea" was almost entirely extraneous to music, engaging in polemics that Hertzka found uncongenial; and on the following day, regarding the Bekker material, he wrote "I admit to finding Paul Bekker's malicious jostlings quite shameless, but I can well understand it as only human that someone whose ears you have already boxed many times will want to avenge himself" (OC 52/566). At the time, there was also a shortage of the small type at the printers. Ultimately, the entire "Miscellanea" was held over to issue 3, and at Hertzka's insistence the Bekker material and some anti-French polemics were removed.
Schenker began work on Beethoven Op. 2 No. 1 in March 1921, drafting the Urlinien for all four movements March 4–10, then the analyses of the separate movements around July 19–31, fair copies being made August 1–5 (while on vacation in the Tyrol), with further revisions around September 14–19 and October 12. The "Performance" section was completed on October 16, and Schenker was correcting galley-proofs by October 21. The "Secondary Literature" section was drafted around October 17–25 and delivered to UE on October 30. Proofs of the engraved music examples were corrected on December 17.
The Urlinien for the Mozart sonata were in preparation March 13–April 3, 1921, the passages from Jahn, Wyzewa and Saint-Foix were researched in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Archive on April 6, and the first movement was delivered to UE on July 24. The "Secondary Literature" section was finished on November 18. Work continued on December 6 and was evidently finished on December 13. On December 15, Schenker successfully argued with UE that the Mozart must precede the Beethoven. He was correcting galley-proofs on January 14–16, 1922. The issue was released on July 10, 1922 (OC/569).
It is not implausbile that the double-sided Urlinie sheet for Beethoven Op. 2, No. 1 was the spark for the idea that was mooted by Hertzka in early 1922: an Urlinie edition (Urlinie-Ausgabe) of the Beethoven piano sonatas, each containing an edition of the sonata plus an Urlinie sheet. (For more on this, see Beethoven.)
Contents List
- "Gesetze der Tonkunst" [Laws of the Art of Music], 3 [I, p. 51]
- "Geschichte der Tonkunst" [History of the Art of Music], 3–4 [I, p. 52]
- "Noch ein Wort zur Urlinie" [Yet Another Word on the Urlinie], 4–6 [I, pp.53–54]
- "Mozart: Sonate A-Moll (Köchel-Verzeichnis Nr. 310)" [Mozart's Sonata in A minor, K. 310], 7–24 [I, pp.55–71]
- "Beethoven: Sonate op. 2 Nr. 1" [Beethoven's Sonata [in F minor], Op. 2, No. 1], 25–48 [I, pp. 72–95]
- Enclosures: two double-sided Urlinie sheets, one for Mozart, one for Beethoven
- Advertisements (at back): "Heinr. Schenkers Werke" (cover)
Note
The article "Music Criticism," suppressed from the "Miscellanea" of issue 3, is printed in English in Der Tonwille: Pamphlets/Quarterly Publication …, vol. II, ed. William Drabkin (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 161–65. Most of the remaining suppressed material has been restored within the text of the translation.
Contributor:
- Ian Bent