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WSLB 38 - Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated April 2, 1909
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Ich beeile mich Ihnen ad personam meinen besten Dank für Ihre Zuschrift von heute [sic] zu danken. 2 Möge die letztere endlich von guter Vorbedeutung sein zwischen für die Beziehung zwischen einem geistigen Arbeiter u. einem heimischen Verlag, u. das Stigma von unserer Heimat endlich verschwinden, die bis nun mit Vorliebe nur eine Abkauf-Taktik treibt (in der Politik: Bosnien , 3 in der Welt der Lüfte: Aëroplan, 4 in der Welt der Töne: Brahms , etc. 5 Es ist in meinem eigenen Interesse gelegen, den II Bd. so rasch als möglich herauszubringen, u. dann gehöre ich den Bach -Arbeiten für Sie. So viel in Eile. © Transcription Ian Bent, 2005, 2016 |
I hasten to offer you my warmest thanks to you personally for your letter of today [sic]. 2 May the latter at last be a good omen between for the relationship between a toiler of the mind and an indigenous publishing house, and may we at last see the removal of the stigma of our homeland, which has up to now preferred to pursue sell-off tactics (in politics: Bosnia 3 ; in the realm of the sky: the aeroplane 4 ; in the realm of music: Brahms, etc. 5 ). It is very much in my own interests to publish vol. II as soon as possible, and then I shall commit myself to the Bach projects for you. In great haste. © Translation Ian Bent, 2005, 2016 |
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Ich beeile mich Ihnen ad personam meinen besten Dank für Ihre Zuschrift von heute [sic] zu danken. 2 Möge die letztere endlich von guter Vorbedeutung sein zwischen für die Beziehung zwischen einem geistigen Arbeiter u. einem heimischen Verlag, u. das Stigma von unserer Heimat endlich verschwinden, die bis nun mit Vorliebe nur eine Abkauf-Taktik treibt (in der Politik: Bosnien , 3 in der Welt der Lüfte: Aëroplan, 4 in der Welt der Töne: Brahms , etc. 5 Es ist in meinem eigenen Interesse gelegen, den II Bd. so rasch als möglich herauszubringen, u. dann gehöre ich den Bach -Arbeiten für Sie. So viel in Eile. © Transcription Ian Bent, 2005, 2016 |
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I hasten to offer you my warmest thanks to you personally for your letter of today [sic]. 2 May the latter at last be a good omen between for the relationship between a toiler of the mind and an indigenous publishing house, and may we at last see the removal of the stigma of our homeland, which has up to now preferred to pursue sell-off tactics (in politics: Bosnia 3 ; in the realm of the sky: the aeroplane 4 ; in the realm of music: Brahms, etc. 5 ). It is very much in my own interests to publish vol. II as soon as possible, and then I shall commit myself to the Bach projects for you. In great haste. © Translation Ian Bent, 2005, 2016 |
Footnotes1 Writing of this letter is not recorded in Schenker's diary. 2 i.e. OC 52/920, April 1, 1909. Presumably Schenker began this letter on April 1, but finished it the next day, the date appearing at the end. 3 A reference to the Bosnian crisis of the previous six months. On October 7, 1908, Austria had announced its annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (they had been only "in the sphere of influence" of the Habsburg Empire by an agreement of 1881) to prevent Turkey from taking control of them. Serbia protested, demanding that part of the two countries be ceded to it, and Russia initially backed that demand precipitating a crisis that was resolved when Russia, under pressure from Germany, finally accepted the annexation in March 1909. (Encyclopedia Britannia) It is unclear why Schenker should speak of a "sell-off" immediately after that acceptance. 4 Wilhelm Kress (1836–1913) was one of the earliest pioneers of aircraft design; he built his first model for an airplane in 1877, constructed a piloted plane in 1898–1900, and was author of Aviatik: Wie der Vogel fliegt und wie der Mensch fliegen wird (1905) (Der Grosse Brockhaus [1931]); but Austria did not develop an aircraft industry. Flight was a topical issue at the time of this letter: Wilbur Wright had made over one hundred flights in Europe by the end of 1908; Blériot was preparing to fly across the English Channel, which he did on July 25, 1909; the first international meeting of aviators was to take place in Reims in August 1909. 5 Cf. "If I do not turn to the Austrian Ministry with this request, it is for a sorry reason. Firstly, Austria has already sold the great majority [of its manuscripts] to foreigners . . . " (WSLB 223, 21 July 1914). Elsewhere, Schenker was critical of Austrian libraries for selling off ithe country's music manuscripts to foreign buyers; but he may also have been suggesting that Austrians gave less attention to Brahms than to Wagner or more recent composers, including those representing modernism. |