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Herrn Moriz Violin
1115 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, Calif.

10. II. 1940

Lieber Freund:

nach dem beiliegenden Brief 1 scheint es doch nicht so ausgeschlossen, dass man Sie in Kansas City haben möchte ‒ trotz des ungünstigen Klima. 2 Ich habe geschrieben, dass Sie, meines Erachtens irgendwelche Briefe von Brahms haben müssen, in denen er über Ihre Kompositionen günstiges sagt — "wenn Sie sie nicht bei Ihrer Flucht aus Wien haben dort lassen müssen". Falls das ein Irrtum von mir war, so bitte ich um Entschuldigung, obwohl ich zwar zögere zu entscheiden, ob man nicht Realist genug sein müsste, um einer solchen Erfindung jene Wirklichkeit zu verleihen, die unsere Feinde verdienen. Aber ich habe mir tatsächlich eingebildet, dass Sie Briefe von Brahms besitzen. ‒ Ich habe auch durch ein paar "a-propos"-Bermerkungen 3 den Einfluss des Herrn Galston bedeutend verdünnt ‒ ich hoffe dauernd. Ich schrieb: ... such quarrels as were usual 40 years ago between the pupils of the piano teachers of different style[s] will not be provoked through Mr. Violin. There are other times, other problems, a different mentality and a new concept of life today". ‒ Das kann ihm nicht sehr genützt haben.

Schreiben Sie mir, ob Sie noch etwas versuchen und, bitte, retournieren Sie den Brief.


Viele herzlichste Grüsse, Ihr
[unsigned]

© Transcription Ian Bent, 2020


Mr. Moriz Violin
1115 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, California

February 10, 1940

Dear Friend,

In light of the enclosed letter 1 it appears not entirely out of the question that the people in Kansas City might have you – despite the unfavorable climate. 2 I have written that, by my reckoning, you must have certain letters from Brahms in which he says favorable things about your compositions – "if you have not, in your flight from Vienna, had to leave them behind." If that was an error on my part, then I ask your forgiveness, although I actually hesitate to decide whether one would have to be enough of a realist to confer upon such a fabrication the reality that our enemies deserve. But I have in fact fancied that you possess letters from Brahms. – I have also, through a couple of asides, 3 significantly tempered the influence of Mr. Galston – I hope lastingly. I wrote [in English:] "... such quarrels as were usual 40 years ago between the pupils of the piano teachers of different style[s] will not be provoked through Mr. Violin. There are other times, other problems, a different mentality and a new concept of life today." – [in German:] That cannot have been too useful for him.

Let me know whether you are still going to have a go at this, and please return the letter.


Most cordial greetings, your
[unsigned]

© Translation Ian Bent, 2020


Herrn Moriz Violin
1115 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, Calif.

10. II. 1940

Lieber Freund:

nach dem beiliegenden Brief 1 scheint es doch nicht so ausgeschlossen, dass man Sie in Kansas City haben möchte ‒ trotz des ungünstigen Klima. 2 Ich habe geschrieben, dass Sie, meines Erachtens irgendwelche Briefe von Brahms haben müssen, in denen er über Ihre Kompositionen günstiges sagt — "wenn Sie sie nicht bei Ihrer Flucht aus Wien haben dort lassen müssen". Falls das ein Irrtum von mir war, so bitte ich um Entschuldigung, obwohl ich zwar zögere zu entscheiden, ob man nicht Realist genug sein müsste, um einer solchen Erfindung jene Wirklichkeit zu verleihen, die unsere Feinde verdienen. Aber ich habe mir tatsächlich eingebildet, dass Sie Briefe von Brahms besitzen. ‒ Ich habe auch durch ein paar "a-propos"-Bermerkungen 3 den Einfluss des Herrn Galston bedeutend verdünnt ‒ ich hoffe dauernd. Ich schrieb: ... such quarrels as were usual 40 years ago between the pupils of the piano teachers of different style[s] will not be provoked through Mr. Violin. There are other times, other problems, a different mentality and a new concept of life today". ‒ Das kann ihm nicht sehr genützt haben.

Schreiben Sie mir, ob Sie noch etwas versuchen und, bitte, retournieren Sie den Brief.


Viele herzlichste Grüsse, Ihr
[unsigned]

© Transcription Ian Bent, 2020


Mr. Moriz Violin
1115 Divisadero Street
San Francisco, California

February 10, 1940

Dear Friend,

In light of the enclosed letter 1 it appears not entirely out of the question that the people in Kansas City might have you – despite the unfavorable climate. 2 I have written that, by my reckoning, you must have certain letters from Brahms in which he says favorable things about your compositions – "if you have not, in your flight from Vienna, had to leave them behind." If that was an error on my part, then I ask your forgiveness, although I actually hesitate to decide whether one would have to be enough of a realist to confer upon such a fabrication the reality that our enemies deserve. But I have in fact fancied that you possess letters from Brahms. – I have also, through a couple of asides, 3 significantly tempered the influence of Mr. Galston – I hope lastingly. I wrote [in English:] "... such quarrels as were usual 40 years ago between the pupils of the piano teachers of different style[s] will not be provoked through Mr. Violin. There are other times, other problems, a different mentality and a new concept of life today." – [in German:] That cannot have been too useful for him.

Let me know whether you are still going to have a go at this, and please return the letter.


Most cordial greetings, your
[unsigned]

© Translation Ian Bent, 2020

Footnotes

1 The letter concerned is from Robert Emmett Stuart of the St. Louis Institute of Music, dated February 7, 1940, and states: "As yet we have heard nothing from Mr. Violin. From your letters we understood that you had notified him to communicate with us.". The letter is preserved in the Library of Congress (ASI-Stuart).

2 Not Kansas City but St. Louis – and it is about the St. Louis climate that Violin was exclaiming in LC ASC 27/45, [17], January 16, 1940.

3 Schoenberg's letter to Robert Emmett Stuart of January 27, 1940: "As to the other objection Mr. Galston brought about, I can assure you that Mr. Violin will never try to interfere with the field of another teacher. I can guarantee this personally. And I am sure such quarrels as were usual 40 years ago between the pupils of the piano teachers of different styles will not be provoked through Mr. Violin. There are other times, other problems, a different mentality and a new concept of life today." (Joseph Auner, ed., A Schoenberg Reader: Documents of a Life (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), p. 284 – transcription: ASI search).

Commentary

Format
1p letter, carbon copy, typewritten salutation, message, and valediction (unsigned)
Rights Holder
Heirs of Arnold Schoenberg, reproduced here with kind permission
License
Permission to publish granted by author's son, Mr. Lawrence Schoenberg, July 16, 2013. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Documents Online, schenkercorrespondence@mus[dot]cam[dot]ac[dot]uk.
Provenance
Arnold Schoenberg (document date–1951) -- family of Arnold Schoenberg (1951–19??) -- Library of Congress (19??–)

Digital version created: 2020-09-02
Last updated: 2013-07-01