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OJ 14/15, [2] - Handwritten letter from Schoenberg to Schenker, undated [September 15, 1903?]



Lieber Herr Doctor! 1

herzlichen Dank für Ihren Brief. 2 Ich werde Ihr liebenswürdiges Anerbieten annehmen. So unerwartet es mir kommt, nöthigt mich ein Anderes Unerwartetes, Ihre Freudlichkeit gleich beim Wort zu nehmen ‒ ich werde Ihnen Wasser auf Ihre Reichenauer-Mühle 3 erzählen. Ich komme morgen Nachmittag nach Wien. Soll ich Sie übermorgen (Mittwoch) Nachmittag in ihrer Wohnung erfinden (gegen 3‒½4 Uhr) oder sind Sie anders wo. Jedenfalls vorläufig herzlichen Gruß


herzlichen Gruß
von Ihren
[signed:] Arnold Schönberg

Wien IX. Porzellangasse 56 bei Kramer

© Transcription Arnold Whittall, 2011

Many thanks for your letter. I accept your kind offer. 2 It came so unexpectedly that – taking your kindness literally - I must respond with something equally unexpected: I can confirm what you have been saying all along about Reichenau. 3 I am coming to Vienna tomorrow afternoon. Will I find you at home during the afternoon (around 3 to 3.30) the day after tomorrow (Wednesday), or will you be elsewhere? In any case, best wishes for the present


cordial greetings,
from your
[signed:] Arnold Schönberg

Vienna IX, Porzellangasse 56 c/o Kramer

© Translation Arnold Whittall, 2011


Lieber Herr Doctor! 1

herzlichen Dank für Ihren Brief. 2 Ich werde Ihr liebenswürdiges Anerbieten annehmen. So unerwartet es mir kommt, nöthigt mich ein Anderes Unerwartetes, Ihre Freudlichkeit gleich beim Wort zu nehmen ‒ ich werde Ihnen Wasser auf Ihre Reichenauer-Mühle 3 erzählen. Ich komme morgen Nachmittag nach Wien. Soll ich Sie übermorgen (Mittwoch) Nachmittag in ihrer Wohnung erfinden (gegen 3‒½4 Uhr) oder sind Sie anders wo. Jedenfalls vorläufig herzlichen Gruß


herzlichen Gruß
von Ihren
[signed:] Arnold Schönberg

Wien IX. Porzellangasse 56 bei Kramer

© Transcription Arnold Whittall, 2011

Many thanks for your letter. I accept your kind offer. 2 It came so unexpectedly that – taking your kindness literally - I must respond with something equally unexpected: I can confirm what you have been saying all along about Reichenau. 3 I am coming to Vienna tomorrow afternoon. Will I find you at home during the afternoon (around 3 to 3.30) the day after tomorrow (Wednesday), or will you be elsewhere? In any case, best wishes for the present


cordial greetings,
from your
[signed:] Arnold Schönberg

Vienna IX, Porzellangasse 56 c/o Kramer

© Translation Arnold Whittall, 2011

Footnotes

1 Receipt of this letter is not recorded in Schenker's diary. The document number adopted here is that assigned in Charlotte E. Erwin and Bryan R. Simms, "Schoenberg's Correspondence with Heinrich Schenker," Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute v (1981), 23–43. The document from which this edition was made is a photocopy; the whereabouts of the original is not known. An annotation at the foot of the photocopy in another hand (that of Oswald Jonas?) reads "15. 9. 1903," and it is on the basis of this that the editorial dating is made.

2 This letter is not known to survive.

3 "Reichenauer" (adjective): evidently an allusion to something said previously. There are two towns in Austria with the name Reichenau (one of which is occasionally mentioned in Schenker's diaries), and one in Switzerland; equally, it could refer to someone of that name.

Commentary

Format
1p letter, holograph message and signature, photocopy, with annotation at bottom in another hand
Provenance
Schenker, Heinrich (document date-1935)--Schenker, Jeanette (1935-c.1942)--Ratz, Erwin (c.1942-c.1945)--Jonas, Oswald (c.1945-1978)--University of California, Riverside (1978--)
Provenance
Heirs of Arnold Schoenberg, published by kind permission
License
Permission to publish granted by the author's son, Mr. Lawrence Schoenberg, January 2, 2011. Any claim to intellectual rights on this document should be addressed to the Schenker Correspondence Project, Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, at schenkercorrespondence [at] mus (dot) cam (dot) ac (dot) uk.

Digital version created: 2011-09-13
Last updated: 2011-09-13