OJ 6/7, [51] Handwritten letter, with envelope, from Schenker to Violin, dated October 21, 1930

Writing after a long and serious illness, Schenker assures his friend that he is alive and well. The doctors have pronounced him generally fit, but he suffers from a painful tightening of the thorax, and also a flickering that causes him to "lose" letters and notes. He has had to give many double-lessons of late, in theory, which he finds tiring. To Hoboken, who, though gifted, is concerned only about his money and often comes to lessons without having prepared anything, he would rather play than give over-long lectures. He is concerned, for his own sake as much as for Weisse's, about the lectures in Berlin that Weisse will deliver, and about his eagerness to debate with Alfred Lorenz; he is glad that Violin is going to Berlin, and will give him instructions about what to do there. His Beethoven sonata edition brings in 100 shillings per month – a good deal for the publishers – and his brother still has half of his inheritance. But he is still alive – with Der freie Satz.

OJ 6/8, [1] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Violin, dated January 9, 1931

In this long and wide-ranging two-part letter, which includes a graphic analysis of J. S. Bach’s Two-part Invention in E-flat major, Schenker praises the work of Hans Weisse, who has recently returned from lecturing in Berlin and may be offered a post there (on Furtwängler’s recommendation), emigrate to America (with the help of Gerald Warburg), or even found an institute that would give employment to Felix Salzer and other Schenkerian disciples under one roof. — A letter from Violin, which has just arrived in the morning post, speaks of Violin’s own intention to establish a Schenker Institute in Hamburg. For this, Schenker recommends Felix-Eberhard von Cube (in preference to Reinhard Oppel) and Otto Vrieslander as possible theory teachers, if not Weisse himself. — The letter concludes with a tirade against those who have caused him financial misery (including his brother Mozio), culminating in a cynical passage in which Schenker advises his friend to look after himself and engage some dull pedagog to teach conventional theory. In the end, he wishes Violin luck with the enterprise, and thanks him for having helped rescue him from Hertzka’s clutches.

Diary entry by Schenker for 17 October 1930

Diary entry by Schenker for 18 October 1930

Diary entry by Schenker for 27 October 1930

Diary entry by Schenker for 5 December 1930