Musikblätter des Anbruch
Musical Dispatches of A New Day
Documents associated with this entity:
One of several house journals produced by Universal Edition, and the first periodical to be dedicated to contemporary music, containing reports, analyses, reviews, pieces of music, etc..
Musikblätter des Anbruch began publication in November 1919, changed its name to Anbruch in 1929. Continuing until UE was aryanized in 1938, it was the most important organ of promotion for the publishing house. Its editors were Otto Schneider (1919), Paul Pisk (1920-21), and Paul Stefan (1922-38).
Musikblätter des Anbruch was intended as a musical corollary to a journal entitled Der Anbruch. Flugblätter aus der Zeit (A New Day: Dispatches from the Age), ed. Otto Schneider and Ludwig Ullmann (Vienna, 4 vols, 1917-22). The latter promoted expressionist art, with articles by Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Max Beckmann, and others.
The journal comprised nineteen volumes (initially of twenty issues each, later fewer), including Festschrifts for Bartók (1921), Schoenberg (1924) and Schreker (1928). Contributors (many of them pupils of Schoenberg), in addition to its editors, included Erwin Stein, Alban Berg, Schoenberg, Bartók, Busoni, Hindemith, Krenek, Milhaud, Weill, Wellesz, Kodály, Theodor Adorno, Paul Becker, Rudolf Réti, and Hans Stuckenschmidt.
The Journal and Schenker
Emil Hertzka sent Schenker a complimentary copy of the first issue on November 8, 1919 (OC 52/210), expressing the hope that Schenker would contribute to it. Schenker's reaction was: "as I gather from the first issue of the Musikblätter des Anbruch that you kindly sent me, the younger generation passes its time forever in bone idleness. In this society of lay-abouts I will not be deterred, not for a million dollars (the strongest currency)!" (WSLB 307, November 13, 1919). He continued to be antagonist to the journal.
Bibliography:
- Hailey, Christopher, "Anbruch and Tonwille: the Verlagspolitik of Universal Edition," in Eybl/Fink-Mennel (2006), pp. 59-67
- (The journal is now available as a CD-ROM from Universal Edition, with full searching facilities.)