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OJ 13/37, 14 Handwritten letter from Rudorff to Schenker, dated July 18, 1912
Rudorff writes admiringly of Schenker's new book, Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie;
— He responds to Schenker's question about the whereabouts of the autograph manuscript of
Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E major, Op. 109, speaking also of his own former editorial
work.
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WSLB 303 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Hertzka (UE), dated June 12, 1919
Schenker promises to send Hans Weisse to see Hertzka. In reacting unfavorably to
Hertzka's suggestions that the Foreword to Die letzten fünf Sonaten von Beethoven, Op. 111 be
discarded for its second edition, Schenker puts up a stout defense of his use of polemic in his
writings, contending that art, life, and politics are inextricably interconnected. He claims
that his pronouncements on politics now will prove correct in the long run. His sole concern is
with the truth; he is not interested in pandering to his readers.
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DLA 69.930/8 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Halm, dated October 27, 1919
Schenker writes of the deteriorating intellectual conditions in Germany and
Austria with respect to other nations, and of the devastating political and psychological
consequences. Schenker praises Halm's Klavierübung for its sensitivity to voice leading, and
speaks of it as an antidote to the decline of musical literacy. He hopes to talk with Halm about
these matters when he moves to Germany.
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DLA 69.930/10 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Halm, dated September 25, 1922
Acknowledges OJ 11/35, 20 and composition; expects to be able to comment on
Halm's Klavierübung in Tonwille 4; reports Leipzig University's decision not to appoint him;
speculates on the impact of Kontrapunkt 2 and Der freie Satz; public difficulty in accepting
Urgesetze. — Aristide Briand: The importance of being well-read on a topic before commenting in
public: Schoenberg and Reger; newspapers. — Maximilian Harden: although faithful to Schenker,
Harden had not mastered the topics on which he wrote. — National Govenment: Schenker's
publishing plans, including "The Future of Humanity": man's anthropomorphic thinking is a
delusion, he needs to adapt to nature, to return to a primitive state, to abandon "development"
and "progress" and return to primordial laws; inferior man wants to "govern" (bowel wants to
become brain); Schenker deplores "artifice" (French) as against nature (German). — Things
French: praises German superiority over French in its joy of work. — Higher Plane: the German
should not abase himself before the Frenchman.
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DLA 69.930/11 Handwritten letter from Schenker to Halm, dated November 2, 1922
Schenker acknowledges receipt of two booklets on youth and the new republic,
returns them, comments on them critically: idealistic German democrats desire maximal
remuneration with minimal work; illustrates point by difficulties with maids in Schenker
household; German democrats naively overestimate social and intellectual status of non-German
commoners (French, British, American); Schenker decries cosmopolitanism and those Germans who
advocate individuality at the expense of society; Schenker praises the fascists as countering
communism and social leveling, compares Mussolini's Italy favorably with present-day
Germany.
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OJ 5/45, [3] Copy, in Jeanette Schenker's hand, of a letter from Schenker to Weisse, dated September
12, 1923
Schenker explains his behavior a few days before, in reply to Weisse’s letter of
September 7, and his implicit displeasure at his pupil's lengthy trip to Italy in the summer.
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OJ 6/7, [23] Handwritten letter from Schenker to Moriz Violin, dated July 26, 1925
Two weeks after arriving in Galtür for the summer holidays, Schenker reports that
he has caught up on his sleep and has already dictated an essay on Reger's Variations and Fugue
on a Theme of J. S. Bach, Op. 81. He will not allow the legal wrangle with Universal Edition to
interfere with his holiday, but he is annoyed about not having been paid by Drei Masken Verlag
for the manuscript of Meisterwerk 1. He has responded to a critique of his Erläuterungsausgabe
of Op. 110, in an essay in Meisterwerk 1, but will not pursue other attacks upon his work and
those of his pupils. The Schenker medallion designed by Alfred Rothberger is going to a second
impression; but the mezzotint portrait by Viktor Hammer, which Jeanette finds a superior work,
has not yet been printed. Throughout the letter, Schenker urges Violin to bring his family to
Galtür sometime during the summer.