Browse by
OJ 13/37, 15 - Handwritten notecard from Rudorff to Schenker, dated August 7, 1912
|
{recto}
⇧ PROF. DR. ERNST RUDORFF GR. LICHTERFELDE-OST WILHELMSTRASSE 26. ⇧ Lauenstein in Hannover d. 7ten Aug. 1912 Verehrester Freund! 1 Auf Ihre soeben eintreffenden freundlichen Zeilen 2 möchte ich erwidern, daß ich nun doppelt der Meinung bin, daß das Autograph der Sonate op. 106 [recte 109] nicht Brahms gehörte, sondern ‒ aus Joachim’s Nachlaß von Frau Wittgenstein irgendwie erworben ist. Denn Frau Wittgenstein war Joachim ’s Cousine, und ich meine mich fast zu erinnern, daß sie eine Reihe werthvoller Autographe aus dem Nachlaß ihres Vetters käuflich erworben hat. 3 {verso} Mittlerweile habe ich in Ihrem Buch mit größtem Interesse die Nottebohm ’schen Auszüge aus Beethovens Skizzenbüchern 4 und mit unmäßiger Genugtuung Ihre Beweisführung gelesen, in denen Sie Wagner auf das Schönste ad absurdum führen! Auch die Abschlachtung des Kretzschmar ’schen Geschwätzes 5 hat mich gründlichst erfreut. [marginal annotation:] ⇧ Deutschland © Transcription Ian Bent, 2018 |
{recto}
⇧ PROF. ERNST RUDORFF GROSSLICHTERFELDE-EAST WILHELMSTRASSE 26 ⇧ Lauenstein in Hannover August 7, 1912 Most revered Friend, 1 In response to your friendly lines, 2 just arrived, I should like to say I am now doubly of the opinion that the autograph manuscript of Sonata Op. 106 [recte 109] did not belong to Brahms but was somehow acquired from Joachim's estate by Mrs. Wittgenstein. For Mrs. Wittgenstein was Joachim 's cousin, and I seem almost to recall that she purchased a whole lot of valuable autograph manuscripts from her cousin's estate. 3 {verso} In the meantime I have read with the keenest interest the Nottebohm excerpts from Beethoven's sketchbooks given in your book, 4 and observed with unmitigated satisfaction the marshalling of evidence by which in the most elegant manner you reduce Wagner ad absurdum. I was also thoroughly delighted at your demolition of Kretzschmar's senseless twaddle. 5 [marginal annotation:] ⇧ Germany © Translation Ian Bent, 2018 |
Footnotes1 Receipt of this notecard (presumably sent in an envelope) is not recorded in Schenker's diary. Federhofer (1985) describes it (with full transcription, pp. 209-10) as a "letter," Oswald Jonas, in his inventory of the Rudorff correspondence (OJ 59/15) lists it as a "postcard." The verso is annotated by Schenker in red crayon, with underlinings of the words "unmäßiger Genugtuung" ("unmitigated satisfaction"), "Wagner ... absurdum" ("in the most ... absurdum"), and "Geschwätzes" ("senseless twaddle"), and the whole paragraph sidelined to the left with annotation below. 2 "Zeilen": Schenker's written communication to Rudorff is not known to survive. 3 Rudorff's surmise proved correct. Schenker records in his diary for November 12, 1912: "With Dr. Mandyczeswki at Wittgenstein's, an examination of the autograph of Op. 109. Quite unexpectedly surprising discoveries ...". Four items of correspondence from Paul Wittgenstein to Schenker survive from 1913 as OJ 15/24, [1]‒[4]. 4 Beethovens neunte Sinfonie: eine Darstellung des musikalischen Inhaltes unter fortlaufender Berücksichtigung auch des Vortrages und der Literatur (Vienna: UE, 1912), pp. 20‒24, 44‒45, 88‒89, 129‒30 (Eng. transl., pp. 45‒48, 65, 100, 132‒33). 5 Beethovens neunte Sinfonie, pp. 25‒26, 53‒54, 91, 239‒40, 319‒21, 345‒46 (Eng. transl., pp. 49‒50, 72, 102, 220‒21, 283‒85, 306‒07). |
|
Commentary
Digital version created: 2018-07-24 |