Handwritten letter from Harden to Schenker, dated December 23, 1896 23 12 1896 Sehr geehrter Herr, es thut mir aufrichtig leid, aber einen solchen Artikel kann ich nicht anonÿm bringen.1 Nehmen Sie herzlichen Dank, auch für Ihre liebenswürdigen Worte. Ich glaube auch, daß es Zeit ist, den „Modernen" urwüchsig grob entgegenzutreten. Kennen Sie die versunkene Glocke?2 Das ist der höchste Heurige. Hofmannsthals3 Gedichte kenne ich nicht, er schrieb mir neulich sehr leutselig, freilich aus der Höhe, ich hörte stets, er sei ein außerordentliches Talent. Also; nochmals mein Bedauern! Mit guten Festgrüßen, in herzlicher Hochachtung © In the public domain. |
Handwritten letter from Harden to Schenker, dated December 23, 1896 December 23, 1896 Dear Sir, I am truly sorry, but I cannot publish this sort of article anonymously.1 Please accept my sincere gratitude, and for your kind words as well. I too believe that it is time to confront the "moderns" head-on. Do you know The Submerged Bell?2 It's the hit of the season. I don't know Hofmannsthal's3 poems; he wrote to me very affably just the other day, completely out of the blue; I've always heard that he is an exceptional talent. So: once again, my regrets! With good wishes for the holiday, in sincere esteem, © Translation William Pastille 2006. |
COMMENTARY: FOOTNOTES: 1 Schenker's request is not known to survive. It is noteworthy that Schenker published his Harmonielehre (1906) at first anonymously as "by an artist" [von einem Künstler]. 2 A play by Germany's leading exponent of dramatic Naturalism, Gerhard Hauptmann (1862-1946), which premiered in Berlin on December 2, 1896. This play is quite unlike Hauptmann's earlier work, which is reminiscent of Ibsen in its depiction of the physical and psychological stresses of modern industrial materialism; it is instead a dramatic fairy-tale, suffused with dark, romantic magicalism. Schenker's diary contains notes on three Hauptmann plays: Führmann Henschel (1898; OJ 1/2, p. 6), Und Pippa tanzt (May 27, 1906; OJ 1/5, p. 13), and Florian Geyer (June 1, 1907; OJ 1/6, p. 43). 3 Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929), Viennese poet, librettist, and dramatist. SUMMARY: © Commentary, Footnotes, Summary William Pastille, 2006
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