Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated August 27, 1912 [printed letterhead:] Bâle, le .................................. 191..... [Handwritten:] Innigst geliebter Meister! Nach so manchen Bergpartieen im Engadin,1 langweiligen Fahrten über den Vierwaldstätter See habe ich einen Ausflug ins Rondo des Mozartischen Gmoll Klavierquartettes2 unternommen – und siehe da – den Engadiner Bergen an Schönheit gleich, noch über allen andern Punkten dieser Kulturbedeckten Gegend stehend – empfand ich den höchsten Genuss! Ich verstehe diese Rondoform! Ihr Wesen ist psychologisch leicht zu begründen und Mozart muss hier doch mehr gepriesen werden, als all die es tun, die nur seiner „leichtbeschwingten Grazie“ Bewunderung zuteil werden lassen können. Diese Zusammenfügung zweier Gedanken zu einem hat {2} zwei grosse Vorteile: Die Länge die erzeugt wird, und die Verhinderung dass das erste Thema nicht allzu oft wiederholt wird: Sein Beispiel ist das beste[:] A 1 wird nur 2mal trotz aller Länge3 wiederholt! Ich habe mich an diesem formalen Bau nicht eher satt gesehen, bis ich nicht genauen Einblick in sein Räderwerk gefunden hatte, wovon Sie der letzte Satz meines Quintetts4 der bis jetzt noch unmutig und unbestimmt in meinem Kopfe kreist überzeugen soll. Am 1. September lande ich in Ischl und arbeite, was Platz hat – kehre nicht früher heim – ehe nicht meine Beute vollständig! Heute will ich die hiesigen Böckline[r ]5 und Holbeiner6 Totentanz geniessen! Ich denke viel an Sie! Und grüsse Sie allerherzlichst als © Under inquiry. |
Handwritten letter from Weisse to Schenker, dated August 27, 1912 [printed letterhead:] Basel, l.................................. 191..... [Handwritten:] Most deeply beloved master, After so many trips into the mountains of Engadin1 and boring journeys across Lake Lucern, I have taken an excursion into the Rondo of the Mozart G minor Piano Quartet2—and behold!—comparable in beauty to the Engadin mountains, standing high above all other aspects of this culture-saturated region—I experienced the headiest delight! I understand this rondo form! Its essence is psychologically easy to ascertain, and in this Mozart deserves even higher praise than that accorded by all who do so, since their wonderment is bestowed merely on his “nimble grace.” This combining of two ideas into one has {2} two great advantages: the length3 that is created, and the avoidance of having the first theme repeated all too often. His example is the best: A 1 is stated only twice, in spite of its great length! I did not tire of scrutinizing this formal construction until my gaze had penetrated right into its inner mechanism; and the final movement of my Quintet,4 which has up till now been going round and round ill-humoredly and inchoately inside my head, is sure to convince you. I get back to Ischl on September 1 and work—which is fitting—I will not come home until the job is done! Today, I shall enjoy the Böcklin5 and Holbein6 Dances of Death that are here! I think of you a great deal! And I send my most heartfelt greetings, as Yours truly in love and loyalty, © Translation Ian Bent, 2007. |
COMMENTARY: FOOTNOTES: 1 Engadin: a long mountain valley located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland (Wikipedia, 10-14-07). 2 Mozart, Piano Quartet in G minor, K478. 3 Länge: S’s word at this time for what was to develop later into the notions of Prolongation and Spannung; Cf. OJ 5/15, [4], Sept/Dec 1908: “das Hauptproblem der Musik, wie die Länge erzeugt werden könne ...” (the main problem of music, how length can be produced ...). 4 The String Quintet that W has been writing for some months under S’s guidance. 5 Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901), symbolist Swiss painter; his Die Totinsel (Isle of the Dead, 1880), inspired by several Romantic composers (Wikipedia, 10-14-07), is in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Basel; it depicts a white-draped coffin being carried in a rowing boat, watched over by a white-clad figure, with an island and dominating clump of cypress trees behind. 6 Hans Holbein the younger (1497/8–1543), German painter, who lived in Basel 1515–32; his Totentanz (Dance of Death, published Lyon, 1538) was one of a series of woodcuts, prepared as drawings during his Basel period. SUMMARY: © Commentary, Footnotes, Summary William Drabkin & Ian Bent 2007
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