Theorist
Having failed to gain recognition as a composer, conductor, and accompanist, by 1900 he shifted his focus increasingly on problems of musical editing and music theory. (Though years later he still felt proud of his compositions.) According to Federhofer, compositional activity for Schenker was not a means to an end in itself but a pedagogical one, a path to understanding the desires of a composer. Over time, Schenker saw how traditional understanding of music was disappearing and felt it necessary to revise music and theory lessons and remove later editorial additions from musical texts. Already in his 1895 article "Der Geist der musikalischen Technik" he spoke of the adulteration of contemporary music editions of classical composers, and advocated using Urtext editions.
Already with his first publication, "A Contribution to the Study of Ornamentation," Schenker understood his theoretical work to be a long-range pursuit. When he tried to get his Harmony (the first part of his New Musical Theory and Fantasies) published by Breitkopf & Härtel, it was rejected, the publisher citing Hugo Riemann's work to have covered all that was necessary. Max Kalbeck reported on his unsuccessful attempt to get the work published by N. Simrock. Though impressed by certain passages, the eventual publisher, Cotta, initially rejected Schenker's manuscript but changed its mind after intervention from D'Albert. Cotta finally published Harmony anonymously with money from Alphonse de Rothschild to whom Schenker had given lessons.
The publisher Universal Edition's proximity (they were in Vienna where Schenker was living, while Cotta was in Stuttgart) made Schenker break with Cotta. Universal Edition was to remain Schenker's main publisher. Schenker hoped his monograph on Beethoven's 9th Symphony (published in 1912) would have a relevatory effect, but knew that the book's reception would be clouded by musicians' faulty understanding, due to poor theoretical instruction. As he kept working on his New Musical Theory and Fantasies, the work kept growing.
Between 1913 and 1921, Schenker brought out an explanatory edition of four of the last five Beethoven sonatas. While examining the autograph to Beethoven's Sonata, op. 109 (at that time belonging to the Wittgenstein family), Schenker mentioned in a letter to his friend Theodor von Frimmel how his Urtext work was inspired by Ernst Rudorff and Joseph Joachim. In 1912, Schenker wrote excitedly to Emil Hertzka, the head of Universal Edition, of the "sensational new changes" he would incorporate into his new edition of Beethoven's Op. 109, having examined the autograph, a revised copy by Beethoven, the original edition and other later editions. Federhofer credits Schenker with initiating the modern Urtext movement of examining multiple authentic sources to arrive at a reading.
Even though Der Tonwille originally came out under the imprint "Tonwille-Flutterverlag" (actually published jointly by Albert J. Gutmann of Vienna and Friedrich Hofmeister of Leipzig), Universal Edition soon purchased Gutmann, but still issued Der Tonwille under its original imprint. Schenker's works presented a political challenge to Universal Edition: Although they were developing their reputation as a promoter of contemporary music, it could be politically embarrassing for one of their authors (Schenker) to rally against their primary clientele.
Beginning with the publication of Der Tonwille in 1921, a Latin motto appears on all of Schenker published works: Semper idem sed non eodem modo ("always the same, but not always in the same way"). William Pastille proposed that this is based on a line in Augustine of Hippo's Confessions, Book 8, chapter 3: nam tu semper idem, quia ea quae non semper nec eodem modo sunt eodem modo semper nosti omnia ("For you always the same thing, because you know in the same way all those things that are not the same nor in the same way"). Based on conversation with an unnamed Latin scholar, William Helmcke added that it could also be based on a passage from Irenaeus's Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies): sine initio et sine fine, vere et semper idem et eodem modo se habens solus est Deus ("Without beginning and without end, only God continues truly and always the same and in the same way").
Emil Hertzka, the head of Universal Edition from 1907 until his death in 1932, had a fraught relationship with Schenker. When Schenker was planning a diatribe against Paul Bekker whose monograph on Beethoven was very popular at the time, Hertzka refused to consider publishing it, noting that Bekker and him were close friends. Various passages in issues of Der Tonwille had to be removed because Hertzka felt they were too politically and socially sensitive. Schenker recalled a standoff with Hertzka, where Hertzka, took a "pacifist attitude towards international relations, cosmopolitan, democratic beliefs, working toward compromises" Over time, Schenker's attitude toward Hertzka and Universal Edition increased from disagreement to hostility, charging the firm with not doing enough to promote his work and accused them of not paying him the proper amount.
He had already admired his student Hans Weisse for leaving Vienna for Munich, and also noted positively on his other students' desire to move to Germany. Wilhelm Furtwängler called upon Karl Straube to see whether Schenker might be able to teach in Munich. But Schenker never left Vienna and was unable to obtain a position elsewhere, in part due to the nature of his uncompromising views.
Schenker's personal life was taken up with his marriage to Jeanette Kornfeld (born Schiff). He knew her from at least 1907, but could only marry after her first husband agreed to divorce. Schenker married Jeanette on November 10, 1919. He dedicated Free Composition, his last work, to her. They had no children.
Schenker could also count on the patronage of a group of supporters. Alphonse de Rothschild was mentioned above. In addition, there were Sophie Deutsch, Angi Elias, Wilhelm Furtwängler an industrialist named Khuner, and Anthony van Hoboken. Deutsch, Elias and Hoboken were in his immediate circle of students. Deutsch, who died in a sanatarium in 1917, left an inheritance that enabled Schenker to publish the second volume of his Counterpoint book (1922) and named him to a society of destitute artists. Other funding came from Robert Brünauer, owner of a chocolate manufacturing firm, and the artist Victor Hammer. Not only was Hoboken instrumental in setting up the Photogrammarchivs von Meisterhandschriften in the Austrian National Library, but he was responsible for paying for the publication of volume 2 of Das Meisterwerk and Free Composition.
Furtwangler consulted with Schenker as if a student. In a letter to Alphone de Rothschild, Schenker wrote that Furtwangler's interest was first aroused by Schenker's monograph on Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and that since then
In all the years he has never failed to visit me, spend hours with me and all sorts of to learn from me. He describes himself as one of my students, and that fills me with no little pride.
In 1908, Schenker had hoped for an appointment at the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst (today the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna) However, the conflict between his beliefs and the need to compromise in order to work within an academic system ultimately thwarted the opportunity. Even as late as 1932-33, Furtwanger tried to intercede with Ludwig Karpath to obtain a position for Schenker, without success. Despite the lack of success, Schenker was gratified by Furtwangler's words.
Schenker never taught in a school, but most often taught in his house at the piano. His fees were not inexpensive, but he demonstrated a fierce loyalty to his students. Though he could be unsparing in his criticism, the goal of his teaching was on the acquisition of a comprehensive musical education intertwined with the art of performance, as they were dependent on each other. Understanding the artwork was the object and purpose of his teaching, where theory and practice were an inseparable unity.
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