Correspondence 1925-1935 E-Book

Theodor W. Adorno

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 563

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

In December 1945 Thomas Mann wrote a famous letter to Adorno in which he formulated the principle of montage adopted in his novel Doctor Faustus. The writer expressly invited the philosopher to 'consider, with me, how such a work - and I mean Leverkuhn's work - could more or less be practically realized'. Their close collaboration on questions concerning the character of the fictional composer's putatively late works (Adorno produced specific sketches which are included as an appendix to the present volume) effectively laid the basis for a further exchange of letters.

The ensuing correspondence between the two men documents a rare encounter of creative tension between literary tradition and aesthetic modernism which would be sustained right up until the novelist's death in 1955. In the letters, Thomas Mann openly acknowledged his 'fascinated reading' of Adorno's Minima Moralia and commented in detail on the 'Essay on Wagner', which he was as eager to read as 'the one in the Book of Revelation consumes a book which tastes "as sweet as honey"'. Adorno in turn offered detailed observations upon and frequently enthusiastic commendations of Mann's later writings, such as The Holy Sinner, The Betrayed One and The Confessions of Felix Krull. Their correspondence also touches upon issues of great personal significance, notably the sensitive discussion of the problems of returning from exile to postwar Germany.

The letters are extensively annotated and offer the reader detailed notes concerning the writings, events and personalities referred or alluded to in the correspondence.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title page

Copyright

Editor’s Note

Translator’s Note

Correspondence 1925–1935

1

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 5.2.1925

2

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 17.2.1925

3

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGVIENNA,

19.5.1925

4

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGMARIENBAD,

9.6.1925

5

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOSÖLLHUBEN, NEAR ROSENHEIM,

18.6.1925

6

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGVIENNA,

21.6.1925

7

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGMADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO

, 23.8.1925

8

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGCAPRI

, 12.9.1925

9

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN,

21.9.1925

10

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN,

21.9.1925

11

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 12.10.1925

12

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 15.10.1925

13

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 3.11.1925

14

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 20.11.1925

15

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 23.11.1925

16

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 7.12.1925

17

MARIA WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 15.12.1925

18

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA?, AFTER

15.12.1925

19

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 27.12.1925

20

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 6.1.1926

21

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 11.1.1926

22

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 28.1.1926

23

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 30.1.1926

24

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 9.2.1926

25

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 14.2.1926

26

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 26.3.1926

27

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 30.3.1926

28

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 6.4.1926

29

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 22.4.1926

30

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 15.6.1926

31

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHüTTEN

, 23.6.1926

32

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 25.6.1926

33

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 28.6.1926

34

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 12.7.1926

35

ALBAN AND HELENE BERG TOWIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHüTTEN

, 14.7.1926

36

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 23.7.1926

37

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO ALBANAND HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 3.8.1926

38

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, c. 13.8.1926

39

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGSTAUDACH-ROTTACH

, 19.8.1926

40

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 21.8.1926

41

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 6.9.1926

42

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 7.9.1926

43

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 17.9.1926

44

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT,

24.10.1926

45

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 29.10.1926

46

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 11.11.1926

47

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 12.11.1926

48

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 19.11.1926

49

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 22.11.1926

50

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 22.11.1926

51

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 24.11.1926

52

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 28.11.1926

53

MARIA WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 27.12.1926

54

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 15.1.1927

55

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOBERLIN

, 18.1.1927

56

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 25.1.1927

57

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA,

12.2.1927

58

ALBAN BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA, C. EARLY MARCH

1927

JOINT POSTCARD

59

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 16.3.1927

60

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOZURICH,

26.3.1927

61

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 16.4.1927

62

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 2.5.1927

63

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOLENINGRAD

, 15.6.1927

64

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO ANDEDUARD STEUERMANN TO BERGFRANKFURT,

3.7.1927

JOINT CARD

65

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO ANDRUDOLF KOLISCH TO BERGCRONBERG-KÖNIGSTEIN

, 22.7.1927

66

RUDOLF KOLISCH ANDWIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGKÖNIGSTEIN

, 23.7.1927

67

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 4.9.1927

68

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 6.9.1927

69

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 29.9.1927

JOINT CARD

70

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA,

30.11.1927

71

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOPORTOFINO

, 30.1.1928

72

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGNEUWEILNAU

, 6.4.1928

73

MARIA WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 24.4.1928

74

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 26.4.1928

75

MARIA WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 28.4.1928

76

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TOALBAN AND HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 14.5.1928

77

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 15.7.1928

78

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 16.7.1928

79

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHüTTEN,

20.7.1928

80

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT,

17.8.1928

81

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNO SATTENDORF

, 26.8.1928

82

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOSATTENDORF

, 31.8.1928

83

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 17.12.1928

84

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 27.12.1928

85

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGCOLOGNE,

27.12.1928

86

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOOLDENBURG

, 6.3.1929

87

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 8.4.1929

88

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 29.4.1929

89

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 3.5.1929

90

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGBERLIN

, 5.5.1929

91

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT, C. MID-MAY TO MID-JUNE

1929

92

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 24.6.1929

93

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO AND SOMA MORGENSTERNTO BERGFRANKFURT

, 25.6.1929

94

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOSATTENDORF

, 28.6.1929

95

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 8.8.1929

96

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOTRAHÜTTEN

, 4.9.1929

97

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGBELLAGIO

, 4.9.1929

98

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 9.10.1929

99

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 17.10.1929

100

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 20.10.1929

101

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 23.10.1929

102

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 3.11.1929

103

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 17.11.1929

104

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 30.11.1929

105

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGPONTRESINA

, 21.8.1930

106

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 16.1.1931

107

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 20.1.1931

108

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 26.1.1931

109

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOSATTENDORF

, 7.6.1931

110

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOSATTENDORF

, 21.7.1931

111

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 23.9.1931

112

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 24.12.1931

113

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERG BERLIN

, 21.5.1932

JOINT CARD

114

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNO SATTENDORF

, 11.9.1932

115

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNO VIENNA

, 5.1.1933

116

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO AND RUDOLF KOLISCH TO BERG BERLIN

, 26.3.1933

117

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNO AUEN

, 28.7.1933

118

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERG FRANKFURT

, 8.9.1933

119

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERG FRANKFURT

, 13.11.1933

120

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNO AUEN

, 18.11.1933

121

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERG BERLIN

, 28.11.1933

122

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOAUEN

, 3.12.1933

123

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOAUEN

, 22.12.1933

124

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGBERLIN

, 9.2.1934

125

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOAUEN

, 15.2.1934

126

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGOXFORD

, 6.2.1935

127

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 19.2.1935

128

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGOXFORD

, 5.3.1935

129

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA,

8.3.1935

FRAGMENT

130

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGOXFORD

, 11.3.1935

131

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 14.3.1935

132

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT A. M.,

23.3.1935

133

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT

, 25.3.1935

134

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOAUEN

, 4.7.1935

135

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGOXFORD

, 17.10.1935

136

BERG TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOAUEN

, 2.11.1935

Appendix I: Letters from Adorno to Helene Berg 1935–1949

1

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO HELENE BERGFRANKFURT,

28.12.1935

2

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO HELENE BERGFRANKFURT

, 16.4.1936

3

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO HELENE BERGOXFORD,

21.11.1936

4

WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO HELENE BERGFRANKFURT, 23.11.1949

Appendix II: Other Correspondence

1

ALBAN BERG TO BERNHARD SEKLESVIENNA

, 27.7.1925

2

ALBAN BERG TO HANS W. HEINSHEIMERVIENNA

, 12.12.1928

3

HANS W. HEINSHEIMER TO WIESENGRUND-ADORNOVIENNA

, 1.10.1929

4

EDWARD DENT TO ALBAN BERGCAMBRIDGE

, 21.11.1933

Bibliographical Listing

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THEODOR W. ADORNO AND ALBAN BERG

Correspondence 1925–1935

Edited by Henri Lonitz

Translated by Wieland Hoban

polity

This translation copyright © Polity Press, 2005. First published in German as Briefwechsel 1925–1935 by Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, © 1997.

The publication of this work was supported by a grant from the Goethe-Institut.

First published in 2005 by Polity Press

Polity Press65 Bridge StreetCambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press350 Main StreetMalden, MA 02148, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-7456-9496-2

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library and has been applied for from the Library of Congress.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.polity.co.uk

Editor’s Note

Adorno was twenty-one years old when he travelled to Vienna at the start of March 1925, to continue with Alban Berg the studies in composition that he had begun with Bernhard Sekles before entering university. He had first met Berg at the Frankfurt premiere of Drei Bruchstücke aus der Oper ‘Wozzeck’ in June 1924, and immediately felt drawn to Berg both musically and personally: ‘If I try to recall the impulse that drove me spontaneously to him, it was certainly a very naïve one, but still based on something important for Berg: the Wozzeck fragments, in particular the introduction to the march and the march itself, struck me as both Mahler and Schönberg at once, and this is what I imagined true new music to be like at that time.’ For Adorno, continuing his compositional studies above all meant moving away from the quietly academic and uncritically retrogressive dictates of his first teacher. Bernhard Sekles, with whom he had studied since 1919, was not able to provide him with the guidance he was searching for. The liberation that Adorno experienced with Berg of ‘not having to write tonally’ any more fulfilled a musical need that he had already recognized, but which, according to his own verdict, he had still not succeeded in dealing with practically. In his first letter to Berg, of 5 February 1925, he formulated his reason for coming to Berg quite clearly: ‘Meanwhile, I am dissatisfied with all of these [works], and in order to fulfil my new plans I would first of all like to entrust myself to your guidance and supervision. There are quite specific technical problems at issue, ones which I do not feel equal to; I think that I can tell you quite precisely what help I require from you.’

In addition to various songs, a set of variations for string quartet, and the second of the Six Short Orchestral Pieces op. 4, Adorno composed an unfinished string trio during his time with Berg in Vienna; this was no mean feat for a little under six months’ tuition – twice a week in Berg’s Hietzing apartment, Trauttmansdorffgasse 27 – if one considers that the lessons seem not always to have taken place regu-larly. By his own account of this part of his life, Adorno would get up early each day, devote the morning to composing, and the afternoon to critical work, at the same time reading Kierkegaard in the evening. His first essay on musical interpretation, ‘Zum Problem der Reproduktion’, was written in March 1925 at the guesthouse Luisenheim, where he was staying during this period. Very soon he began his piano studies with Eduard Steuermann; through Berg he also came into contact with Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern and Alma Mahler-Werfel. In his capacity as a postillon d’amour between Berg and Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, Adorno travelled to Prague several times, and there made the acquaintance of the musician and writer Hermann Grab.

*

What was more important for Adorno than the official and semi-official life in Vienna, however, which he examined critically in his letters to his friend Siegfried Kracauer, was the aesthetic presence of the unity of reflection and compositional practice in Berg’s works, the unique combination of strict construction and a lingual, non-formulaic quality to the music, which Adorno later spoke of as the ‘epic element’ in Mahler. A passage from Adorno’s letter to Berg of 23 November 1925 reveals the early influence of Berg’s tuition and works, also upon Adorno’s critical ideal of a dialectical representation. Writing about his first essay on Wozzeck, he states that the essay, ‘unlike earlier ones, is not disposed according to “surface relations”, but rather finds its balance in the continuity of the underlying thinking, the conceptual simultaneity and factual equality of intentions; so not “sections”, themes to be grasped in isolation. My most secret intention was to make the essay’s use of language correspond directly to the way in which you compose, for example in the quartet. This gave rise to a curious encounter between your manner of composition and my current intellectual stance.’

*

In a note from the end of 1944, Adorno writes: ‘How much of my writing will remain is beyond my knowledge or my control, but there is one claim I wish to stake: that I understand the language of music as the heroes in fairy tales understand the language of birds.’ It was no less than the desire to learn to speak this language that drew him to Berg. Adorno already knew what he wanted to compose before he came to Berg; the aim of his stay in Vienna and the following years was to learn to put this into musical practice. His correspondence with this composer who was soon to be world-famous is thus partly defined by his engagement with the compositional problems posed for the musical avant-garde by Schönberg’s discovery of the twelve-tone technique, for which Adorno supplied much propaganda, not least in Vienna and through Berg. This correspondence not only documents how he wrote numerous essays on Berg, Webern and Schönberg during this time, and tried in vain to establish a platform for the Second Viennese School against ‘moderated modernity’ in the journal Anbruch, where he exerted considerable editorial influence from the start of 1929 onwards; it also shows how much Adorno – continually admonished by Berg to compose – strove to reconcile his academic duties, the Habilitation, and his literary and journalistic work with the constant wish to compose, only to compose.

*

For the present edition of the correspondence, the editor was able to draw on a transcription of the Berg letters with a first commentary made in the second half of the 1980s by Prof. Dr Rudolf Stephan and his student Dr Werner Grünzweig. When in doubt, the transcription proved invaluable for consultation; the editor takes sole responsibility for any possible errors, however. Beyond this, Rudolf Stephan supported the editorial work in the most generous manner with his advice. The editor also owes a great deal to Frau Dr Regina Busch in Vienna, who subjected the manuscript to critical reading and suggested numerous improvements.

The originals of Adorno’s letters form a part of the Berg archive in the Musiksammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, there guarded by Dr Josef Gmeiner, whom the editor would like to thank for his valuable support, while Berg’s letters survived among Adorno’s belongings and are now preserved in the Theodor W. Adorno Archiv in Frankfurt.

The surviving letters and cards have been reproduced in full and in chronological order. Two letters written by Maria Wiesengrund, Adorno’s mother, have been included, as they pass on to Berg news of Adorno’s car accident and his welfare in Adorno’s name. A first appendix contains a number of letters written by Adorno to Helene Berg after Berg’s death, which focus particularly intensely on the memory and works of his friend. The second reproduces letters by Berg to Bernhard Sekles and Hans W. Heinsheimer that played as important a part in the correspondence between Adorno and Berg as a letter from Heinsheimer to Adorno concerning the editorial policy of Anbruch and a letter sent to Berg in November 1933 by Edward Dent, concerning Adorno’s prospects of finding a place in musical life in England.

*

The notes serve the purpose of explaining names and events mentioned or alluded to in the letters; in addition, they list the relevant works – both musical and literary – of the correspondents. The notes attempt neither a commentary upon the correspondence nor a discussion of the research so far; they are intended merely as an aid to reading.

Translator’s Note

While translation always involves a balancing act between faithful rendition and an idiomatic use of language, historical documents such as letters raise particular issues. The implicit aim of published translations is generally to create and maintain the fiction that the text in question was actually written in the target language; in a correspondence, however, with countless references to external life and the respective proper names, this fiction is particularly unconvincing. Rather than attempt to translate all names of institutions, classifications of musical works or other references of this kind, I have sought to retain the German where I felt the original could be regarded as a proper name, as opposed to a straightforward categorial classification; one thus finds Frankfurter Kammermusikgemeinde in German, but ‘Berlin State Opera’ in English. With names of works, this principle has also been extended to the parameter of italics; standard terms such as ‘Piano Sonata’ or ‘String Quartet’ are thus not italicized, while more idiosyncratic classifications such as Six Short Orchestral Pieces are. German titles have been retained where I felt that their idiosyncratic nature exceeded this, as with Drei Bruchstücke aus der Oper ‘Wozzeck’.

Besides this, I have also sought to retain any unevenness, clumsiness or stilted language found in the original letters, as well as erroneous or, as in the case of Schönberg rather than Schoenberg, historically authentic spellings of names. While this cannot excuse any shortcomings of the translation, it was considered the primary stylistic aim to reproduce as faithfully as possible the individual tone of each letter, rather than exerting any editorial influence upon the formulations used in the originals.

Wieland Hoban

April 2005

Correspondence 1925–1935

1WIESENGRUND-ADORNO TO BERGFRANKFURT, 5.2.1925

5 February 1925.

Frankfurt a. M. – Oberrad

19 Seeheimer Straße.

Dear Herr Berg,

you may perhaps remember me: at the Tonkünstlerfest1 in Frankfurt in 1924, I had Scherchen introduce me to you, and told you of my intention to come to Vienna and study with you. The plan has now become ripe for decision, and I would like to ask you if you would be willing to accept me.

Allow me to relate to you in brief my curriculum vitae: I was born in Frankfurt in 1903, completed secondary school in 1921, and received a PhD from the university in 1924 for an epistemological study.2 – I have played music since my earliest childhood, first playing the violin/viola, later the piano. My first compositional attempts were also made at an early age; I taught myself harmonic theory, and in 1919 came to Bernhard Sekles3 with songs and chamber music. I have been his student since; most recently, I have been composing five-and eight-part vocal counterpoint and double fugues for voices. Independently of this tuition, I have also been composing for myself; six ‘Studies for String Quartet’ (1920)4 were given a private performance in 1921 by the Rebner-Hindemith Quartet, and my First String Quartet (1921) was performed in 1923 by Hans Lange. In addition I have written two string trios and songs with differing instrumentation. The last years have been devoted largely to scientific, pianistic and technical work; I have managed to compose only three four-part songs for female chorus a capella (1923) and three piano pieces. Meanwhile, I am dissatisfied with all of these, and in order to fulfil my new plans I would first of all like to entrust myself to your guidance and supervision. There are quite specific technical problems at issue, ones which I do not feel equal to; I think that I can tell you quite precisely what help I require from you.