Letters Details
| Date from letter: | 1951.02.02 Filing Element: 1951.02.02 ID: 5701 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| URN: | https://repo.schoenberg.at/urn:nbn:at:at-asc-B057016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First Line: | I am afraid you over-rated my patience. All the fr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language: | E, English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Version: | Final version | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Text: | Arnold Schoenberg 116 N. Rockingham Ave. Los Angeles 49, California. February 2, 1951 Mr. Walter Hinrichsen President C.F. Peters Corporation 881 Seventh Avenue New York 19, N.Y. Dear Mr. Hinrichsen: I am afraid you over-rated my patience. All the friendliness with which I accepted some of your unusual dealings were more derived from the high appreciation which I had for your father, in the expectation that you have inherited his spirit. I publish now for 50 years and I have obtained a reputation of moral sincerity second to none of any composer of this century. And now you dare question my artistic reasons for the improvements of my msuc. Don't you imagine that I am capable to take such responsibilities myself? Did I not show to the whole civilized world higher respect of the demands of art than any other ocmposer? Did I not suffer more for my belief? If I make changes, it is only my own judgement that counts, not yours or anybody elses. You were offended by a letter of mine without giving any reason, but probably because I only once tried to make you understand that advances you offer and the condition to pay them only later are quite unusual, and that I did accept them only out of friendliness. You allow yourself to be offended, but you dare question my artistic sincerity. To the matters in question: In your letter of November 2, 1950 you write "...so that I can have the Fantasy ready in print for the big music convention...in December." This is what I refer to in my last letter. If your engraver was not able to read the manuscript of the Violin Fantasy, than[!] he is incompetent. In 50 years of publishing I did not deliver a better, more legible manuscript than this. Probably you selected an engraver who is the least expensive and there lies the responsibility. I refuse to answer questions about illegible notes, unless you are ready to pay an expert who should decide whether my manuscript is poor. The war between Germany and America started only December 1941. Up to this time Peters had enough opportunity to ask me to renew the copyright. If this is not his duty, it is at least one-half of the interest in this work. But the responsibility for the protection does not lie on the composer. In no case is it you who is entitled to make difficulties of any attempt to protect my work. The new version facilitates performances by reducing the expenses for extra musicians by improvement of the balance, by markation of the Hauptstimme, by numerating the measures, all the reducing rehearsal time considerably. The statement you demand is superfluous, because on the title page will be printed, above my name, Improved Version made by the Composer. Who is not satisfied with this can go to hell. If you refuse to print this new version, you would have to pay me the rest of my fee and I will publish it with another publisher of whom I just got an offer. Yours truly, P.S. Recently I received information from the Copyright Office in Washington, that the music of an American composer can only obtain a copyright if all the engraving, printing etc. has been manufactured in America. There is also something about a temporary copyright of a very short duration, which is not much use. But a small, cheap edition of 100 copies or less perhaps mimeographed, could obtain a copyright. but you have to enquire[!] yourself, and will you please not depend only on my information. Important: I cannot renounce to receive the copyright. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||