Preface to Volume 6, 3 B

The present volume contains the Critical Notes of the musical drama Die glückliche Hand with which Schoenberg was occupied between June 1910 and November 1913. In addition, the numerous sketches and drafts and several versions of the libretto are presented together with a commentary. The account of the genesis and history of the work (as well as documents relating to the early reception) form the end of this volume. An attempt has been made to determine more accurately the chronology of the genesis, which is not directly possible from the available sources. There were however limitations to this exercise and in the opinion of the editor, it seems doubtful, whether it will be possible to come to any definite conclusions without finding new sources. Emphasis has been placed on Schoenberg’s efforts to get the text, score and piano arrangement published, printed and above all performed. This proved to be difficult and Schoenberg had to wait until October 1924 before the first performance took place in Vienna. The work was only seldom performed in the subsequent years.

The editor wishes to express his thanks to the many individuals and institutions whose support was invaluable, particularly whilst searching for sources and documents. First to be mentioned are the archivists of the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna, Therese Muxeneder, Iris Pfeiffer and Eike Feß, who answered countless questions and helped with the transcription of many sources. Additional thanks go to F. Werner Schembera-Teufenbach (Historical Archive of the Universal Edition, Vienna) as well as to Wayne D. Shirley (Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.), Wayne Shoaf (Arnold Schoenberg Institute, Los Angeles), Joseph Gmeiner (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna), Norbert Rubey and Thomas Aigner (Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek) and Werner Grünzweig (Akademie der Künste, Berlin). Final thanks go to all those individuals who helped with detailed queries, this pertains particularly to the colleagues at the Berlin Forschungsstelle and also Andreas Meyer and Simone Hohmaier (Fachredaktion Briefwechsel der Wiener Schule, Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, Berlin), Ilse Heinisch and Regina Kampersky (Universal Edition, Vienna), Thomas Ertelt and Felix Wörner (Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung, Berlin), Jürgen Dittmer (Archive of the Pelikan GmbH), Dorothee Schubel (Arlington, Virginia) and Joseph Auner (State University of NewYork at Stony Brook).

Berlin, December 2003
Ullrich Scheideler
(translated by David Sargeant)