The Schoenberg Correspondence Inventory Database
BackMore than 20,000 pieces of correspondence to and from Schoenberg have been identified from a large variety of sources. Though copies of most of these letters existed in the collections of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, the majority of the original letters are located in other collections. The Library of Congress has the largest collection of Schoenberg letters. Schoenberg himself donated all of the letters in his possession in 1951 to the Library of Congress. These consist principally of carbon copies of letters by Schoenberg and original letters to him. Also, there is a large collection of Berg letters--original Schoenberg letters to Berg--in the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) in Vienna.
A published version of the lists at the present web site is available in the Journal of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute (XVIII/1&2-XIX/1&2 (June & November 1996 - June & November 1997)). The published version is supplemented with information not found in this on-line version including:
- The actual owner, where known, of each letter
- A published source for those letters which have appeared in print
- The Schoenberg addresses at which he wrote and received each item
- The city of the non-Schoenberg writer or recipient
- Physical description of each item
Another version of these lists which includes additional information (including transcriptions, in the case of letters written by Schoenberg) was maintained electronically at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute.
Additional information regarding the items in these lists may be obtained directly from the Arnold Schönberg Center. In order to acquire a copy of anything listed here, the Institute required, in general, written permission from the writer (or heir/estate) of the letter. The term “letter” should be interpreted as any form of correspondence including: letters, postcards, telegrams, notes, etc. Dates are given in the form “year.month.day”. Brackets surround information not actually given on the letter.
Letters from Schoenberg (arranged by date)
Letters to Schoenberg (arranged by date)
Letters from Schoenberg (arranged by correspondent)
Unidentified A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Letters to Schoenberg (arranged by correspondent)
Unidentified A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z