In 1972-73, prior to Schoenberg’s legacy being donated to the Arnold Schoenberg Institute, a comprehensive inventory of the legacy was prepared by Charles Sachs of The Scriptorium in Beverly Hills. This typed inventory was the only comprehensive (or, rather, virtually comprehensive) listing of the legacy available. Though there are copies of the eight volume work accessible in several locations (various family members still retain a copy and a copy also exists at the Schönberg-Haus in Mödling) the most convenient location at which this unpublished list could be consulted was the Institute.
The inventory consists of more than 730 pages in eight volumes and was physically divided into three black three-ring binders in the Reading Room of the Institute. The descriptions in the inventory are quite detailed. They are grouped into about 40 categories but finding a specific item within any given category (or even determining which category a particular item may be in) can be quite time-consuming since most categories are not subarranged in any easily discernable manner. The greatest uses of the inventory include its easy browsability, the evidence it presents for helping to ascertain the content, condition, and arrangement of the materials in the legacy prior to their donation, and the appraisal values of individual items at the time of the compilation of the inventory.
The inventory was compiled from hundreds of handwritten 3x5-inch index cards made by Sonia Lane (one of three or four catalogers working under the direction of Charles Sachs and after whom the card set was named). The cards were available for search and perusal in the Reading Room of the Institute.
Contents of the Typed Inventory
Volume I: Music manuscripts
- Published works with opus numbers
- Published works without opus numbers
Volume II: Music manuscripts
- Unpublished works
- Piano music
- Songs
- Chamber music
- Canons
- Unfinished works
- Piano & organ music
- Songs
- Chamber music
- Orchestral works, instrumental concerti
- Choral works, oratorios
- Miscellaneous
- Sketchbooks
- Sketches
- Tone rows & miscellaneous music
Volume III
- Textbooks
- Manuscripts other than music
- Poems, texts, fragments & sketches
- Texts
Volume IV: Printed music
- Arnold Schoenberg printed music
- Annotated
- Unmarked
- Printed music NOT by Arnold Schoenberg, annotated by Arnold Schoenberg (plus addenda sheet)
- Librettos
- By Arnold Schoenberg, annotated by Arnold Schoenberg
- NOT by Arnold Schoenberg
Volume V: Printed music
- Printed music NOT by Arnold Schoenberg, unmarked
Volume VI: Printed books
- Unmarked
- Annotated
Volume VII
- Complete magazines, unmarked
- Magazine articles
- Annotated (includes disbound printed articles)
- Unmarked
- Carbon & photocopies of articles & music by and about Arnold Schoenberg
- Notebooks & calendars
- Indices
- The Verein
- Posters, handbills, newsclippings
- Portfolios, maps, exhibition catalogs, art books
- Musical instruments
Volume VIII
- Biographical documents
- Biographical manuscripts
- Photographs, portraits
- Birthday memorabilia (includes music written to honor Arnold Schoenberg)
- Self-made objects
- Teaching material 1908-