Drei Gesänge aus Viae Inviae, Op. 23 - Signed and Inscribed to Josef Polnauer

Vienna: Universal Edition. 1936. First edition. Folio. 12 pp. [PN] 10255. The title page signed and inscribed in 1936 by the composer to Josef Polnauer (1888 - 1969), composition student of Schoenberg and a fierce supporter of Mahler and the new Viennese composers. In the original printed wrappers, light staining and wrinkles to covers, otherwise in very fine condition throughout.

The Three Songs from 'Viae inviae,' Op. 23 (1933 - 34) was Anton Webern's first published set of lieder in twenty-five years. The songs - "Das dunkle Herz," "Es stürzt aus Höhen Frische," and "Herr Jesus mein" - are settings of poems by Hildegard Jone, the writer whom Webern considered closest to himself in terms of artistic outlook. "The composer's earlier songs are largely chracterized by their transparent structures; his settings of Jone, however, have an almost sprawling, instinctual quality, requiring an even more acute ear to detect variation and reprise in their construction. Jone's poems are longer than the texts Webern normally used, and the songs are likewise of a larger —though by conventional standards, still quite modest—scope. At nearly three minutes in length, the first song of Op. 23 is the longest in Webern's catalogue." (All Music Guide)

A famous story of Polnauer at a Schoenberg premiere: "Mahler was in the audience and next to Mahler was sitting a very remarkable person...by the name of Josef Polnauer. Mahler was very disturbed by the shouted invectives of a person behind him in the audience...so Mahler turned around and said, 'you are not supposed to hiss when I applaud.' To which he answered back quite brazenly, 'I hiss also at your unprintable symphonies!' Whereupon, Polnauer let it fly - he gave it to him - whereupon the attacked person brought out a knife and sliced Polnauer's face open, and he carried the scar with great pride to the end of his days." (Joan Allen Smith, "Schoenberg and His Circle") (5953)

---

Signed Document/Item

Classical Music

• Sold