Introduction

It was the writing by Ian Bent and William Drabkin of the General Preface to the English translation of Der Tonwille (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004–2005), entailing as it did examining much of Schenker's correspondence with Universal Edition and the attorneys involved in the potential court proceeding between the two contending parties, that gave the initial impetus to what is now Schenker Documents Online.

Phase 1 : Schenker Correspondence Project : 2003–2007

An independent web-based project entitled The Schenker Correspondence Project, the purpose of which was to publish all Schenker's correspondence in a scholarly, digital edition, was launched in 2003. This was co-ordinated from the UK by Professors Ian Bent and William Drabkin, the editing done by a small international team of scholars, the data held on the servers of Columbia University in the City of New York using the webblog software package MovableType, with a linked website on the server of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Music, for both of which invaluable technical support was provided by those institutions.

2003–2007 marked phase 1 of the project, and served as a pilot for an eventually larger, more comprehensive undertaking; it was almost entirely unfunded. The years 1900–1912 formed the primary focus of Schenker's correspondence for phase 1, emphasis being placed on Schenker's two principal publishers, Universal Edition and J. G. Cotta—although correspondence from later years (Angi Elias, August Halm, Maximilian Harden, Oswald Jonas, Felix-Eberhard von Cube, Viktor Zuckerkandl, and others) was also published. Some 500 items of correspondence were posted to the web during this phase.

Phase 2 : Schenker Documents Online : 2007–2010

So important did Schenker's diaries prove to be in corroborating his correspondence that for phase 2, spanning 2007–2010, the scope of the project was expanded to include both Schenker's diaries and his lessonbooks, with the aim of providing the end-user with fluid movement among the three categories of documents. In 2007, the project was retitled Schenker Documents Online (SDO). Funding was obtained from the Leverhulme Trust in the UK for three years specifically to design and deliver a new web environment using XML encoding and following TEI guidelines: the design work was carried out at the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at King's College London, on whose servers the project would in future be maintained. For phase 2, the focus shifted to the eight-year period 1918–25, one which saw the emergence of Urlinie and Ursatz and the beginnings of layered voice-leading analysis, and in which the outcome of World War I and ensuing economic stringency had a major impact on Schenker's thinking. Correspondence with Universal Edition again occupied a central place, along with other correspondence streams (Guido Adler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Anthony van Hoboken, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Felix Salzer, Moriz Violin, Hans Weisse, and others).

For phase 2, Schenker Documents Online entered into collaboration with a team of scholars working at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, who transcribed and translated Schenker's diaries for 1918–25 in extenso, delivering XML-encoded files for publication on SDO. This work was funded for three years by the Austrian Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF). Funds were provided by other British trusts for the supply of document scans and for other purposes. The new web environment was released in its first version in September 2009.

Phase 3 : SDO : 2011–2013

Phase 3, running throughout 2011–2013, will focus primarily on the period October 1925 to September 1930, the period in which Schenker arrived at the final formulation of his theory. Emphasis will be placed on Schenker's correspondence with the third of his three main publishing houses, Drei Masken Verlag of Munich, with the engravers Waldheim-Eberle of Vienna, and with those involved in their publication of Das Meisterwerk in der Musik (Otto Erich Deutsch, Alfred Einstein, and others). Funding was obtained from the Arts & Humanities Research Council of Great Britain for this phase.

Longer-term Plans

There are plans also to cover the final period of Schenker's life, 1930–35, and longer-term plans to revert to the early and mid-career periods, extending back to the late 1880s.

Policy Matters

Without exception, from the beginning to the present day, all transcribing, translating, and interpreting of documents contributed to SDO by scholars in the USA, UK, and Europe, has been done entirely out of the goodwill of those scholars, without payment of any sort. (For further details, see "Contributing Scholars.")

A vital part of the work of SDO from the outset has been the obtaining of permission from the holders of intellectual copyright to publish documents to the web. To date, there have been no refusals, and no limitations have been placed on SDO by the descendants and representatives of the authors of these materials, who have shown only cooperation and generosity to the project. (For further details, see "Clearances.")