Correspondence with Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, ca. 1908-1962.

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Brod, Max, 1884-1968. Correspondence with Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, ca. 1908-1962.

Correspondence with Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, ca. 1908-1962.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/155863017

The correspondence between Max Brod and Franz Werfel documents a lively mutual exchange between the two writers about their work, including Brod's musical compositions; their personal lives; and their philosophical and spiritual outlooks, especially their views on Judaism and Christianity. Werfel's earlier letters reflect, among other things, his thoughts on his polemic with Karl Kraus and on Zionism and Judaism. Brod's letters from 1943 and 1944 touch upon Brod's efforts to have Werfel's play Jacobowsky und der Oberst performed by the Habimah theater company in Tel Aviv. Brod's letters to Alma Mahler, which begin in 1945 with a condolence letter upon Werfel's death, show that she also took an interest in Brod's work, both musical and literary (including his novel about Gustav Mahler, Der Meister, and his autobiography, Streitbares Leben), as well as he in her books (the memoir on Mahler and her autobiography). They carried on an exchange about Franz Werfel and also about Gustav Mahler, including the reception of Mahler's music in Israel. The item from Sophie Friedman (apparently written from the U.S. in the early 1940s) is a note to Werfel, inviting him to call her when he is in town during a lecture tour. Included is a typescript of a piece published by Brod upon Werfel's death, "Death of a Poet: In Memoriam Franz Werfel" (Palestine Post, 7. Sept. 1945).

58 items (81 leaves).

University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library