Letter to Arnold Schönberg

In the spring of 1914 Schönberg was planning his summer vacation in Upper Bavaria. Wassily Kandinsky, whose friend and muse, the painter Gabriele Münter, had purchased a house in Murnau in 1909, wrote a letter enthusing about the benefits of spending the summer at Staffelsee and illustrated his description by drawing a map of the location: “Very beautiful view of Murnau and of the lake from some windows. Beautiful balcony. Rooms on the east (Murnau) and south sides (mountains), important for cold Bavaria. Through pleasant parks and woods to the lake. Many rabbits! N. B. for the younger generation!! Meadows, solitary hills. Woods, where deer often show themselves and sing very beautifully.”