Adorno’s music theory was absorbed wholesale into Mann’s Doctor Faustus.

Evidence

In his later discussion of that novel, Doctor Faustus, Mann expressed his gratitude for Adorno’s help: “The analysis of the row system and the criticism of it that is translated into dialogue in chapter XXII of Faustus is entirely based on Adorno’s essay. So are certain remarks on the tonal language of the later Beethoven, such as occur early in the book in Kretschmar’s sputterings: the uncanny relationship that death establishes between genius and convention.” 10, Throughout the writing of the work, Mann returned to Adorno for advice. In October, 1943, Mann heard Adorno play “the entire Sonata Opus [of Beethoven] in a highly instructive fashion.” The effect on him was profound. “I had never been more attentive,” he remembered. “I rose early the following morning and for the next three days immersed myself in a thoroughgoing revision and extension of the lecture, which became a significant enrichment and embellishment of the chapter and indeed of the whole book. Into the poetic little illustrative phrases I wrote for the arietta theme I Adorno’s slipped patronymic, Wiesengrund (Meadowland), by way of showing my gratitude.” 106 In December, 1945, Mann wrote Adorno a tenpage letter apologizing for his “scrupulously unscrupulous” 107 borrowings from his work, and asked for still more advice, which was quickly forthcoming. When the novel was finally published in 1947, Adorno received a copy inscribed by Mann to his “privy councillor.” 106 Mann’s relations with Schonberg, it might be noted in passing, were seriously undermined by the composer’s accusation that his ideas had been stolen without attribution; Mann added an explanation to all subsequent editions of the novel. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 590

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Adorno’s broader engagement with music aesthetics and the Frankfurt School’s aesthetic theory, as well as his role as a hidden collaborator rather than a public intellectual. — connects to: Thomas Mann used a composer’s life as a symbol of Germany’s cultural decline — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 588
• QUESTION: The strained Schonberg-Mann relations over attribution raise a question about how musical ideas circulated and were credited in this milieu — worth chasing later.